The Canadian document e-apostille process allows your electronically issued documents to be quickly prepared and apostilled for use in other apostille signatory countries. What is an apostille? How does an e-apostille differ from the typical document apostille process? The following article will answer these questions and explore the differences between the document apostille process and the document e-apostille process.
What is Canadian document Apostille?
An apostille is a type of document certification that confirms the authenticity of a
document, so that the document will be officially recognized in other apostille signatory countries.
Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention in January 2024, making it much easier for Canadian documents to be used internationally. For more details about the Hague Apostille Convention itself and how it works, we recommend the following article: Canada Joined The Hague Apostille Convention.
What is the document e-apostille process?
With the document e-apostille process, the “original” documents are issued electronically. Examples of some electronically issued documents include corporate records (articles of incorporation, certificate of Incorporation, business registration), Health Canada certificates (GMP certificate, certificate of pharmaceutical products), name-based criminal record checks, and some court documents (divorce records). These types of documents that are issued electronically can be printed, notarized by a Notary Public, and then e-apostilled at the appropriate government office.
Most electronically issued documents will require notarization by a Notary Public prior to being submitted for an apostille. Therefore, the Notary Public will need to confirm the electronic origin of the document before they can apply their notarization.
Can all Canadian documents be e-apostilled?
Unfortunately, the answer is no, not all documents are eligible for e-apostille. Only documents that were originally issued electronically can be e-apostilled.
Documents that are issued in hard copy should be apostilled on the paper originals. Some examples of hard copy documents are vital certificates (birth, marriage, death), RCMP-certified criminal record checks, and documents requiring signatures (power of attorney, agency agreement, declaration of single status).
What is the standard document apostille process?
With the standard document apostille process, your original document is required. Your document is prepared and then submitted to the appropriate Canadian government authority. Once they are satisfied that your document meets the outlined criteria, a certificate of apostille will be applied directly to the document by the appropriate Canadian government authority.
The Canadian government authorities who provide document apostille services function on a jurisdictional basis, dependent upon where the documents were issued or notarized.
If the country where you are headed is not a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention, your documents will require an additional step of document legalization. For more details about the document legalization process, we recommend that you take a look at our document legalization services.
How can we help you with the Canadian document e-apostille process?
Whether you would like assistance with the document e-apostille process, or the standard document apostille process, we can help! Supporting our clients to navigate the ins and outs of the Canadian apostille process has been our business for over a decade. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you about your documents and answer your questions.
Call us toll-free at 1-888-433-1011 or send us your questions through our quick contact us form. Our friendly staff will get back to you right away!
