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ARTICLE · 15 MARCH 2024

Canada Joins The Apostille Convention

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This bulletin will briefly explain the old process of authenticating and legalizing documents and provide some insight into the new apostille certificate process.

CanadaFamily and Matrimonial
Betty L. Laidlaw
Betty L. Laidlaw
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This bulletin will briefly explain the old process of authenticating and legalizing documents and provide some insight into the new apostille certificate process.

The Old Process – Authentication and Legalization

In the past, the process for using Canadian documents abroad was to have the documents "authenticated and legalized". This involved (i) preparing a notarial copy of the document, (ii) having the notary's qualifications authenticated by the Ontario or Canadian government, and (iii) having the authenticated document legalized by the embassy of the country where the document was to be used. We know from experience that the legalization step was what was most challenging. We had an estate matter with assets in Montenegro. Although there was a consular office in Toronto, they did not provide legalization services, and we had to deal with the Montenegro embassy in Washington, D.C.

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