Short answer: only six authorities in Canada can issue an apostille, and which one is yours is decided by where your document was issued or notarized. Not by where you live, and not by which one is closest.
A notary cannot issue an apostille. Neither can a lawyer, a translator, or a service company like ours. We prepare and submit; the authority certifies. Anyone who tells you otherwise is worth walking away from.
The six competent authorities
Since Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 11 January 2024, apostilles are issued by:
| Authority | Covers | Fee per document |
|---|---|---|
| Global Affairs Canada | Federal documents, plus Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, PEI, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut | Free |
| Ministère de la Justice du Québec | Documents issued or notarized in Québec | $66.50 |
| Official Document Services (Ontario) | Documents issued or notarized in Ontario | $16 notarized, $32 government-issued |
| British Columbia | Documents issued or notarized in BC | $20 |
| Alberta | Documents issued or notarized in Alberta | $25 |
| Saskatchewan | Documents issued or notarized in Saskatchewan | $50 |
Fees and processing times are set by each authority and change without notice. Verify before you send anything.
The rule people get wrong
Your address is irrelevant. What matters is where the document came from.
If you live in Calgary but your birth certificate was issued in Québec, it goes to Québec. If you live in Algiers, Bogotá or Dubai but your degree is from an Ontario college, it goes to Ontario. The document decides, not you.
This is why a single file often means several parallel submissions. A birth certificate from Québec plus an RCMP criminal record check is two authorities: the Ministère de la Justice and Global Affairs Canada. They do not travel together.
What a notary actually does
A notary prepares. The authority certifies. Those are different jobs.
For a public document such as a birth certificate from a vital statistics registrar, a court decision or a degree from a recognized institution, no notary is involved at all. It goes straight to the authority.
For a private document such as a power of attorney, an affidavit or a certified true copy, a notary is needed first, because the apostille certifies the notary's signature rather than the document's content.
Québec adds one more step that catches people out. If a Québec notary signed your document, the Chambre des notaires must issue an authenticity certificate before the Ministère de la Justice will apostille it. If a Québec lawyer signed it instead, the verification comes from the Barreau du Québec. And a Commissioner for Oaths cannot prepare a document destined for an apostille at all.
What an apostille does not do
It certifies the signature and seal. That is all. It does not:
- vouch for the content of the document,
- translate anything,
- make an expired document valid again,
- guarantee a foreign institution will accept it.
Plenty of destinations require a certified or sworn translation on top, and the apostille goes on first.
Apostille or legalization?
One question decides it: is the destination country a member of the Hague Convention?
If yes, a single apostille is enough, with no embassy step. If no, you need the old chain: authentication by Global Affairs Canada, then legalization by that country's embassy.
The list moves. Algeria became a member on 9 July 2026. Vietnam becomes one on 11 September 2026. A page written last year may be wrong today, which is why we verify the destination for every order.
Can you do it yourself?
Yes, and you always can. Every authority accepts applications directly from the public, and Global Affairs Canada charges nothing. If you have one straightforward document, no deadline and time to read the requirements, that is a perfectly reasonable choice.
People use a service when the file has several documents across provinces, when a deadline is real, when they are outside Canada, or when a refusal would cost more than the fee.
Not sure which authority is yours? The free pre-check tells you, at no cost and with no obligation. See the by-province overview for each authority in detail.