Last updated: February 28, 2026

Notarize Nursing Application Ottawa: CNO, NCAS, and Cross-Province Moves

Quick answer: Most nursing regulators in Canada — the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), BCCNM in British Columbia, CRNA in Alberta, and the others — accept certified true copies made by an Ontario notary public for documents like your nursing diploma, transcripts (when sealed copies aren't required), photo ID, and name-change paperwork. The notary's job is the certified copy or the statutory declaration. The decision on whether your application is complete sits with the regulator, not the notary.

If you're a nurse in Ottawa preparing an application to a provincial nursing regulator, the paperwork tends to fall into a few small piles: documents the regulator wants in original sealed envelopes (academic transcripts, sometimes a letter of professional conduct), documents that need a certified true copy from a notary or commissioner (your nursing diploma, your government photo ID, a marriage certificate showing a name change), and documents that need a statutory declaration sworn before a notary or commissioner (a name-change declaration, an affidavit explaining a gap in registration, a confirmation of identity).

This guide is written for three groups. The first is nurses who already trained in Canada and are applying to CNO for Ontario registration — the most common case for our Ottawa walk-ins. The second is internationally educated nurses (IENs) preparing the credential package that goes through NNAS (used by Ontario and most provinces) or NCAS (used by British Columbia and Saskatchewan for competency assessment). The third is nurses already registered in another Canadian jurisdiction who are moving to Ottawa, or Ontario nurses moving the other way to BC, Alberta, or Quebec, and need to satisfy a second regulator.

The distinction matters because the document checklists differ. An IEN applying to BCCNM through NCAS is doing something quite different from an Ontario-trained RN applying for CNO registration. We'll go through what each pathway typically asks a notary to handle and what we cannot help with — and we'll be careful to point you to the regulator's own checklist rather than guessing.

For background on credential certification more generally, see our overview on professional license notarization and the academic credentials certification guide. This article is the nursing-specific version.

Caption: An Ottawa nurse organizing originals and certified copies before mailing a CNO registration package — diploma, photo ID, marriage certificate, and a name-change statutory declaration.

Key Takeaways

A few things to keep in mind as you read on. The notary verifies that a copy matches the original you brought in. The notary is not authenticating the issuing institution, vouching for your professional skill, or guaranteeing the regulator will accept the copy. If your regulator asks for a sealed transcript sent directly from your school, no notary in the country can substitute for that — you'll need the school to send it.

What CNO (College of Nurses of Ontario) Asks For

The College of Nurses of Ontario is the regulator that decides whether you can practise as a nurse in Ontario. CNO maintains separate registration classes — Registered Nurse (RN), Registered Practical Nurse (RPN), and Nurse Practitioner (NP) — and each class has its own application checklist. The published guides on cno.org are the authoritative source. Below is a summary of where a notary typically fits in.

Documents CNO commonly asks an applicant to certify

For most applicants, the documents CNO will accept as certified true copies rather than originals include:

• Government-issued photo identification. Passport, Ontario driver's licence, or another valid photo ID. CNO needs to confirm the person whose nursing education is being assessed is the person filling out the application. A notary makes a clear photocopy of the front and back, attaches a certificate of true copy, signs and seals it.
• Marriage certificate or name-change document. If your nursing diploma is in a maiden name and your current photo ID is in a married name, CNO needs to be able to link the two. A certified true copy of the marriage certificate or legal name-change order is the usual evidence.
• Statutory declaration of one and the same person. When the marriage certificate alone doesn't tell the full story (multiple name changes, transliteration differences from another language, or a name spelled differently on different documents), a sworn statutory declaration explains the gap. We commission these regularly for nursing applicants.
• Identity-related secondary documents. Birth certificate, citizenship certificate, or permanent resident card may be requested in certified copy form, depending on which application path you're on.

Documents CNO usually wants directly from the source

Some documents CNO will not accept from a notarized copy at all. They want them sent directly from the issuing body:

• Academic transcripts are typically sent in a sealed envelope from your nursing school directly to CNO, or transmitted electronically by the school. A notary can't substitute for that.
• Proof of current registration in another jurisdiction (sometimes called a "letter of professional conduct" or "verification of registration") is sent regulator-to-regulator. If you're a nurse registered with BCCNM, CRNA, or another Canadian college, that college sends the letter to CNO directly.
• Examination results (NCLEX-RN, REx-PN) come from the testing body to CNO.

If you ask us to certify any of these, we'll politely point you back to the issuing body. The certified copy is meant for documents you legitimately hold an original of, not for documents that need to come straight from a school or regulator.

Where the statutory declaration helps

Nursing files often have small documentation gaps that a statutory declaration can address. Common examples:

• A break in registration where you let your CNO membership lapse and want to explain when and why
• An inability to obtain a record (e.g. a destroyed birth certificate from another country) where you swear to the facts you do remember
• A confirmation that the holder of an old license under a former name is the same person now applying

The notary administers the oath or affirmation and signs the declaration. The declaration's content has to come from you. We can review wording for clarity but we don't draft the substance — that's between you and the regulator's published checklist or, if it's a complicated file, your immigration consultant or lawyer.

What we don't do at the appointment

We don't review your CNO application form for completeness. We don't tell you which class of registration to apply to. We don't have a back channel to CNO. Treat the notary appointment as a discrete step: you show up with originals, walk out with certified copies, and mail or upload them according to CNO's instructions.

For broader context on certifying credentials for licensing bodies, our professional license notarization post covers the general pattern.

NCAS (Nursing Community Assessment Service) Documents

The Nursing Community Assessment Service (NCAS) is the body that handles competency assessment for internationally educated nurses (IENs) seeking registration in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. NCAS is run out of BC and works on behalf of BCCNM, the BC College of Oral Health Professionals, and CRNS in Saskatchewan. If you trained as a nurse outside Canada and you're aiming for registration in either of those provinces, your file likely passes through NCAS first. The authoritative checklist lives at ncasbc.ca — please use that as your source of truth, not this article.

For Ontario IEN applicants, the parallel body is the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS), which builds an advisory report used by CNO and most other provincial regulators outside BC, Saskatchewan, and Quebec. The notary's role at the credential-package stage is similar in both systems: certified true copies of education and identity documents that you, the applicant, hold originals of.

What NCAS commonly accepts as a certified true copy

NCAS publishes detailed instructions for each document category. Where they accept a certified copy made in Canada, the certifier is generally a notary public, a commissioner for taking affidavits, or another official authorized in the certifier's jurisdiction. From an Ottawa notary chair, the documents we see most often for an NCAS file are:

• Government-issued photo ID — passport biographical page, and sometimes a national ID card from your home country
• Nursing diploma or degree — the parchment you received on graduation
• Marriage certificate or legal name-change document — when your nursing credentials are in one name and your current passport is in another
• Birth certificate — sometimes requested for identity verification
• Permanent resident card or work permit — for some applicants, to confirm Canadian status

NCAS may also ask for documents you do not hold an original of — such as a transcript or a reference letter from a previous employer. Those typically need to come directly from the issuing institution in a sealed envelope or via secure electronic transmission. A notary cannot intercept that flow.

Translations are a separate step

If your originals are in a language other than English or French, NCAS expects a certified translation alongside the certified copy. Translation is not part of what an Ontario notary does. The accepted route is a certified translator (in Canada, typically a member of CTTIC, ATIO, or another provincial translators' association). The translator produces an English or French version with a signed declaration; the notary, separately, certifies a true copy of the original-language document. The two pieces travel together to NCAS.

We get asked occasionally whether we can "notarize the translation." What we can do is certify the translator's signature on their declaration as a statutory declaration, if the translator chooses to swear their translation before us. The translation work itself is theirs to do, not ours.

Originals stay with you

A practical worry for many IEN applicants is that they only have one original copy of an old diploma from a school that is hard to contact. NCAS does not require you to mail originals if certified copies are accepted for that document type — and that's exactly the situation a certified true copy is designed for. You bring the original to our desk in Ottawa, we make the copy, certify it on the spot, and you walk out with both.

If NCAS specifically says "original required" for a particular document, no certified copy substitutes. Read the checklist on ncasbc.ca for each document category before you book.

What we do not do for an NCAS package

We don't review your NCAS dashboard or your education narrative. We don't advise on whether your training is "comparable" to a Canadian program. We don't communicate with NCAS or BCCNM. We are not immigration consultants — if you're navigating work-permit or PR questions in parallel with your nursing application, please speak to a regulated immigration consultant or a lawyer. Our scope is the certified copy and the statutory declaration. Beyond that, we point you back to the regulator's own guidance.

Caption: NCAS document checklist with passport, nursing diploma, and marriage certificate ready for certified true copy at our Ottawa desk — translations handled separately by a certified translator.

Cross-Province Moves (BCCNM, CRNA, Other Regulators)

If you're a nurse already registered in another Canadian province moving to Ottawa — or an Ontario nurse heading the other way — you're inside the labour mobility framework agreed by Canadian regulators under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). In practice that means most provinces will recognise active registration from another Canadian college without requiring a fresh competency assessment, but they still want their own paperwork. That paperwork is where the notary fits in.

The pattern across regulators is consistent: a verification of registration sent regulator-to-regulator, plus a small stack of documents you provide yourself in certified true copy form. Below is the breakdown by province, with the regulator's own site as the authoritative source — please cross-check before you book.

British Columbia: BCCNM

BCCNM (the BC College of Nurses and Midwives) handles RN, LPN, NP, RPN-mental-health, and midwifery registration in BC. Their move-from-another-province pathway is on bccnm.ca. From an Ottawa notary chair, BC-bound applicants typically need a certified true copy of:

• A valid government-issued photo ID
• Marriage certificate or legal name-change documents, if your CNO record and your BC application are in different names
• Permanent resident card or citizenship certificate, where status documentation is requested

The verification of CNO registration — sometimes called a letter of professional conduct — is sent from CNO to BCCNM directly. We don't certify that. If BC asks for a statutory declaration confirming continuous practice or explaining a registration gap, we can commission that.

Alberta: CRNA

The College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA, at nurses.ab.ca) covers RNs and NPs in Alberta. Licensed Practical Nurses fall under the CLPNA, and Registered Psychiatric Nurses under the CRPNA — three separate bodies. For an Ontario RN moving to Alberta, CRNA's labour-mobility application typically involves a verification from CNO and identity documents you provide. Certified copies of photo ID and any name-change paperwork are standard. CRNA also commonly asks for a sworn declaration about good character or current practice — that's the statutory declaration we commission.

Saskatchewan: CRNS (and SALPN, RPNAS)

Saskatchewan's regulator for RNs and NPs is the College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS, at crns.ca). LPNs are with SALPN; psychiatric nurses with RPNAS. Like Alberta, Saskatchewan distinguishes among the three streams. CRNS's labour-mobility process for already-registered Canadian nurses is the lightest in terms of new credentials — but they still want certified copies of ID and any name-change documents you submit. For internationally educated nurses, CRNS uses NCAS for assessment.

Manitoba: CRNM

The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (CRNM, at crnm.mb.ca) handles RNs and NPs. Manitoba's labour-mobility process for already-registered Canadian RNs is similar to the others — verification from your current college, certified true copies of identification, and a statutory declaration if there's a name change or a gap to explain.

Quebec: OIIQ

Quebec sits a little apart. The Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ, at oiiq.org) administers RN registration in Quebec, and like other professional ordres in Quebec, it operates under the Professional Code in French. Most documentation is reviewed in French. There are several considerations specific to Quebec:

• French-language proof is typically required (Office québécois de la langue française evaluation)
• Nursing diplomas and ID may need certified copies plus certified French translations if your originals are in English
• The OIIQ pathway for Canadian-trained nurses from other provinces uses a permis restrictif while you complete French-language requirements and any Quebec-specific orientation

The notary's role for an OIIQ-bound applicant is the same — certified true copy of identity and education documents you hold originals of. The translation, again, is a separate certified-translator step.

What's the same across all provinces

Three things are true regardless of which regulator you're submitting to:

1. Verification of registration travels regulator-to-regulator. A notary cannot create a substitute, no matter how nicely it's bound.
2. Sealed transcripts come from the school, not from us. If the regulator wants a sealed envelope from your nursing program, you have to ask the school to send it.
3. You hold the originals; we make the certified copies. Bring them to the appointment, leave with them in hand.

For the broader picture on cross-jurisdiction credential certification, see our professional license notarization guide.

Documents That Typically Need a Notary

Most nursing files we see in Ottawa break down into the same handful of document types. The table below maps each to what a notary actually does for that document — and what we don't do. Use it as a planning aid, not as a substitute for your regulator's checklist.

Nursing diploma or degree

Your nursing parchment is the most-certified document we see for nursing files. You bring the original; we photocopy it on a reasonable-quality copier, attach a certificate page identifying the document and the date, and apply our seal and signature. The certified copy goes to the regulator; the original goes home with you.

If your diploma has been laminated, that's fine — bring it anyway. If the parchment is oversized and won't fit on standard letter paper, we can still certify it; the certified copy may simply be an 11x17 reduction or a multi-page set, which most regulators accept.

Transcripts

Transcripts are where we have to be careful. If your regulator (CNO, BCCNM, OIIQ, etc.) asks for a transcript "in a sealed envelope from the institution," a certified copy is not a substitute. The seal communicates that the school sent it directly and it has not been opened by the applicant. Once a sealed transcript is opened, it loses that property — and sealed transcripts cannot be re-sealed by a notary.

For some labour-mobility files where the receiving regulator is satisfied with a transcript copy in your possession (because they already have CNO's verification doing the heavy lifting), an unsealed transcript can be brought in for certification.

Photo ID

Almost every nursing file calls for a certified copy of valid government-issued photo ID. The standard is a passport biographical page or, where accepted, a provincial driver's licence (front and back). Health cards are typically not used for licensing applications because Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act constrains how they're copied.

Marriage certificate and name-change documents

If your nursing credentials are in one name and your current ID is in another, the regulator needs to bridge the two. The standard bridge documents are a certified true copy of the marriage certificate or a certified copy of a court-ordered legal name change. In files where the chain is more complicated — multiple marriages, a transliteration from a non-Latin script, an informal name used professionally — a statutory declaration of "one and the same person" can fill the gap.

Letters of good standing and verifications of registration

These almost always travel regulator to regulator through the regulator's secure channel. We will not certify a copy of a verification letter that's meant to come directly from CNO, BCCNM, or any other college. If you're unsure whether a particular letter is meant to come from you or from the regulator, the regulator's checklist will say.

Police record checks and vulnerable-sector checks

Most nursing regulators want the original police record check, sent within a recent window (often 90 days). A certified copy is sometimes allowed alongside the original, or for a parallel file (e.g., a hospital onboarding) — but always check the regulator's wording first.

Caption: A typical nursing-file stack — diploma, passport, marriage certificate, and an unsealed transcript — laid out before the certified true copy step.

What to Bring to Your Appointment

A 20-minute appointment goes smoothly when the right paper is on the desk. The single most important rule for any certified copy is bring the original. Not a scan, not a photo on your phone, not a "notarized copy" from somewhere else. The notary in Ontario certifies that a photocopy matches an original document examined in person — if there's no original, there's no certified copy.

Here's the practical packing list for a nursing application appointment.

Originals of every document you need certified

For each document on your regulator's checklist that calls for a certified true copy, bring the original. The most common pile we see for a CNO or NCAS file:

• Nursing diploma or degree parchment
• Passport (or another valid government-issued photo ID)
• Driver's licence (front and back) if used as ID
• Marriage certificate, name-change order, or divorce decree as applicable
• Birth certificate
• Permanent resident card or Canadian citizenship certificate
• Any unsealed transcript or evaluation report you intend to submit as a certified copy

If you only have one copy of a document and you're worried about handling it — leave it in its protective sleeve. We'll work around it.

Your government photo ID

Even when no certified copy of ID is on the regulator's list, we still need to confirm your identity at the appointment, especially for a statutory declaration. A valid passport or Ontario driver's licence is the standard. Health cards aren't used as ID under PHIPA.

The regulator's checklist

If you have CNO's, NCAS's, BCCNM's, or another regulator's checklist printed out — or open on your phone — bring it. We won't fill out your application, but having the wording in front of us helps us confirm we're producing what the regulator asks for. "Certified true copy," "notarized copy," and "certified copy" are usually equivalent in Ontario practice, but if your checklist uses an unusual phrase like "true copy of the original certified by a notary public and authenticated under the Hague Convention," that triggers an extra apostille step we'd want to flag.

A clear sense of how many copies you need

Most nursing applicants need one certified copy per document. Some need two — one for the regulator and one for an employer doing parallel onboarding, or one for a backup file. Each additional certified copy of the same document, made at the same appointment, is discounted from the base rate. Tell us at booking how many you need so we can plan the appointment.

Payment and booking confirmation

We accept the usual payment methods. If you booked online, the confirmation email is helpful but not essential. If you're a walk-in during open hours, we'll fit you in when we can.

What you don't need to bring

You don't need to bring scans, draft documents you've drawn up yourself, or templates from the internet — for a certified copy, we work from your original. For a statutory declaration, you can bring a draft if you have one, or we can use a template appropriate to the situation. You don't need to bring witnesses for most certified copies and stat decs; the notary fills that role.

Common Mistakes Specific to Nursing Applications

A few patterns turn up often enough that they're worth flagging before you book.

Bringing photocopies instead of originals

This is the most common reason an appointment has to be rescheduled. The notary cannot certify a copy of a copy, no matter how clear the photocopy looks. If your original diploma is stored at a relative's house in another country, you'll need to wait until you have it in hand before booking a certified copy appointment.

A close cousin of this mistake: bringing a previously notarized copy from another notary and asking us to certify ours from theirs. We can't. The chain has to start at the original each time.

Asking for "notarized" when the regulator wants "certified true copy"

In Ontario, the two phrases are usually equivalent in practice — a notary public certifies a true copy with a seal, signature, and certificate page. But the wording on your regulator's checklist matters. If CNO writes "certified true copy by a Notary Public," what we produce is exactly that. If a regulator outside Canada specifies "notarized and apostilled," that's two steps — our certificate, then authentication through Global Affairs Canada. Read the wording, and ask if you're unsure.

Trying to certify a sealed transcript

Sealed transcripts come in an envelope marked "Issued to student — do not open" or similar. Once opened, the seal is gone, and many regulators will reject the transcript. If your school sent the transcript to you and your regulator expects a sealed-from-school transcript, the right move is to ask the school to resend directly to the regulator — not to open it and ask us to certify the contents. We won't break the seal.

Name on diploma not matching name on ID

Maiden-name diplomas with married-name passports are a daily fact at our desk. The fix is straightforward: a certified true copy of the marriage certificate, or a statutory declaration of one and the same person, depending on what the regulator asks for. The mistake is not flagging it at booking, then arriving without the marriage certificate.

Booking too late for a mailing deadline

Canada Post and courier transit times to Vancouver (BCCNM), Edmonton (CRNA), Saint John, and Halifax can run a week or more. Build in buffer. We can usually accommodate same-day or next-day appointments, but we can't speed up the post.

What a Notary Cannot Do for Your Application

It's worth being explicit about the edges of the notary role, because the line between "notary work" and "regulator work" is where most confusion sits.

We cannot give advice on what to submit

If you're not sure whether your file needs a certified copy of your high-school transcript or only your nursing transcript, that's a question for the regulator or for a regulated immigration consultant, not for us. We can read the checklist back to you, but we can't decide for you what's required. Each regulator publishes detailed application guides — CNO, NCAS, BCCNM, CRNA, CRNS, CRNM, OIIQ — and those are the source of truth.

We cannot review your CNO or NCAS application for accuracy

We don't open your application form, fill in fields, or check that your dates line up. That's the work the regulator does when they receive your file. If you want a second pair of eyes on the application itself, an immigration consultant or a lawyer with health-regulatory experience is the right call.

We cannot translate documents

A notary in Ontario is not a translator. If your originals are in a language other than English or French, you'll need a certified translator (CTTIC, ATIO, or another recognised body) to produce the translation. Once you have the translation, we can certify a copy of the original-language document and the translator can swear an affidavit before us if their professional body requires that step. The translation itself remains the translator's work.

We cannot certify a transcript that wasn't issued to you

The certified copy process certifies that a copy matches an original you brought in. If a transcript belongs to your sister, your spouse, or anyone else, we don't certify it for your file. The exception is documents like marriage certificates that are jointly issued — those name both spouses and either spouse can present the original.

We cannot vouch for your professional qualifications

The certified copy is about the document, not about you as a clinician. A certified copy of a nursing diploma confirms that the photocopy in front of us matches the parchment in your hand. It does not assess whether your training is comparable to a Canadian nursing program, whether your clinical hours are sufficient, or whether you're ready to practise. That assessment is what NCAS, NNAS, and the regulator do.

We cannot guarantee acceptance

A correctly produced certified true copy or statutory declaration meets Ontario notarial standards. Whether the regulator accepts the document is the regulator's decision, based on their own internal rules and the totality of the file. We've never had a CNO file rejected purely on the certification, but we don't promise outcomes. The regulator has the final word.

We cannot apostille

Canada acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention in early 2024. Apostilles in Ontario are issued by Global Affairs Canada, not by individual notaries. If your file is going outside Canada and the receiving country wants an apostille on your certified copy, the workflow is: notary certifies the copy, then Global Affairs Canada applies the apostille. We can produce the certified copy that goes into that process; we don't issue the apostille itself.

Caption: The line where the notary's role ends and the regulator's begins — certified copies on this side, application decisions on that side.

Pricing and Booking

A nursing application appointment is built from two services: certified true copies, and (when needed) a statutory declaration. The pricing below is the published rate; final cost depends on how many copies and declarations your file actually needs.

A common nursing-package appointment looks like one to three certified copies (diploma, ID, and a marriage certificate) and runs in the $40 to $50 range, completed in a single 15 to 20 minute visit. If a name-change statutory declaration is added, plan for around $65 to $75 total.

For full pricing detail across all our services see the certified copies and statutory declarations pages.

To book, contact us by phone, online form, or just walk in during open hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will CNO accept a certified true copy made by a notary in Ottawa?

Yes — for the document categories where CNO accepts certified copies in the first place, an Ontario notary public is one of the certifiers they recognise. Our certificate page identifies the document, names the notary, and bears our seal and signature. Where CNO requires a sealed envelope from your nursing school (typically transcripts), no certified copy substitutes — that has to come from the school directly. Always cross-check the current CNO checklist on cno.org for the registration class you're applying to, because requirements differ between RN, RPN, and NP applications.

How long does a certified copy appointment take for a nursing application?

A typical appointment for one to three certified copies takes 15 to 20 minutes from check-in to walking out the door with your originals and certified copies. If your file also needs a statutory declaration — say, a name-change declaration — add another 5 to 10 minutes for us to read through the wording with you and administer the oath or affirmation. Bring the originals and a piece of valid government photo ID. We don't keep your originals; everything goes home with you at the end of the appointment.

Can I get my nursing diploma certified if it's laminated or oversized?

Yes. Lamination is fine; we can still produce a clear photocopy and certify it. For oversized parchments that don't fit on letter-sized paper, we'll usually produce an 11x17 reduction or a multi-page certified copy, both of which are accepted by Canadian nursing regulators. If you have a specific format requirement on your regulator's checklist (for instance, "single-page reduction at minimum 80% scale"), let us know at booking so we can plan the photocopy step.

What if my nursing diploma is in a different name than my current passport?

Bring both, plus the bridge document — usually a marriage certificate or a court-ordered legal name change. We'll certify true copies of all three so the regulator can connect the names on file. If the bridge is more complicated (multiple name changes, transliteration from a non-Latin script, or an informal professional name), a statutory declaration of one and the same person is the standard solution. Tell us the situation at booking and bring whatever paperwork you have. If you don't have a bridge document at all, the regulator may have an alternate process — check their checklist before booking.

Do I need an apostille on my certified copy for an out-of-country nursing application?

Maybe. Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 2024, and apostilles in Ontario are issued by Global Affairs Canada — not by the notary. If you're applying to a regulator outside Canada (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, New Zealand, the UK), check whether the receiving body wants an apostille. The workflow when they do is: notary certifies the copy first, then the certified copy is sent to Global Affairs Canada for the apostille. We can produce the certified copy that goes into that process, but the apostille itself is a separate step. Confirm with the regulator before assuming.

Final Recommendation

If you're a nurse in Ottawa preparing an application — to CNO, NCAS, BCCNM, CRNA, CRNS, CRNM, OIIQ, or another regulator — the cleanest workflow is to read the regulator's checklist twice, identify which documents need certified true copies, and book a single appointment to handle all of them at once. Bring originals. Bring valid photo ID. Bring the checklist if you have it.

What we deliver at the appointment is straightforward and bounded: a true copy of an original document you hold, certified by an Ontario notary public, plus any statutory declarations your file calls for. What the regulator decides about your application is the regulator's call. Those are two separate steps, and keeping them separate in your head helps the appointment go smoothly.

If anything in your file is unusual — a destroyed birth certificate, a multi-decade gap in registration, a transliteration from a non-Latin script, a parallel immigration file — flag it at booking. Most of these are routine for us, but a quick heads-up means we can pull the right templates and set aside the right amount of time. For complex application strategy, see a regulated immigration consultant or a lawyer with health-regulatory experience. For the certification step, we're here.

Book Your Appointment

Certified true copies from $20. Statutory declarations from $25. Same-day appointments available, walk-ins welcome during business hours.

• Phone: (613) 434-5555
• Online: Contact us
• Location: Ottawa, Ontario
• Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, closed Sunday

Bring your originals and a piece of government-issued photo ID. We'll handle the certification while you wait.

Sources

• College of Nurses of Ontario — Applicants
• Nursing Community Assessment Service (NCAS)
• BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM)
• College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA)
• College of Registered Nurses of Saskatchewan (CRNS)
• College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (CRNM)
• Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ)
• National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS)
• Global Affairs Canada — Authentication of documents
• IRCC — Certified true copies