Global Apostille Canada / What we do
The full chain, under one roof
Most delays happen at the handoffs: a translation the notary won't accept, a notarization the authority rejects, an embassy that wants a different order. We own every handoff.
Translation
We arrange certified translation by a recognised translator, in the language and format your destination will accept, and we make sure the translation itself can be notarized and apostilled downstream.
Certified translation is not the same as a good translation. The receiving authority is not judging the prose; it is checking that whoever produced it is someone that authority recognises, and that the translation is attached to the original in a form it will accept. In Quebec that usually means a translator certified by the OTTIAQ, whose declaration can then be notarized and carried through the rest of the chain with the document itself.
What gets a file sent back
The common failure is ordering a translation first, on its own, from whoever was cheapest, then discovering later that the notary will not certify it or the destination does not recognise the translator. A translation that cannot travel through the rest of the chain has to be redone from scratch. That is why we settle the destination before commissioning one.
- Diplomas and transcripts
- Birth, marriage and death certificates
- Court judgments
Notarization
Your document is notarized so that a public authority can act on it. For private documents this is the step that makes an apostille possible at all.
Notarization is what turns a private document into something a public authority can act on. A contract, a letter, a company resolution, a translator’s declaration: none of these carries an official signature until a notary or commissioner certifies one. That certification is the thing the apostille attaches to. For documents already issued by a government body, such as a birth certificate or a court judgment, the step is usually unnecessary, because the official signature is already there.
What gets a file sent back
Powers of attorney are where this goes wrong most often, and rarely because of the stamps. They are refused because the wording does not authorise the specific act the recipient needs: selling a named property, operating a named account, appearing in a named proceeding. Tell us what the document has to accomplish before it is signed, not after, because redrafting means running the whole chain again.
- Powers of attorney
- Copies of passports and IDs
- Translator affidavits
Apostille
We file with the competent authority and return the apostilled original. Since Canada joined the Hague Convention in January 2024, this single certificate replaces the old two-step authentication for most destinations.
Since Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention, a single certificate replaces the old two-step authentication for any destination inside it. Which authority issues that certificate depends on where the document was issued, not on where you live: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan act as their own competent authorities, and everything else, including every federal document wherever you are, goes to Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
What gets a file sent back
Filing with the wrong authority is the most expensive mistake in the chain, because you usually only find out after the queue. A document notarized in Quebec but issued in Manitoba does not become a Quebec file; it belongs to whoever issued the underlying document. We work that out before anything is sent.
- Documents for Hague member states
- Federal and provincial issuers
- Notarized private documents
Legalization
For destinations outside the Convention, we present the document to the embassy or consulate, pay the consular fees, and follow it through to release.
For a destination outside the Convention, the apostille is a step rather than the finish. The document then goes to that country’s embassy or consulate, most of them in Ottawa, which applies its own stamp and charges its own fee. Requirements vary by mission and change without notice: some want an Arabic translation attached, some want the document presented by an accredited agent, some will not accept a file more than a few months old.
What gets a file sent back
Consular processing time is the one part of the chain nobody controls, and no fee makes it faster. When a deadline is fixed, the way to protect it is to start earlier rather than to pay for rush handling at the stages that can be rushed. We say so plainly in the quote rather than promising a date that depends on a mission.
- Gulf states, several African and Asian countries
- Embassy fees paid on your behalf
- Courier to and from Ottawa missions
Documents we handle
If yours is not listed, ask. We have almost certainly seen it.
Send us the document. We will tell you the route.
A quote is free and comes with the exact sequence of steps your file needs.