Legally reviewed by Joseph Mayo, Principal Attorney (Ontario and New York).
If someone tells you they can notarize a document in Ontario, it is worth asking what office they actually hold. The province recognises two different appointments that people mix up constantly, and only one of them is a notary. Getting it wrong is not a technicality. A document sealed by the wrong official can be rejected outright by a bank, a foreign consulate, or the provincial office that issues apostilles.
So, who can notarize a document in Ontario? Only a notary public appointed under the Notaries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. N.6. That is a smaller group than most people assume, and it does not automatically include every lawyer or paralegal you will meet. This guide sets out who qualifies, who does not, what a commissioner for taking affidavits can and cannot do instead, and which one you need when your paperwork is heading across a border.
Quick answer
In Ontario, only a notary public appointed under the Notaries Act can notarize a document. Ontario lawyers and paralegals may apply to be appointed, and certain non-lawyers can be appointed where their job requires it. Commissioners for taking affidavits are a separate, narrower office and cannot notarize.
Who can notarize a document in Ontario?
Under section 1 of the Notaries Act, the Attorney General may appoint such persons as he or she thinks fit as notaries public for Ontario, and may delegate that power in writing to a public servant. Nobody holds notarial authority in Ontario without that appointment. In practice the people who hold it fall into two groups.
The first group is Ontario lawyers and paralegals licensed by the Law Society of Ontario who have applied for and received a notary appointment. Our wider guide to the role of a notary public in Ontario covers what the appointment looks like day to day. The second is non-lawyers who have been appointed by the Ministry of the Attorney General because notarizing is a required part of their job, which in business usually means someone inside an Ontario corporation that trades outside the province.
Section 3(1) of the Act sets out what that appointment lets a notary do. A notary public may witness or certify, and attest, the execution of a document; certify and attest a true copy of a document; exercise the powers of a commissioner for taking affidavits in Ontario; and exercise any other powers specified by regulation. Section 3(4) adds a detail that surprises people: where a notary is authorised by an Act to administer oaths or take affidavits or declarations in Ontario, the notary’s seal is not necessary to the validity of that oath, affidavit or declaration.
There is one more limit worth knowing. Under section 3(2), a notary who is not a Law Society licensee holds powers subject to any restrictions imposed in the appointment that limit the territory and the cases in which those powers may be exercised. A licensee’s appointment carries no such territorial cap.
What is the difference between a notary public and a commissioner for taking affidavits?
This is the distinction that causes the most trouble, and the Ministry of the Attorney General states it plainly. A commissioner for taking affidavits can take affidavits and administer oaths, affirmations or declarations. That is the whole of the office. A notary public has all the powers of a commissioner and can also verify that signatures, marks and copies of documents are true or genuine.
Put another way: a commissioner can watch you swear that what is written is true. A commissioner cannot certify that your diploma is a true copy of the original, and cannot attest that a signature on a contract is genuine. Only a notary can do that.
| Task | Commissioner for taking affidavits | Notary public |
|---|---|---|
| Administer an oath or affirmation | Yes | Yes |
| Take an affidavit or statutory declaration | Yes | Yes |
| Certify a true copy of a document | No | Yes |
| Verify that a signature or mark is genuine | No | Yes |
| Witness and attest the execution of a document | No | Yes |
| Document accepted for Ontario authentication or apostille | No | Yes |
That last row is the one that costs people time and money, and it is covered in detail further down. Official Documents Services, the Ontario office that issues apostilles, will not authenticate a document commissioned by a commissioner for taking affidavits.
Are Ontario lawyers and paralegals automatically notaries?
No, and this is the single most common error in circulation on this subject. Two different things are being conflated.
Every lawyer and paralegal in Ontario is automatically a commissioner for taking affidavits. The Ministry of the Attorney General says so directly, and Ontario Regulation 386/12 confirms it by listing persons licensed under the Law Society Act to practise law, and persons licensed to provide legal services, as commissioners by virtue of office. No application, no fee.
Becoming a notary public is a separate step. The Government of Ontario’s guidance for lawyers and paralegals is explicit: you can be appointed as a notary public after being licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, you submit a service request to Official Documents Services, and the fee is $145, a one-time charge with all taxes exempted. Regulation 831 under the Notaries Act sets the same number in law. Government lawyers and paralegals pay nothing.
The appointment does have one genuine advantage over the non-lawyer route. For a Law Society licensee it is a lifetime appointment, for as long as the licensee remains in good standing with the Law Society. Section 5(1.1) of the Notaries Act carves licensees out of the expiry rule entirely. Successful applicants receive a Notice of Approval by mail within 15 business days, along with a form for filing a specimen of their embossed seal and signature. That specimen matters more than it sounds: Official Documents Services uses it to authenticate anything the notary later seals, and cannot authenticate at all if the form was never returned.
So if you need a true copy certified and you walk into a law office, the correct question is not whether the person is a lawyer. It is whether the person holds a notary appointment.
Who is automatically a commissioner for taking affidavits in Ontario?
Ontario Regulation 386/12 under the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act lists the offices that carry commissioner status without any application. The list was last amended by O. Reg. 20/26 and is current to the March 1, 2026 consolidation. Province-wide, it covers:
- Members of the Legislative Assembly, and staff in a member’s constituency office who assist constituents, limited to that work
- Judges of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice
- Justices of the peace
- Persons licensed under the Law Society Act to practise law in Ontario, and persons licensed to provide legal services
- Persons in articles of clerkship or the Law Practice Program, limited to work forming part of the clerkship or programme
- Persons exercising registrar or court clerk powers under section 73 of the Courts of Justice Act, limited to court work
- First Nation Officers and police officers as defined in the Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019, limited to their police service duties
- Members of the council of the band of a First Nation, within the Ontario geographic area where the reserve is situated
- Park superintendents, conservation reserve managers, assistant superintendents and park wardens designated under the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act, 2006
- Public servants appointed under Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006 who work in ServiceOntario, when serving the public directly
A second group holds commissioner status only inside the territorial division where their municipality sits: municipal clerks, deputy clerks, treasurers and deputy treasurers; the heads and deputy heads of municipal departments responsible for building standards, welfare, assessment or planning, plus the medical officer of health, in municipalities of at least 100,000 and in a named list that includes Greater Sudbury, Haldimand County, Norfolk County, the County of Brant, Chatham-Kent, Prince Edward County and Kawartha Lakes; and heads of council, upper-tier council members drawn from lower-tier councils, and council members of municipalities of at least 15,000.
Read that list again with the earlier table in mind. Every one of these people can swear you in. None of them can certify a true copy unless they separately hold a notary appointment.
Can a non-lawyer become a notary public in Ontario?
Yes, but the appointment is tied to a job, not granted as a service you can offer the public at large. Section 2 of the Notaries Act provides that a person other than a Law Society licensee may not be appointed unless the person meets the requirements set out in the regulations.
The Ministry of the Attorney General applies two tests. You must be eligible to work in Canada, and you must demonstrate that notarizing documents in Ontario is a required part of your job. The ministry gives the example of an Ontario corporation taking part in trade or commerce outside Ontario, which is exactly the profile of a cross-border business. The ministry is equally clear about what it will refuse. Notary appointments are not granted to people who only need commissioner powers, and they are not granted to let an applicant enter a new line of business or expand the services already offered to clients.
Two changes took effect this year and both matter if you are applying or renewing. Since January 1, 2026, appointment terms for commissioners and for non-lawyer notaries run for 10 years and may be renewed for further 10-year terms. Regulation 831 now prescribes that 10-year period for the purposes of section 5 of the Notaries Act, replacing the three-year default written into the Act itself. The province also stopped issuing certificates of appointment; the Notice of Approval is now the official document confirming authority to act. Since January 9, 2026, a new interactive application form must be used, and packages submitted on the old forms are not accepted.
Plan for the timing. The ministry states that a complete application package usually takes 4 to 6 weeks to process. Renewal requests should be sent at least two months before expiry and no earlier than six months before. If an appointment expires in less than four weeks, or has already expired, a fresh application is required rather than a renewal.
Who cannot notarize a document in Ontario?
Anyone without an appointment, no matter how senior or how professional. The list below is not a grey area, it is simply the consequence of the Notaries Act requiring an appointment.
- Your accountant, your doctor, your dentist or your employer’s HR manager, in that capacity
- A bank manager or branch employee, who may be able to guarantee a signature for the bank’s own purposes but is not thereby notarizing anything
- A commissioner for taking affidavits, who can administer the oath but cannot certify a copy or verify a signature
- A United States notary public, whose commission has no effect in Ontario
- A lawyer or paralegal who is licensed but has never obtained a notary appointment
One more restriction applies to everyone. A notary should not notarize a document in which the notary has a personal interest, and should not act where the signer cannot be identified or does not appear to understand what is being signed. Official Documents Services also reserves the right to refuse authentication of documents it considers fraudulent or suspicious.
Can a document be notarized remotely in Ontario?
Partly, and the boundary is narrower than most online notary marketing suggests. It depends entirely on which power is being exercised.
Swearing an oath or declaration remotely is expressly permitted. Ontario Regulation 431/20 under the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act allows an oath or declaration to be taken without the deponent being in the physical presence of the person administering it, provided five conditions are met:
- The oath or declaration is administered by an electronic method of communication that lets participants see, hear and communicate with one another in real time throughout the entire transaction
- The person administering the oath confirms the identity of the deponent or declarant
- A modified jurat or declaration is used, stating that the oath was administered in accordance with the regulation and giving the location of both the administering person and the deponent at the time
- Where section 5 of the Act applies to the commissioner, the required stamp information appears on or in the document being signed
- The person administering takes reasonable precautions, including making sure the deponent understands what is being signed
Section 2 of the same regulation requires the person administering the oath to keep a record of the transaction.
The other notarial powers are a different matter. Section 3(3) of the Notaries Act permits a notary to act outside a person’s physical presence only if the regulations made under that Act so provide and the conditions in those regulations are met. Regulation 831, the only general regulation under the Notaries Act, contains three sections dealing with fees, fee exemptions and the 10-year term. It contains no remote-notarization provision. As of July 2026, that means remote swearing of an affidavit or declaration rests on clear regulatory footing, while remote certification of a true copy does not. New York runs a different regime for online notarization, which we cover separately in our guide to the remote notary in New York. If a receiving institution is strict about form, treat a certified true copy as an in-person job and confirm the requirement with the recipient before you book anything.
Which one do you need for a document going to the United States?
For anything crossing a border, the answer is a notary, and the reason is procedural rather than philosophical.
Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention on January 11, 2024. In Ontario, Official Documents Services is the authority that issues apostilles and certificates of authentication. It verifies documents by comparing the signature and seal against the specimen it holds on file, and it does not validate the contents of anything. Documents destined for Hague signatory countries receive an apostille; documents for non-signatory countries receive a certificate of authentication. The United States is a party to the Convention, and public documents issued by US states are generally apostillised by the relevant Secretary of State.
Here is the practical trap. Official Documents Services lists documents commissioned by a commissioner for taking affidavits among the documents it cannot authenticate, even when they look correctly sworn. A commissioner’s stamp is a dead end for international use. Only a notary’s seal and signature can carry a document through to an apostille.
A second rule matters for cross-border business. Documents issued outside Canada are not eligible for Ontario authentication, with one exception: Official Documents Services will authenticate the notarization of signatures on a foreign-issued document where those signatures were sworn or witnessed before an Ontario notary public. That exception is what allows a US corporate document to be signed in Toronto before an Ontario notary and then carry an Ontario apostille on the notary’s signature. Coming the other way, a New York document follows its own route, which we set out in our guide to getting an apostille in New York, and the Ontario steps are covered in our document authentication services guide.
Three operational details are worth writing down before you go. Authentication is a hard-copy process, and electronic documents are not authenticated. The signature and seal must appear together, clearly, on the same page, or the document has to be re-notarized or reissued. And documents in a language other than English or French must have been issued in Canada, be notarized by an Ontario notary, and be accompanied either by a certified translation or by an attestation from an Ontario notary who speaks the language and certifies the accuracy of the translation.
Some Ontario documents now skip notarization altogether. Vital statistics documents including polymer birth certificates, business registry documents issued from 1991 onward, court documents from the Superior Court of Justice or Ontario Court of Justice issued on or after July 10, 2023, and Ontario public postsecondary degrees, diplomas and transcripts issued since January 1, 2019 are eligible for direct authentication.
Where do you go to get a document notarized in Ontario?
Where you go depends on what the document is for, and for several everyday purposes the province runs the service itself.
| What the document is for | Where the province directs you |
|---|---|
| A court proceeding such as small claims, family or civil | The courthouse where you are filing, before an authorised court official |
| Transferring or gifting a used vehicle | A ServiceOntario centre offering commissioner of oaths services |
| Obtaining a Government of Ontario service | A ServiceOntario centre, though it does not commission oaths for certain legal, financial or federal purposes |
| A municipal licence or a zoning variance | A clerk at city hall or the municipal office |
| A private or commercial transaction | A notary public in your community |
A fee may be charged in every one of those settings. Note the carve-out in the third row, because it catches people out: ServiceOntario will not commission oaths for certain legal, financial or federal purposes, which covers a good deal of business paperwork. Official Documents Services does not keep an in-house notary either, so a document needing both notarization and an apostille requires two separate stops.
What does it cost?
Two different fee schedules are involved and they are often confused. The first is what a person pays the province to become a notary or commissioner. The second is what you pay to have a notarized document authenticated. Neither is the fee a notary charges you for the notarization itself, which is not set by the province and varies by provider.
| Appointment fee (Ontario, 2026) | Cost |
|---|---|
| Notary appointment, Law Society licensee | $145 one-time |
| Notary appointment, non-lawyer and non-paralegal | $110 |
| Notary reappointment, non-lawyer and non-paralegal | $75 |
| New commissioner appointment | $75 |
| Commissioner renewal, appointment not yet expired | $50 |
| Change the wording of a commissioner or notary stamp | $17 |
| Revoke an appointment | No fee |
Regulation 831 exempts employees of the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, an Ontario municipality and the band of a First Nation from the notary appointment fee. Fee exemptions for commissioner appointments run under a separate regulation.
| Ontario authentication or apostille fee, per document | Cost |
|---|---|
| Notarized legal document | $16 |
| Ontario government official document | $32 |
| Ontario court-issued document | $32 |
| Ontario public postsecondary degree, diploma or transcript | $32 |
| Filing with a foreign consulate or embassy | $32 |
| Status of good standing for a notary public | $16 |
All figures are Canadian dollars with taxes exempted, and each fee applies per document. Mail-in authentication requests are processed within 15 business days. In-person service is available in Toronto, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor and Thunder Bay, with a standard wait of about 30 minutes when the paperwork is complete. All figures verified against the Ontario fee schedules as of July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Can a paralegal notarize documents in Ontario?
Only if the paralegal holds a notary public appointment. Every Ontario paralegal licensed by the Law Society is automatically a commissioner for taking affidavits, which allows them to administer oaths and take affidavits. Notarizing, meaning certifying true copies and verifying signatures, requires a separate appointment through Official Documents Services and a $145 fee.
Who qualifies as a notary public in Ontario?
Two groups qualify. Ontario lawyers and paralegals licensed by the Law Society of Ontario may apply for an appointment, which lasts for life while they remain in good standing. Non-lawyers may be appointed by the Ministry of the Attorney General if they are eligible to work in Canada and can show that notarizing is a required part of their existing job.
Is a commissioner for taking affidavits the same as a notary public?
No. A commissioner can administer oaths and take affidavits or declarations, and nothing more. A notary public has all of those powers plus the authority to certify true copies of documents and verify that signatures and marks are genuine. Ontario will not issue an apostille on a document that was only commissioned.
Can a bank manager or an accountant notarize a document in Ontario?
No. Notarial authority in Ontario comes from an appointment under the Notaries Act, not from a person’s profession or seniority. A bank may guarantee a signature for its own internal purposes, and an accountant may certify figures professionally, but neither act is a notarization and neither will be accepted for Ontario authentication.
Can I get a document notarized online in Ontario?
Swearing an oath or declaration remotely is permitted under Ontario Regulation 431/20, provided the session is live audio-visual, identity is confirmed, a modified jurat records both parties’ locations, and a record of the transaction is kept. Certifying a true copy is different, because no regulation under the Notaries Act currently authorises that power to be exercised remotely.
How long does an Ontario notary appointment last?
For a Law Society licensee it is a lifetime appointment, valid while the licensee stays in good standing. For a non-lawyer notary the term is 10 years as of January 1, 2026, renewable for further 10-year terms. The three-year term in the Notaries Act has been displaced by the 10-year period prescribed in Regulation 831.
Does an Ontario notarization work in the United States?
It can, but usually not on its own. A US recipient will often ask for an apostille, which in Ontario is issued by Official Documents Services after it matches the notary’s seal and signature against its records. The fee is $16 for a notarized legal document and mail-in processing takes 15 business days. Confirm the exact requirement with the receiving party first.
Conclusion
The short answer holds up: in Ontario, only an appointed notary public can notarize a document. Lawyers and paralegals become commissioners automatically but must apply separately to become notaries, and non-lawyers can be appointed only where the job genuinely requires it. If your document is staying in Ontario for a simple sworn statement, a commissioner may be all you need. If it is going to a bank, a foreign consulate, or across the border, the commissioner route is a dead end and you need a notary from the outset. Ask which appointment the person holds before you sign anything, and confirm the receiving party’s requirements before you book.
How Mayo Law can help
Mayo Law is a cross-border law firm with offices in Toronto and New York. Joseph Mayo, the firm’s principal attorney, is licensed in Ontario and New York, which means questions that straddle the two systems can be handled without stitching together separate advisers on each side. For businesses moving documents between Canada and the United States, that usually shows up as practical sequencing work: deciding whether a document needs notarization or only commissioning, getting the form of the jurat right for the receiving jurisdiction, and planning around the Ontario authentication timeline before a closing date is set. The firm’s cross-border business law practice handles the corporate paperwork these questions usually attach to, and our notary public services page sets out what we can sign off on directly. If you are unsure which appointment your document requires, or a document has already been refused, get in touch and we will look at what the receiving party actually asked for.
Disclaimer
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create a solicitor-client or attorney-client relationship with Mayo Law, and you should not act or refrain from acting on the basis of anything written here without obtaining advice about your own circumstances. Laws, government fees and processing times change, and the details above are stated as of July 2026. Legal services are provided through Mayo Law PC in Ontario and Joseph Mayo PLLC in New York.
