Authenticating & Legalizing aCanadian Death Certificate

Yes, there are different kinds of Canadian death certificates. The funeral home often issues a death certificate at the same time that they register the death with the province. The certificate issued by the funeral home is not the official death certificate. Within six weeks of the registration of death, the province will issue the official death certificate.

In Canada, only the official death certificate issued by the province can go through the authentication and legalization process.  If you do not have the official death certificate, you can order one from the province. If you require assistance, or have questions about this process, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly staff.

The short answer is no. An original death certificate issued by the province, does not require notarization in order to be authenticated and legalized. In addition, Global Affairs Canada does not accept copies of death certificates or any vital certificates for authentication.

It is rare to be able to process a notarized copy. The only exception would be if you determine that provincial authentication is acceptable. In that case, if your have verified with the recipient that a notarized copy is acceptable and then that the embassy or consulate of the destination country will accept provincial authentication. That is the rare exception to having a notarized copy processed.

Contact our friendly specialists if you have questions about whether you need a notarized copy of the death certificate, or if you must process the original.

If you do not have the correct format death certificate, or you need an additional certificate for processing and submission, you can easily order a new one. You may want to have the new death certificate sent directly to our office to save time and additional costs. In most cases, you can order the new death certificate online. Here are the websites that provide information on ordering certificates in your Province or Territory:

• Alberta 
• British Columbia  
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba 
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Yukon

If you have any questions about ordering a death certificate, or you want us to handle it on your behalf, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly staff for assistance.

The terms apostille and attestation refer to a process that in Canada, is called document authentication and legalization. If you have been asked for an apostille or to attest a Canadian death certificate, what you will need to do here in Canada is authenticate and legalize the document.

Authentication is most commonly done at Global Affairs Canada, our federal authentication office. The legalization is done at the embassy or consulate of the destination country.

For more information on what is involved in the apostille or attestation process, contact our friendly specialists.

How long it takes to authenticate and legalize a Canadian death certificate depends on a few factors.

In many cases, you can handle the authentication and legalization process yourself my mail. Global Affairs Canada’s authentication office takes up to 15 business days for the authentication. Processing times at the diplomatic missions across Canada take anywhere from 1 day to 4 weeks. If any errors are made in the preparation of the death certificate or supporting documents, it is likely that it will be returned unprocessed.

IDC can authenticate and legalize a Canadian death certificate swiftly, and our staff will work with you to meet deadlines and ensure the death certificate and supporting documents are prepared correctly.

Contact our expert staff to get a better idea of how long it will take to authenticate and legalize a death certificate.

There are three steps required to authenticate and legalize a Canadian death certificate.

1. document preparation – this step is where you determine the requirements of each step of the process, as well as the recipient abroad.
2. document authentication – the document is authenticated by Global Affairs Canada or the appropriate provincial body.
3. document legalization – the document is legalized by the embassy or consulate of the destination country.

Click on each of the steps above for more detailed information on each step.

Feel free to contact us for a free consultation to discuss the authentication and legalization of a Canadian death certificate.

You will need to authenticate and legalize the Canadian death certificate because it provides the recipient in the destination country with proof that the death certificate has been verified by the appropriate authorities in the country of origin. Global Affairs Canada will authenticate the signature of the registrar of the vital statistics agency of the issuing province. Then the embassy or consulate will legalize the death certificate based on the authentication stamp and signature of Global Affairs Canada. This process of authentication and legalization, also referred to as apostille or attestation, allows the death certificate to be accepted abroad.

If you have questions about the authentication and legalization process for a Canadian death certificate, please contact our friendly staff for a free consultation.

Yes! We can certainly authenticate and legalize a Canadian death certificate for you. We can handle the authentication and legalization, or apostille, of your Canadian death certificate from start to finish. If needed, we can even order the death certificate on your behalf and have it sent directly to our office. We will save you weeks of processing time and ensure it is processed correctly.

Contact our expert staff for further information on how we can manage the authentication and legalization of a Canadian death certificate.

We can likely assist you with ordering a new death certificate from the province. We can order the death certificate from some provinces, but not all provinces allow third party requests. Alternatively, you can certainly order the death certificate and have it sent directly to our office, saving you valuable time.

Contact us to discuss your situation and how we can assist with the process from start to finish. Call us toll-free at 1-888-433-1011 or send us an online enquiry.