Last updated: January 15, 2026

Notarial Copy vs Certified Copy vs Witnessed Copy: Which One Do You Need?

Quick answer: In Ontario, "certified true copy" and "notarial copy" almost always mean the same thing — a copy of an original document that a notary public has compared, signed, dated, and stamped as true to the original. "Witnessed copy" is the loose term, and it is the one that gets people in trouble. Some forms use "witnessed" to mean a non-notary attested they saw the original. Most receiving bodies that matter — IRCC, foreign embassies in Ottawa, Ontario regulators, courts, and banks — want a notarial certified true copy, not a casually witnessed one. If your form says "notarized," "notarial," or "certified true copy," book a notary. If it says "witnessed," read the rest of the form before you assume a friend with a pen will satisfy it. Certified true copies at Minute Notary start at $20 per first copy, with the original document in hand at the appointment.

If you are searching for notarial copy vs certified copy vs witnessed copy, you have probably been handed a form, an email, or a checklist where one of those three terms is being used as if it were obvious which one applies — and it is not. The three terms are close enough in everyday English that they get used interchangeably, including by lawyers, government agents, and HR departments who should know better. They are different enough on paper that picking the wrong one can mean a rejected application, a wasted appointment, or a courier-and-customs trip across two countries to redo a document that was almost right.

This guide is for Ottawa, Ontario clients with one document, one deadline, and one form to satisfy. It walks through what each term actually means in Ontario practice today, what Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) genuinely asks for in writing, and what receiving bodies — embassies, regulators, universities, banks, courts — usually want when they use one term or another. It then gives you a decision matrix you can read down a column, a list of common mistakes that send people back to the start, and a short note on what changes if your document is going abroad now that Canada's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention is two years old.

For a narrower comparison of just two of these terms, see our companion article on certified copies vs notarized copies. For the international authentication step that comes after notarization, see apostille vs notarization. And if you are still not sure whether you need a notary at all, our guide on notary vs lawyer in Ontario draws the wider line.

Caption: Three terms, one piece of paper. The certifier's wording is what tells the receiving body which one they are holding.

Key Takeaways

What a Certified True Copy Is

Scope note: A certified true copy is a photocopy of an original document that an authorized person — most often a notary public — has compared to the original and certified, in writing and with a seal, as a true and accurate reproduction. It is not a translation, not a re-issued original, and not a notarized affidavit. The certifier takes responsibility only for the fact that the copy matches the document they were shown.

In Ontario, a certified true copy is the working term most receiving bodies use when they want proof that a photocopy of your passport, diploma, marriage certificate, or court order matches the document you have at home. The certifier — a notary public appointed under the Notaries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. N.6 — sees the original, compares it page by page to the copy, and signs a certification block stating that the copy is true to that original. The notary's seal goes on the copy, not the original. Your original stays with you.

The certification block is the part that matters. A certified true copy issued by a notary in Ontario typically carries:

• A statement that the copy is a true copy of the original document shown to the certifier
• The certifier's full legal name in printed form
• The certifier's title — "Notary Public in and for the Province of Ontario"
• A signature, dated the day of the appointment
• The notary's seal or stamp, applied so it is visibly on the certified page

Receiving bodies that ask for a certified true copy generally know what they expect to see. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) lists the requirement plainly on its page on certified true copies, and the language used by foreign embassies in Ottawa, by Ontario regulatory colleges like the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), and the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), and by educational credential assessment services like World Education Services (WES) is similar in substance. They want the certifier's signature, position, and contact details, and they want it on every certified page.

A few practical notes that come up at every appointment:

• Originals only. A notary in Ontario certifies copies of originals — not copies of copies. A scan of your passport, even a high-resolution colour scan, is not an original. If you have lost the original, the right next step is usually to re-issue it through the issuing authority, then bring the new original to the appointment.
• Foreign-language documents are fine. A notary can certify a copy of a document in any language. The certification confirms the copy matches the original. If you also need a translation, that is a separate step, usually done by a certified translator (ATIO in Ontario) whose declaration the notary can then commission.
• Damage and alterations. A notary will not certify a copy of a document that appears altered, defaced, or fraudulent. Tape, whiteout, missing pages, and ambiguous staples are reasons the appointment may not produce a certified copy on the day.
• Number of copies. You can request as many certified copies as you need at one sitting. At Minute Notary, the first certified copy is $20 and additional copies of the same document are $10 each.
• Where you can use it. Within Canada, a notarial certified true copy is accepted by federal and provincial agencies, courts, banks, professional regulators, and most universities. Outside Canada, the same document usually needs an apostille (since Canada's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention came into force on January 11, 2024) before a foreign government will accept it.

If your form, email, or instruction guide says "certified true copy," "certified copy," "true copy," "attested copy," or "notarized copy of an original document," our certified true copies service is what you are booking. The wording on the certification page can be matched to the receiving body's instructions if you bring those instructions to the appointment.

What a Notarial Copy Is

Scope note: A "notarial copy" in Ontario practice is a certified true copy produced by a notary public. The wording is older and more formal, and you will see it more often on civil-law forms (Quebec, France, much of Latin America) and on the instruction guides of foreign embassies in Ottawa. In substance — for an Ontario notary — it is the same document as a certified true copy. The distinction is the label on the form, not the work behind it.

The phrase notarial copy has a longer history than "certified true copy." It comes from the civil-law tradition where notaries do more than they do in common-law Ontario — they draft instruments, hold originals on deposit, and issue official extracts called copies notariées. In that tradition, a notarial copy is an official extract from a register of notarial acts. In Canada, only the province of Quebec has a civil-law notariat that issues notarial copies in the strong civil-law sense, under the Notaries Act of Quebec (CQLR c. N-3).

In Ontario, where the notary public is a common-law office under the Notaries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. N.6, there is no notarial register the way there is in Quebec. When an Ontario receiving body or a foreign form asks for a "notarial copy," what it almost always means is: a certified true copy made by a notary public, with a notarial seal. The work the Ontario notary performs is identical to a certified true copy — compare original to copy, sign, date, seal — and the document produced is interchangeable in nine cases out of ten.

The places where the wording starts to matter:

• Foreign embassies in Ottawa. Embassies of civil-law countries (France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, many others) often ask for a "notarial copy" or copia notarial. They expect the certifier's seal to be a notary's, not a commissioner of oaths' or a lawyer-without-notary-appointment's. An Ontario notarial certified true copy meets this when paired with the apostille step that became standard after January 11, 2024.
• IRCC instruction guides. Some IRCC program guides historically used "notarial copy" interchangeably with "certified true copy," especially in French-language versions where copie notariée is the natural translation. The current English-language IRCC certified-true-copy page uses "certified true copy" as the primary term and lists the certifier categories that satisfy it. Reading both versions of any IRCC guide you are given is a small habit that prevents large delays.
• Quebec receivers. A document headed for use in Quebec — an estate file, a Quebec court matter, a registration with the Registre foncier — may explicitly ask for a notarial copy. If the receiving body specifies a Quebec notaire, an Ontario notary public's certified true copy is not a substitute. Call the receiving body before booking.
• Bilingual forms in Ottawa. Ottawa is a bilingual city and many forms come in French. The French side will say copie certifiée conforme or copie notariée. They are the same thing. If you are unsure which French-language version your receiver wants, send them the form's English page and ask which English term they would accept.

For practical purposes in Ontario, when a client books an appointment for a "notarial copy" we produce a certified true copy with notarial wording and seal. The certification block reads as a notarial act, the seal is the notary's, and the document goes through Global Affairs Canada's apostille pathway in the same way a certified true copy does. The fee structure is the same — $20 for the first copy, $10 per additional copy of the same document — because the work is the same.

If your form is in a language other than English or French and you are unsure what the equivalent of "notarial copy" is, bring the form to the appointment. The notary can read most common phrasings or call the receiving body to confirm before the seal goes on.

Caption: In Ontario, "notarial copy" and "certified true copy" produce the same document at the appointment. The label on your form is what tells you which term to use when you ask.

What a Witnessed Copy Is

Scope note: "Witnessed copy" is the loose term in this trio. It usually means a copy of a document that someone — not necessarily a notary — has signed or initialled to indicate they saw the original or saw the copy being made. Whether a witnessed copy satisfies the receiver depends entirely on the form's wording. Some forms specifically allow a non-notary to witness a copy (for example, a colleague, a manager, or a community professional). Most forms that matter for immigration, regulatory, court, and embassy purposes do not.

The word witness has a specific meaning in Ontario law when applied to a signature on an original document — the witness sees the signer sign and signs as proof of that. Applied to a copy, "witness" is much looser. Three common patterns turn up at the front desk:

• The casual witnessed copy. Some workplaces, schools, and community groups will ask staff or volunteers to sign a photocopy and write "witnessed copy" with a date. The signer is attesting that they saw the original. There is no statutory authority behind it, no seal, and no formal certification block. It works only when the receiving form explicitly allows a non-notary witness — which is rare for anything submitted to a government, embassy, regulator, court, or bank.
• The receiving body's named witness list. Some applications (UK passport renewals, some Australian forms, certain employer background checks) publish a list of "acceptable witnesses" — for example, a doctor, a teacher, a pharmacist, a sworn officer, a registered professional. They are asking for a witnessed copy in the strict sense the form defines, and the people on the list do not need to be notaries. If your form has such a list, follow it. Bringing a Canadian-style certified true copy from a notary to a UK form that asked for a "professional person known to you" can be over-fulfilling but is sometimes accepted; under-fulfilling — sending a friend's signature on a form that asks for a notary — almost never is.
• "Witnessed by" as sloppy wording for "notarized." Some Canadian forms — corporate HR, real-estate disclosure forms, internal compliance checklists — write "witnessed copy" when what they actually want is a notarized certified true copy. The fix is to email the receiving body, quote the form line, and ask whether a notary public's certified true copy will satisfy it. Almost always, the answer is yes.

What a witnessed copy is not:

• It is not a notarial act. A witnessed copy carries no notary's seal, no statement of authority under the Notaries Act, and no place in the apostille pathway. Global Affairs Canada apostilles documents that have been signed by a notary or other listed Canadian public official; a friend's signature on a photocopy is not on that list.
• It is not, by default, accepted by IRCC. IRCC's certified-true-copy guidance lists categories of certifier — notary public, commissioner of oaths, lawyer, judge, justice of the peace, and others depending on the program — and a "witness" outside those categories does not qualify.
• It is not a substitute for an original. Even for forms that allow witnessed copies, the witness must usually have seen the original. A witness signing a copy of a copy adds no value and may invalidate the document.

The honest read of "witnessed copy" in Ottawa: if your form gives you a specific list of acceptable witnesses and the wording it wants ("I confirm this is a true copy of the original"), follow that list. If the form is vague — just the words "witnessed copy" with no detail — call or email the receiver and ask what wording and what certifier they accept. The cost of a five-minute email is much less than the cost of a rejected application or a wasted apostille fee.

When in doubt, default to a notarial certified true copy. It is over-spec for some witnessed-copy contexts, but it is rarely under-spec — receiving bodies that allow witnessed copies almost always accept notarial certified true copies as well, and notarial certified true copies have a defined legal weight that "witnessed copy" never has.

What IRCC Actually Asks For

Of the three terms in this guide, the one that drives the most appointments at Minute Notary is the wording IRCC uses on its instruction guides. IRCC's plain-language page on certified true copies sets out what the department expects, and the substance has been stable across recent program changes. Reading that page once before your appointment saves more time than any other piece of preparation we can recommend.

In its own words, IRCC defines a certified true copy as a photocopy of an original document that an authorized person has signed and stamped to confirm the photocopy is identical to the original. The department asks the certifier to compare the original document to the photocopy, and to write or stamp the following on the photocopy itself, on every page if the document has more than one:

• That this is a true copy of the original document
• The name of the original document
• The date of certification
• The name of the certifier in printed form
• The signature of the certifier
• The certifier's official position or title
• The certifier's address and telephone number, so the visa officer reviewing your file can verify the certifier if needed

That last requirement — contact details on the page — is the one applicants most often miss when they bring a copy certified by a friend, a colleague, or an out-of-province professional with no business stamp. A notary public's seal usually carries the office address, and we add the phone number directly below the certification block on every certified page.

IRCC lists the people who count as authorized to certify a copy. The list varies slightly by program guide and by whether you are inside or outside Canada, but for an Ontario applicant the working list is: a notary public, a commissioner of oaths, a justice of the peace, a lawyer, a Canadian judge, and certain other professionals named in specific guides (engineers, pharmacists, ministers of religion, and others, depending on the program). For most Ottawa applicants the simplest, most consistently accepted choice is a notary public — the seal is recognizable, the format matches IRCC's expectations, and the certifier's contact details are already on the stamp.

A few habits that line up with IRCC's wording:

• Every page gets certified. If your passport submission is twelve pages, the certification statement and seal go on each of those twelve pages. IRCC expects this, and reviewers do flag missing pages.
• Originals come to the appointment. IRCC's guide is unambiguous on this. The certifier compares the photocopy to the original and signs that statement. A scanned PDF, a phone photo, or a previously certified copy is not an "original" for this purpose. If the original lives with the issuing authority abroad, you may need to request a fresh certified extract from that authority before booking your Ottawa appointment.
• Family members cannot certify. IRCC explicitly excludes the applicant, the applicant's parents, siblings, spouse, common-law partner, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, or first cousins from certifying. A notary public who happens to be a family member is not a substitute for a neutral certifier.
• Translations are a separate document. If your document is in a language other than English or French, IRCC asks for a translation by a certified translator (in Ontario, an ATIO-certified translator) along with the certified copy of the original. The notary does not translate. We can commission the translator's affidavit confirming the accuracy of the translation, but the translation itself is the translator's work product.
• Wording, not just stamps. A page with a notary seal but no certification statement is not a certified true copy in IRCC's sense. The wording — "I certify this is a true copy of the original document shown to me" — is the part that performs the legal act. The seal authenticates the signer.

If your IRCC instruction guide is in French, the parallel terms are copie certifiée conforme or copie notariée. They translate "certified true copy" and "notarial copy" respectively, and an Ontario notarial certified true copy satisfies both. For immigration documents specifically, bring the program guide to the appointment so the certifier can match the wording to the program — the few minutes spent doing this is the difference between a clean submission and a returned-as-incomplete file.

Decision Matrix by Receiving Body

Different receiving bodies use the three terms differently, and the practical risk is matching the wrong term to the wrong receiver. The matrix below collects the patterns we see most often at the Ottawa office and what each receiving body actually wants on the page.

A few patterns worth pulling out of the table:

• The further your document travels from a routine domestic file, the more the wording matters. A bank in Ottawa accepts most well-presented notarial certified true copies. An embassy in Ottawa preparing a file for a foreign court reads the wording carefully and may reject a copy that is missing the apostille step.
• Most receivers will accept "more" but not "less". A notarial certified true copy is generally accepted where a witnessed copy is requested, even though it costs a bit more. The reverse is not true. When the form is unclear, default up.
• Some receivers want the original sent to them, not a copy. Sealed transcripts to a credential evaluator are the common example. No notary involvement is needed when the institution is doing the sending.
• Quebec is the genuine exception. When a Quebec receiver names a Quebec notaire, the work needs a Quebec notaire. That is not snobbery — it reflects the civil-law authority of the Quebec notariat, which an Ontario notary public does not share.

When the form is ambiguous, the cheapest five minutes you can spend is an email or a phone call to the receiving body asking which exact wording they accept. If you bring that confirmation to your appointment — even just a forwarded email or a screenshot — the certifier can match the wording precisely. We do this for every program-specific submission and we strongly recommend it for any document that will leave the country.

Caption: A short matrix that pairs the receiver's wording with the document our office actually produces — most rows lead to the same notarial certified true copy.

What to Bring to Your Appointment

A certified true copy appointment in Ottawa runs ten to fifteen minutes when the items below are in order, and an hour or more when they are not. The list is short on purpose — these are the items that, if missing, end the appointment without a certified copy. Bring everything you can. We would rather review extra paper than reschedule.

The original document. This is the non-negotiable item. A notary in Ontario certifies copies of originals — not copies of copies, not scans, not phone photos, not previously certified copies. If the original was issued by a foreign government and lives in a vault overseas, the right move is to request a fresh certified extract from the issuing authority before booking. If the original has been lost or destroyed, the issuing authority (Service Ontario, the foreign embassy, the school registrar, the court clerk) can usually issue a replacement. Either way, the trip starts there, not at our office.

Government photo identification. A current Ontario driver's licence, an Ontario Photo Card, a valid Canadian or foreign passport, a permanent resident card, or another government-issued photo ID. The notary needs to satisfy themselves of your identity — both for our records and because the certifier's name on the copy must be tied to a real, identified person. If your name on the document being copied differs from the name on your ID (after marriage, after a legal change of name), bring the document that bridges the two — a marriage certificate, a change of name certificate, a court order.

The receiving body's instructions. This is the item that turns a good certified copy into a clean submission. If IRCC's instruction guide tells you the wording, bring the page. If a foreign embassy's checklist names "notarial copy" or copia notarial, bring the checklist. If a regulator wants the certifier to add a specific phrase to the certification block, bring the form. The notary can match wording on the day, but only if the wording is in front of them.

Enough copies for everyone who needs one. A first certified copy is $20; additional copies of the same document at the same appointment are $10 each. If your file needs four certified copies of a passport — one for IRCC, one for an embassy, one for the bank, one for your records — say so when you book. We can also pre-photocopy onsite, but bringing your own copies on standard letter paper is faster and cheaper.

Translations and translator declarations, if relevant. If your document is in a language other than English or French and the receiving body needs both the original-language certified copy and a translation, the translation needs to come from a certified translator. We can commission an ATIO-certified translator's affidavit in the same appointment, but the translation itself needs to be ready before that step. Plan the timing so the translator's work and your notary appointment line up.

If anything on this list is unclear, call ahead at (613) 434-5555 and we will walk through it before the appointment.

Common Mistakes

The mistakes below are the ones we see weekly at the front desk. None of them are catastrophic on their own — most are simple to fix once spotted — but they all cost time, and several cost a second appointment.

Bringing a scan instead of the original. This is the single most common reason an appointment ends without a certified copy. The certifier needs to see, hold, and compare the original. A high-resolution colour scan of a passport, a photo from your phone, a previously certified copy from another notary — none of these are the original. If your original lives elsewhere, request it before the appointment.

Asking for a certified copy of an expired passport. A notary can certify a copy of an expired passport — the certification is that the copy matches the original, not that the original is valid for travel. The mistake is using the certified copy of an expired passport for a purpose where the receiver needs proof of a current passport. IRCC's program guides usually call for a certified copy of the biographical pages of a current passport. Read the program guide carefully and renew the passport first if your file requires currency.

Asking for a "notarized translation" when you need an ATIO/OTTIAQ certified translator. A notary public in Ontario does not translate. The legal act of certifying that a translation is accurate is performed by the translator — in Ontario, an ATIO-certified translator; in Quebec, an OTTIAQ-certified translator — through their own seal or through a sworn affidavit. The notary can commission that affidavit. The notary cannot, however, vouch for the accuracy of a translation themselves. When you ask for "notarized translation," what you almost always need is a certified translation by an accredited translator, plus (sometimes) a notarial commissioning of the translator's declaration.

Using a "witnessed copy" when the receiver explicitly says "notarized." Sometimes a friend or colleague has signed a copy and written "witnessed" beside their name, and the applicant assumes that satisfies a form that says "notarized" or "certified." It does not. Notarization is an act of statutory authority. A friend's signature on a photocopy carries no statutory weight, no seal, and no place in the apostille pathway. If the form says "notarized" or "certified true copy," book a notary.

Skipping the apostille step on a foreign-bound document. A notarial certified true copy alone is rarely enough for use abroad. Since Canada's accession to the Hague Apostille Convention came into force on January 11, 2024, most foreign-bound documents need an apostille from Global Affairs Canada or a designated provincial authority before they will be accepted by a foreign government. Notarize first, then apostille. See apostille vs notarization for the full pathway.

Asking a family member to be the notary or commissioner. IRCC and most Ontario regulators exclude immediate family from acting as the certifier for a relative's submission. Even where the rule is silent, the appearance of conflict can sink an application. Use a neutral notary public.

Forgetting to certify every page. If your document is more than one page, the certification statement and seal usually need to be on every page, not just the first. We catch this at the appointment, but applicants who bring previously certified copies from elsewhere sometimes find pages 2 through N missing the seal.

When You Need More Than a Notarized Copy

A certified true copy from an Ontario notary is the document Canadian receivers expect. It is rarely the document a foreign receiver expects on its own. For use abroad, the certified copy almost always needs a second authentication step — and which step applies depends on whether the destination country is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention.

Canada acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention on January 11, 2024. Since that date, Canadian public documents — including notarial certified true copies — can be apostilled by Global Affairs Canada (the federal designated authority) or by certain provincial designated authorities, depending on the document type and where it was notarized. The apostille is a single, standardized certificate that confirms the notary's signature, seal, and authority. Foreign governments in the more than 120 Hague member states accept the apostille without further legalization.

For documents going to Hague Convention countries — France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Australia, India, and most of Europe and Latin America — the pathway is short:

1. Notarial certified true copy at our office in Ottawa
2. Apostille from Global Affairs Canada (Ontario-notarized documents currently route through GAC; this may change as provincial designated authorities expand)
3. Send to the foreign receiver

For documents going to non-Hague countries — a smaller list since 2024, including some Middle East and African destinations — the older authentication-and-legalization chain still applies:

1. Notarial certified true copy at our office in Ottawa
2. Authentication by Global Affairs Canada
3. Legalization at the destination country's embassy or consulate in Canada
4. Send to the foreign receiver

In either pathway, the notary step happens first. An apostille or legalization authenticates a notary's signature; without the notary, there is nothing to authenticate. We see this mistake monthly: applicants who go directly to GAC with an uncertified photocopy and are turned away. Notarize first.

A few practical timing notes:

• GAC apostille processing times vary from same-day for in-person service in Ottawa to several weeks for mail service. Plan accordingly.
• Some receiving countries also want a certified translation, separately apostilled. The translator's declaration would be commissioned at our office before going to GAC.
• If the destination country is not on the Hague list, check the country-specific embassy fees and processing times before you commit to a courier.

For the full apostille walkthrough — including which documents qualify, what GAC charges, and how to handle multi-document files — see our companion article on apostille vs notarization. The notary step described here is the same in either case.

Caption: After January 11, 2024, the foreign-use pathway changed. Notarial certified true copy first, apostille second — for most countries, that is the whole chain.

Pricing and Booking

Pricing at Minute Notary is flat and posted. The fees below cover the certification work itself; apostille fees, translator fees, and courier fees are separate where they apply.

A standard appointment for a single certified copy runs ten to fifteen minutes. Walk-ins are usually accommodated within an hour during business hours; same-day booking is the norm for most documents. To confirm a time and the wording your receiver expects, call (613) 434-5555 or use the contact form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are "notarial copy" and "certified true copy" the same thing in Ontario?

In Ontario practice, yes — when a notary public produces them. The phrase "notarial copy" is older and more often seen on civil-law forms (Quebec, France, Spain, Latin America). "Certified true copy" is the standard English-language phrase IRCC and most Canadian receivers use. The work behind both phrases is identical: the notary compares the original to the photocopy, signs and seals a certification statement, and the document goes out the door. The one place where the wording does diverge is when a Quebec receiver specifies a Quebec notaire — at that point, an Ontario notary public's certified true copy is not a substitute, regardless of label.

Will a "witnessed copy" by a friend or coworker satisfy IRCC?

Almost never. IRCC's certified true copy guide lists the categories of authorized certifier — notary public, commissioner of oaths, lawyer, judge, justice of the peace, and a small set of program-specific professionals — and a friend or coworker outside those categories does not satisfy the requirement. A "witnessed copy" without seal, statutory authority, and the certifier's contact details on the page will be flagged as incomplete. A few non-Canadian forms (UK, Australian, certain Commonwealth applications) do allow non-notary witnesses from a published list. Read the form before assuming. When in doubt, default to a notarial certified true copy.

Do I need an apostille for a certified copy used inside Canada?

No. The apostille is a foreign-authentication step. A notarial certified true copy from an Ontario notary public is accepted by federal agencies, provincial agencies, courts, regulators, banks, universities, and employers across Canada without further authentication. The apostille (or, for non-Hague countries, the older authentication-and-legalization chain) is only needed when the document leaves Canada to be filed with a foreign government, court, or institution. If your file is going to IRCC inside Canada, no apostille is required even when the document originated abroad — what IRCC needs is a certified copy of the original, in the wording its program guide describes.

Can a notary in Ottawa certify a copy of a foreign-language document?

Yes. The certification is a statement that the photocopy matches the original document shown to the notary. It does not require the notary to read or understand the document. We routinely certify copies of passports, marriage certificates, diplomas, court orders, and other documents in dozens of languages. If the receiving body also wants a translation, that is a separate step — an ATIO-certified translator (in Ontario) prepares the translation under their own seal, and we can commission the translator's affidavit at the same appointment. The notary does not translate.

How many certified copies should I order?

Order one certified copy for each receiver who will keep the document. A typical immigration file uses one for IRCC, one for the applicant's records, and sometimes one for an embassy or a sponsor. Real-estate files often use one per closing party. Educational files use one per institution or credential evaluator. The pricing structure rewards bundling at a single appointment — first copy $20, additional copies of the same document $10 each — so it is cheaper to order all the copies you will need at once than to come back. If you are unsure how many to order, bring the receiving body's instructions and we will count with you.

Final Recommendation

If you are picking between "notarial copy," "certified true copy," and "witnessed copy" in Ottawa, the practical advice is short. Read the receiving body's instructions, copy the wording it uses onto a sticky note, and bring that note to the appointment along with the original document and government photo ID. For almost every receiver that matters — IRCC, foreign embassies, Ontario regulators, banks, courts, real-estate offices — the document we produce is the same: a notarial certified true copy with the certifier's name, title, address, and phone on every page, signed and sealed.

Where the wording does matter is on the page itself. If your form says "certified true copy," that is the phrase that goes on the certification block. If it says "notarial copy" or copia notarial, that is the phrase. If it says "witnessed copy" with a specific list of acceptable witnesses, follow the list — and if a notary public is on that list, you over-fulfil cleanly with a notarial certified true copy. If the form is silent or ambiguous, email the receiver and ask. Five minutes of confirmation is cheaper than a returned application and a second appointment.

When the document is going abroad, plan for the apostille step (Hague Convention countries) or the authentication-and-legalization chain (non-Convention countries). Either way, notarize first. The notary's signature is the foundation everything else authenticates.

Book Your Appointment

Certified True Copies — From $20. First copy $20, additional copies of the same document $10 each. Same-day appointments are usual; walk-ins are accommodated when the schedule allows.

Phone: (613) 434-5555 Contact form: /contact Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Saturday, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Sunday, closed.

Bring the original document, government photo ID, and — if you have it — the receiving body's wording. We will match the certification block to your form and send you out the door with the document your receiver expects.

Sources

• IRCC — Certified true copies
• Global Affairs Canada — Authentication of documents
• Hague Apostille Convention — Canada
• Notaries Act (Ontario)