Applying for an apostille

Sometimes a foreign country requires a certificate to make a document official. This certificate, called an apostille, attests to the document’s origin and the signature or seal of the person or body who signed or sealed it. Québec issues apostilles in French only.

It does not certify the document’s content.

An apostille can be issued for any of the 125 countries  that signed the October 5, 1961, Convention abolishing the legalization requirement for foreign documents. It can also be issued for a non-signatory country, but legalization may then be required by that country.

You can request authentication of the original—or a copy certified true by the person or body who produced it—of the following:

• a document issued by a public body
• a court document
• an authentic act such as a notarized document
• a document issued by a person or body and officially certified by a lawyer or notary.

You must make sure that the notarized document and lawyer or notary’s official certificate are accompanied by a signature authentication issued by the professional association.

You must check the recipient country’s requirements if the documents that need to be apostilled are written in a language other than French or English.

Examples:

• The recipient country requires a translation of your birth certificate, but only needs the certificate to be apostilled, not the translation. In this case, you will only need to request an apostille for one document, the birth certificate.
• The recipient country requires that both your birth certificate and its translation be apostilled. In this case, you will need to request an apostille for both the birth certificate and the translation. The translation must be the subject of an official certificate by a lawyer or notary.  

Private documents written in languages other than French or English must be accompanied by a lawyer or notary’s official certificate attesting that they understand its contents or have obtained a translation completed by a member of the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTTIAQ).

In this case, you will need to request an apostille for the official certificate.

You must obtain the document from the body authorized to issue it.

Examples of documents that can be authenticated and the bodies that issue them:

Directeur de l’état civil:

• Birth certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Death certificate
• Personal name change certificate
• etc.

You must provide documents that have been issued within the last 5 years.

Request a certificate or a copy of an act 

Registraire des entreprises du Québec:

• Certificate of regularity
• Company name change certificate
• Merger certificate
• etc.

Request a copy of a document or a Certificat d’attestation from the Registraire des Entreprises 

Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec:

• Secondary school diploma
• Diploma of Vocational Studies
• etc.

Request a transcript or a certification document 

Transcript of grades (elementary or secondary):

This must be requested from the school.

Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur:

• Diploma of College Studies (DCS)

Request a certification of Diploma of College Studies awarded 

Transcript of college grades:

This must be requested from the college.

University degree or certificate:

This must be requested from the university.

Chambre des notaires:

• Notarial authenticity certificate
• Will search certificate
• Protection mandate search
• etc.

Request a quality and authenticity certificate 

Direct link to the form 

Notarial documents:

• Marriage contract
• Last will and testament
• Sales contract
• etc.

This must be requested from the notary who produced the original act. You must also obtain a certificate authenticating the notary’s signature  from the Chambre des notaires.

Let’s say, for example, you need to have your marriage contract authenticated. First, get a certified true copy from the notary who produced the contract. Then obtain a signature authentication from the Chambre des notaires to certify that the notary is a member and signed the document.

Barreau du Québec:

• Member in good standing certificate
• Attestation of studies from the École du Barreau
• Will search certificate
• Protection mandate search
• etc.

Send a request to the Barreau du Québec 

Ministère de la Justice du Québec:

• A Court of Québec ruling
• A Superior Court ruling
• A Court of Appeal ruling
• Divorce certificate
• etc.

You must contact the clerk’s office  in the district where the ruling was handed down. If your recipient country requires a certificate of non-appeal along with the ruling, both documents will be attached and submitted as a single request for apostille.

• Certificate from the Register of personal and movable real rights

Contact the Registre des droits personnels et réels mobiliers (RDPRM) 

Police documents:

• Police verification for civil purposes (previously a certificate of good conduct)

You may request this from the police station in the municipality where the person named in the verification resides. If the municipality doesn’t offer this service, you may contact a firm certified by the RCMP.

Police record check – Sûreté du Québec 

You must contact Global Affairs Canada  if the document is issued by the RCMP.

The document must be accompanied by a lawyer or notary’s official certificate if it is issued by a private firm.

Other documents:

For documents not listed above, refer to the apostille request form  or contact customer service .

You must have the following information and documents on hand before making your request:

• Recipient country
• Your contact information
• If paying online, a credit card; otherwise a cheque or money order
• Document(s) to be authenticated
  • Make sure your document’s issue date meets the requirements of the requesting entity.
  • To facilitate validation, try to use recent documents.
  • You must check whether a document needs to be apostilled if the recipient country requires that it be translated into a language other than French or English.

Fees will apply.

To request an apostille:

• Fill out the form
• Select a method of payment (credit card, money order or cheque)
• Print the form – Please do not staple the form to the document
• Mail the form along with the document(s) to be authenticated to:
   

  Délivrance des apostilles
  Ministère de la Justice
  1, rue Notre-Dame Est, bureau 7.07
  Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1B6

Access the online form

After your request has been processed and approved, you will receive your authenticated document in the mail.

Standard processing time is 10 business days. There may be some delays in processing your request.

Your request may be refused for the following reasons:

• The document was issued too long ago to be validated
• The document is from outside Québec
• The document has been altered
• The document is not an original or a true copy.

A $65 fee applies for each document. You can pay by credit card, money order or cheque.

For example:

• Your request contains a birth certificate to be authenticated. The fee is $65.
• Your request contains three documents: your birth certificate, your son’s birth certificate and his college diploma. The cost will be 3 times $65, for a total of $195.

Contact customer service  for any questions about requesting an apostille.

Read Canada’s statement 

Read the Apostille Convention 

Act respecting Apostilles 

You can consult the register  to check the apostilles issued to date. You will have to provide the date of issue and the number of the apostille you are looking for.