Last updated: May 20, 2026

Notarize OCT Teaching Application Documents in Ottawa

Quick answer: The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) generally accepts certified true copies made by an Ontario notary public for documents like your B.Ed. parchment, an unsealed transcript copy you hold yourself, government photo ID, marriage or name-change paperwork, and an out-of-province teaching certificate. The notary's job is the certified copy or the statutory declaration; whether your file is complete and whether your training meets OCT's requirements is decided by OCT, not by the notary.

If you're a teacher in Ottawa preparing an application to the Ontario College of Teachers, the paperwork tends to fall into a few small piles: documents that OCT wants sent directly from the issuing institution in a sealed envelope or via secure portal (most commonly your university transcripts and a confirmation of registration from another teaching college), documents that need a certified true copy from a notary or commissioner (your B.Ed. or M.Ed. parchment, your government photo ID, a marriage certificate showing a name change, an out-of-province teaching certificate you hold), and the occasional document that needs a statutory declaration sworn before a notary or commissioner (a name-change declaration, a confirmation of "one and the same person", or a sworn explanation of a missing record).

This guide is written for three groups. The first is Ontario-trained teachers — the new B.Ed. graduate from uOttawa, Queen's, Trent, or Lakehead applying to OCT for initial certification, which is the most common case at our Ottawa desk. The second is teachers already certified in another Canadian province who are moving to Ontario through the labour-mobility pathway: BCTC in British Columbia, the Teaching Quality Standard via Alberta Education, the ministère de l'Éducation in Quebec, and the corresponding bodies in Atlantic Canada and the Prairies. The third is internationally educated teachers (IETs) — applicants whose teaching qualifications were earned outside Canada and which OCT will evaluate for equivalency before deciding on a Certificate of Qualification and Registration.

The distinction matters because the document checklists differ. A new uOttawa B.Ed. graduate is doing something quite different from an IET trained in the Philippines, and both are different again from a BC-certified teacher relocating to Ottawa with a working spouse at a federal department. We'll go through what each pathway typically asks a notary to handle, and we'll be careful to send you back to oct.ca for the authoritative checklist rather than guessing on your behalf.

For background on credential certification more generally, see our overview on professional license notarization and the academic credentials certification guide. This article is the OCT-specific version, and it pairs with our nursing application notary guide for readers comparing regulator pathways across professions.

Caption: An Ottawa teacher organizing originals and certified copies before submitting an OCT application — B.Ed. parchment, photo ID, marriage certificate, and a prior provincial teaching certificate.

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 your university, vouching for your teaching ability, or guaranteeing OCT will register you. If OCT asks for a transcript sent directly from the institution, no notary in the country can substitute for that — you'll need the school to send it.

What OCT Asks For

The Ontario College of Teachers is the regulator that decides whether you can teach in Ontario's publicly funded schools and inspected private schools. OCT issues the Certificate of Qualification and Registration, holds the public register, and sets the requirements that everyone — Ontario-trained, cross-province, internationally educated — has to meet before they can be called an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT). The published guides on oct.ca are the authoritative source for the document checklist that applies to your application path. Below is a summary of where a notary typically fits in.

Documents OCT commonly accepts as a certified true copy

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

• Government-issued photo identification. A passport biographical page, an Ontario driver's licence, or another valid photo ID. OCT needs to confirm that the person whose teaching 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 legal name-change document. If your B.Ed. parchment is in a maiden name and your current photo ID is in a married name, OCT needs to be able to link the two records. A certified true copy of the marriage certificate or a court-ordered legal name change is the usual evidence.
• Statutory declaration of one and the same person. When a marriage certificate alone doesn't tell the full story — multiple name changes, a transliteration from a non-Latin script, or a name spelled differently across documents — a sworn statutory declaration explains the gap. We commission these regularly for OCT applicants.
• An out-of-province teaching certificate. If you already hold a teaching certificate from BCTC, Alberta Education, the Ordre des enseignantes et des enseignants in Quebec where applicable, or another provincial body, OCT will commonly accept a certified true copy of the certificate document you hold yourself.
• A foreign teaching certificate or licence (for IETs). Where the original is a paper certificate in your possession, a certified true copy is the standard route. The notary certifies the copy of the document; OCT decides what weight to give it.
• Identity-related secondary documents. Birth certificate, citizenship certificate, or permanent resident card may be requested in certified copy form, depending on the application path.

Documents OCT usually wants directly from the source

Some documents OCT will not accept as a notarized copy. They want them sent directly from the issuing body:

• University transcripts are typically transmitted by your faculty of education or registrar's office directly to OCT — through MyCreds, secure electronic transcript exchange, or in a sealed envelope mailed by the institution. A notary cannot substitute for that secure channel.
• Confirmation of registration from another teaching college (sometimes called a "letter of professional standing") is sent regulator-to-regulator. If you're certified by BCTC, Alberta Education, or another body, that body sends the letter to OCT directly.
• Police record check or vulnerable-sector check. OCT and many Ontario school boards want the original within a recent window. A certified copy is sometimes accepted in parallel for an employer file, but the original goes to whoever the regulator or employer names.
• Faculty of education recommendation. Where required, this comes from the dean's office, not from a notary.

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

Where the statutory declaration helps

OCT files often have small documentation gaps that a sworn declaration can address. Common examples include a name on a B.Ed. parchment that doesn't match the name on a passport, a missing prior teaching certificate from a school that has closed, or a sworn confirmation that the holder of an old credential is the same person now applying. The notary administers the oath or affirmation and signs the declaration. The substance of the declaration has to come from you. We can review wording for clarity, but we don't draft the substance — that's between you and OCT's published checklist or, for complicated files, your lawyer or regulated immigration consultant.

What we don't do at the appointment

We don't review your OCT application form for completeness. We don't tell you which application path to use — the choice between the Ontario-trained route, the labour-mobility route, and the OCT evaluation route is yours and OCT's, not ours. We don't have a back channel to the College. Treat the notary appointment as a discrete step: you arrive with originals, walk out with certified copies, and submit them according to OCT's instructions.

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

Cross-Province Teaching Mobility

If you're a teacher already certified in another Canadian province moving to Ottawa — or an Ontario-certified teacher heading the other way — you're inside the labour mobility framework agreed by Canadian regulators under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). Chapter 7 of the CFTA commits provinces and territories to recognise certifications issued by other Canadian regulators without requiring the applicant to repeat substantively the same training. In practice that means OCT will recognise active certification from a counterpart Canadian regulator without demanding a fresh equivalency assessment, but each side still wants its own paperwork. That paperwork is where the notary fits in.

The pattern across regulators is consistent: a confirmation of certification sent regulator-to-regulator through the receiving body's secure channel, 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: BCTC (Teacher Regulation Branch)

The Teacher Regulation Branch of the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care (commonly referenced as BCTC) maintains BC's certificate of qualification for teachers. Their out-of-province pathway is published on the BC government's teacher certification pages. From an Ottawa notary chair, BC-bound applicants typically need certified true copies of:

• A valid government-issued photo ID (passport biographical page is the cleanest)
• A marriage certificate or legal name-change order, if your name on file with OCT differs from your name on the BC application
• A permanent resident card or citizenship certificate, where status documentation is requested

The verification of OCT certification — sometimes called a letter of professional standing — is sent from OCT to BCTC directly. We don't certify that letter. If BC asks for a sworn declaration about continuous practice or to explain a gap in registration, we can commission that as a statutory declaration.

Alberta: Alberta Education and the Teaching Quality Standard (TQS)

Alberta's Teaching Quality Standard sits with Alberta Education, which issues Interim and Permanent Professional Certificates. For an Ontario-certified teacher relocating to Calgary or Edmonton, Alberta's labour-mobility application typically involves a verification from OCT and identity documents you provide yourself. Certified true copies of photo ID and any name-change paperwork are standard. Alberta also commonly asks for a sworn declaration about good character or the absence of disciplinary findings — that's the statutory declaration we commission.

Quebec: ministère de l'Éducation (MEQ)

Quebec sits a little apart. Teaching certification in Quebec is issued by the ministère de l'Éducation under the Education Act, and Quebec administers its own system of brevets and permis d'enseigner. The Ontario-Quebec teacher mobility pathway has a few considerations specific to Quebec:

• French-language proficiency is typically required, often demonstrated through MEQ-recognised testing
• Out-of-Quebec credentials and teaching certificates may need certified copies plus certified French translations if your originals are in English
• The MEQ pathway for Canadian-trained teachers from other provinces sometimes uses a temporary licence while you complete French-language requirements

The notary's role for an MEQ-bound applicant — or for a Quebec-trained teacher coming to Ontario through OCT — is the same: certified true copy of identity and education documents you hold originals of. The translation, again, is a separate certified-translator step handled by an ATIO or OTTIAQ member.

Atlantic Canada and the Prairies

The other Canadian provinces and territories each have their own teaching regulator or ministry: New Brunswick's Department of Education, Nova Scotia's Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education, Prince Edward Island's Department of Education and Lifelong Learning, Manitoba Education, Saskatchewan's Professional Conduct Committee on Education and the SPTRB, and the territorial education ministries in Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut. The labour-mobility framework applies across all of them. The pattern at the notary's desk is the same — certified true copies of photo ID, current teaching certificate, and any name-change paperwork. The receiving regulator's own checklist is the source of truth for what they need beyond that.

What's the same across all provinces

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

1. Confirmation of certification travels regulator-to-regulator. OCT writes to the receiving body, or the receiving body writes to OCT. A notary cannot create a substitute, no matter how nicely it's bound.
2. University transcripts come from the school, not from us. If the regulator wants the transcript sent directly by the institution, you'll have to ask the registrar or use the secure transcript exchange the school participates in.
3. You hold the originals; we make the certified copies. Bring them to the appointment and leave with them in hand.

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

Caption: For interprovincial teacher mobility, the confirmation of certification goes regulator-to-regulator. The applicant brings certified copies of the teaching certificate, photo ID, and any name-change paperwork.

Internationally Educated Teachers

If you trained as a teacher outside Canada and you're aiming for OCT registration, your file goes through OCT's evaluation process for internationally educated teachers (IETs). The College assesses your academic and professional preparation against the Ontario standard, and if it finds your training comparable, it issues a Certificate of Qualification and Registration — sometimes with conditions, like additional study or a supervised practice period. The IET pathway is documented in detail on oct.ca, and the College's published checklist is the source of truth for which documents your specific country and credential combination calls for. Below is what we typically see at the notary's desk.

What OCT commonly accepts as a certified true copy from an IET

For IET applicants, the documents we most often certify in Ottawa are:

• Foreign teaching degree or diploma. The parchment or certificate that confirms the completion of your teacher-education program — a Bachelor of Education in many jurisdictions, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in others, or a country-specific equivalent. Bring the original; we certify the copy.
• Foreign teaching certificate or licence. Where the original certificate is in your possession (a Philippines PRC card, a UK QTS letter, a state-issued teaching licence in the United States, or another country's equivalent), a certified true copy is the standard route. The notary certifies that the copy matches the original document; OCT evaluates the credential.
• Transcripts you hold yourself. If OCT specifically asks for transcripts to be sent directly by your university, that's not something a notary substitutes for. Where OCT accepts a transcript copy you hold, we can certify that copy.
• Identity documents. Passport biographical page, national ID card, and where requested, a permanent resident card or work permit confirming your Canadian status.
• Marriage certificate or legal name-change order, where your teaching credentials are in one name and your current passport is in another.

Translations are a separate step

If your originals are in a language other than English or French, OCT 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 who is a member of a recognised professional association — in Ontario, the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO), and in Quebec, the Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTTIAQ). Both are members of the Canadian Translators, Terminologists and Interpreters Council (CTTIC). 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 OCT.

We get asked occasionally whether we can "notarize the translation". What we can do is commission the translator's affidavit 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 IET applicants is that they only have one original copy of an old diploma from a school that is hard to contact, or a one-page teaching licence from a country they may never live in again. Where OCT accepts a certified copy for that document type, 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 pieces of paper.

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

Apostille and authentication

For documents issued outside Canada, OCT may ask that the foreign document carry an apostille from the issuing country before any Canadian step. Canada itself acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention in early 2024, and Global Affairs Canada now issues apostilles on Canadian-issued documents. For your foreign credentials, the apostille comes from the foreign authority that issued the original — an Ontario notary cannot apostille a foreign document. Where OCT requires a Canadian-side authentication on a Canadian document going overseas, that's Global Affairs Canada's job, not the notary's.

What we do not do for an IET package

We don't review your IET dashboard or your education narrative. We don't tell OCT whether your training is "comparable" to an Ontario program. We don't communicate with OCT or any foreign ministry. We are not immigration consultants — if you're navigating a work-permit, study-permit, or permanent-residence question in parallel with your OCT 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 and to the appropriate licensed advisor.

Documents Typically Needing a Notary

Most OCT 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 OCT's checklist.

Teaching degree or diploma

Your B.Ed., M.Ed., or international teaching parchment is the most-certified document we see for OCT 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 parchment has been laminated, bring it anyway. If it's oversized — and most B.Ed. parchments are — we can still certify it; the certified copy may simply be an 11x17 reduction or a multi-page set, which OCT and other regulators accept.

Transcripts

Transcripts are where we have to be careful. If OCT asks for a transcript "sent directly from the institution," a certified copy is not a substitute. The institutional channel — whether that's a sealed envelope mailed by the registrar or an electronic transmission through MyCreds or a similar secure service — communicates that the school sent it directly and the document hasn't been altered by the applicant. Once a sealed transcript is opened by you, it's no longer sealed, and a notary cannot re-seal it.

For some labour-mobility files where the receiving regulator is satisfied with a transcript copy in your possession, an unsealed transcript can be brought in for certification. Read the regulator's wording carefully before you assume one or the other.

Photo ID

Almost every OCT file calls for a certified copy of valid government-issued photo ID. The standard is a passport biographical page or, where accepted, an Ontario 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 teaching 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.

Out-of-province teaching certificates

If you hold a current certificate from BCTC, Alberta Education, the Quebec MEQ, or another Canadian regulator, OCT will commonly accept a certified true copy of the certificate document you hold. The regulator-to-regulator confirmation of standing is a separate piece, sent through the secure channel; the certified copy of the paper certificate sits beside that confirmation in your file.

Police record and vulnerable-sector checks

Most school boards and OCT processes want the original police record check sent within a recent window (often six months for OCT, sometimes 90 days for an employer). A certified copy is sometimes allowed alongside the original, or for a parallel file (a hospital onboarding for a nurse-teacher role, for example) — but always check the wording first.

Caption: A typical OCT-file stack — B.Ed. parchment, photo ID, marriage certificate, and an out-of-province teaching certificate — laid out before the certified true copy step.

What a Notary Does (and Cannot Do)

The clearest way to think about a notary in an OCT file is as a one-purpose tool. The notary verifies that a copy of a paper document matches the original you brought into the room, and applies a certificate, signature, and seal to that effect. Or, separately, the notary administers an oath or affirmation while you sign a written statement, turning that statement into a sworn statutory declaration. That is the entire scope.

What the notary does

• Certifies a true copy of an original you produce: a B.Ed. parchment, a passport biographical page, a marriage certificate, an out-of-province teaching certificate, a foreign teaching licence. The certificate page identifies the document, the date, and the notary; the seal and signature carry the legal weight.
• Commissions a statutory declaration: administers the oath or affirmation, witnesses your signature on a sworn written statement, and signs and seals the jurat. Common OCT-related declarations are "one and the same person", confirmation of identity, or a sworn account of facts surrounding a missing record.
• Witnesses signatures where the regulator's form specifically calls for a witnessed signature rather than a sworn declaration.

That's the full menu. Everything else listed below is something we are politely unable to do, even if you ask kindly and even if it would speed up your file.

What a notary cannot do for an OCT application

• Review your OCT application form for accuracy or completeness. That's between you and OCT. We can confirm we've produced the certified copy you asked for; we can't tell you whether OCT will accept the package as a whole.
• Translate documents. Translation is the work of a certified translator who is a member of ATIO, OTTIAQ, or another CTTIC-affiliated body. We do not translate, and we do not certify a translation as accurate. We can commission a translator's affidavit if the translator chooses to swear it before us.
• Vouch for your teaching qualifications. A certified copy says "this paper matches the original on the desk in front of me." It does not say "this person is qualified to teach" — that decision belongs to OCT.
• Promise OCT acceptance. No notary in Ontario can guarantee a regulator will accept a particular document. We make the certified copy in the form OCT typically asks for; the College decides.
• Apostille or authenticate the certified copy. Apostilles on Canadian-issued documents are issued by Global Affairs Canada under the Hague Apostille Convention, which Canada joined in early 2024. Some provinces also issue their own provincial authentications. The notary's seal is a Canadian-domestic instrument; if your certified copy needs to leave Canada and be recognised abroad, the apostille is a separate step.
• Give immigration advice for IETs. If you're navigating a work-permit, study-permit, or PR application alongside your OCT file, that's a regulated immigration consultant or a lawyer's work, not ours. We commission certified copies and statutory declarations within Canada; we don't advise on Canadian immigration outcomes.
• Communicate with OCT on your behalf. We do not have a back channel to the College, and we don't follow up on application status. Treat the notary appointment as a discrete, one-shot step in your timeline.

Why this scope is narrow on purpose

The Notaries Act (Ontario) defines what an Ontario notary public can do, and the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act sits beside it for sworn declarations. The narrow scope is what gives the certified copy and the statutory declaration their legal weight in front of OCT and other regulators. A notary who tries to be a translator, an evaluator, an immigration consultant, and a regulator-liaison all at once is a notary whose certified copies regulators rightly stop trusting. Keeping the scope narrow keeps the seal meaningful — which is exactly what OCT is relying on when they accept a certified true copy in place of an original.

If you're unsure whether a step on your OCT checklist is a notary step, an issuing-body step, an apostille step, or a translator step, bring the checklist to the appointment. We'll tell you which pieces are ours and which belong elsewhere, and we'll send you back to oct.ca for the calls that are above our pay grade.

Five Ottawa Scenarios

OCT files don't all look the same at the notary's desk. Below are five composite scenarios drawn from the kinds of appointments we run for teaching applicants in Ottawa, with the notary step described in each. Names and details are illustrative, not real clients.

Scenario 1: New B.Ed. graduate from uOttawa applying for initial certification

Maya finishes her Faculty of Education program at the University of Ottawa in late spring and wants to start the OCT application before summer hiring with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board closes. uOttawa's registrar transmits her transcripts and the Faculty's recommendation directly to OCT through the institutional channel. What Maya brings to our desk is a passport biographical page and her B.Ed. parchment once the convocation ceremony has happened. We make certified true copies of both. The certified copies go with her OCT application package; the originals go home. Twenty minutes start to finish.

Scenario 2: BC teacher relocating to Ottawa for a federal-department partner

Daniel has been teaching in Vancouver for six years and holds a BC teaching certificate. His partner has just been hired into a federal department in Ottawa, and they're moving in August. Under the labour-mobility framework, OCT will accept a confirmation of certification sent directly from BCTC. Daniel still has to provide certified true copies of his photo ID and his BC certificate document. He brings a passport, the BC certificate parchment, and a marriage certificate (his BC paperwork is in a maiden name). We certify all three, and BCTC is asked to send the confirmation directly to OCT.

Scenario 3: Quebec-trained teacher applying to OCT

Sophie is brevetée in Quebec under the ministère de l'Éducation and is moving from Gatineau to Ottawa for a public-school position. The labour-mobility pathway between Quebec and Ontario is well-established, but Quebec is the one province where translation often comes into play in both directions. Her teaching brevet is in French; OCT will accept that, but some supporting documents may need translation. We certify a true copy of her brevet, her passport, and her university degree parchment. A separate certified translator handles the translation steps. The MEQ-to-OCT confirmation travels regulator-to-regulator.

Scenario 4: IET from the Philippines applying through OCT evaluation

Joel earned a Bachelor of Secondary Education at a university in Manila and holds a PRC teaching licence. He is in Ottawa on a study permit while his partner works at a federal department, and he wants to start the OCT IET evaluation before he can apply for school-board postings. He brings his original PRC card, his Bachelor parchment, his Philippine passport, and a marriage certificate showing the change of his surname. We certify true copies of each document. The university transcripts must come directly from his Philippine institution; that's not our step. Translations of any supporting documents that are not in English are handled by an ATIO member separately. Joel does not ask us for immigration advice, and we do not give any — we point him to a regulated immigration consultant for any work-permit questions that arise after the OCT decision.

Scenario 5: Returning teacher with a post-marriage name change

Aisha taught in Ontario for three years, then took ten years away from the classroom while raising children, and now wants to return. During the gap she married and changed her surname. Her old OCT membership lapsed, and her B.Ed. parchment is in her maiden name. OCT can reactivate the file, but the documentation needs to bridge the two names cleanly. We certify a true copy of her marriage certificate and a true copy of her current passport, and we commission a short statutory declaration of "one and the same person" — the maiden-name graduate is the married-name applicant. The package goes back to OCT to support reactivation. Aisha's actual eligibility to return to teaching, and any conditions OCT imposes, are entirely the College's call.

The pattern across all five scenarios is the same. The notary's job is the certified copy or the sworn declaration. The decision on whether the application is complete and whether the applicant is qualified sits with OCT.

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 an OCT appointment.

Originals of every document you need certified

For each document on OCT's checklist that calls for a certified true copy, bring the original. The most common pile we see for an OCT file:

• B.Ed. or M.Ed. parchment (or international teaching-degree equivalent)
• Passport biographical page (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
• Out-of-province teaching certificate (BCTC, Alberta Education, Quebec MEQ, etc.) — the paper certificate document itself
• Foreign teaching certificate or licence (for IETs) — the original document in your possession
• Any unsealed transcript or evaluation report you intend to submit as a certified copy, if OCT accepts that

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 OCT'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 for licensing purposes.

OCT's checklist or correspondence

If you have OCT's application guide, your portal printout, or any correspondence from the College — bring it, or have it open on your phone. We won't fill out your application, but having OCT's wording in front of us helps us confirm we're producing what the College 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 OCT applicants need one certified copy per document. Some need two — one for OCT and one for a school board doing parallel onboarding, or one for a backup file you'd like to keep at home. 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

A few mistakes show up often enough at our Ottawa desk that they're worth flagging before your appointment. None of these are catastrophic — most are easy to fix once you know about them — but they can cost you a return trip or a delay on the OCT side.

Bringing photocopies instead of originals

The most common mistake is showing up with a high-quality colour photocopy of a B.Ed. parchment, or a printout of a scan of a passport, expecting that the notary will certify the copy because it "looks just like the original". A certified true copy in Ontario is a copy made by the notary from an original document examined in person. We can't certify a copy of a copy. If your only original is in storage in another city, plan to retrieve it before the appointment, or arrange a remote-online step where it's the original on your end and the certified copy is produced from a video appointment — but that's a separate conversation, not a workaround you can attempt with a photocopy on the day.

Opening a sealed transcript and asking us to certify it

Some applicants pick up their transcript from a university registrar in a sealed envelope, open it on the way home out of curiosity, then bring the loose pages to our desk hoping for a certified copy. Once a sealed transcript is opened, the seal is gone. We don't re-seal it, and OCT will treat the document as no longer institutionally certified. If OCT's checklist asks for a sealed transcript, ask the registrar to send it directly to OCT in the first place rather than to you.

Submitting self-translated documents

If your original is in a language other than English or French, OCT expects a translation produced by a certified translator who is a member of ATIO, OTTIAQ, or another CTTIC-affiliated body. A translation you produced yourself, even if it's accurate, is not what OCT is asking for. We do not translate, and we do not certify the accuracy of a translation — we can only certify that a copy matches an original-language document. The translator handles their own work, and the two pieces (original-language certified copy + certified translation) travel together to OCT.

Name mismatches with no bridge document

A B.Ed. parchment in a maiden name and a current passport in a married name with nothing in between is the documentation gap we see most. The fix is straightforward: a certified true copy of the marriage certificate or a court-ordered legal name-change order, or a sworn statutory declaration of "one and the same person" where the chain is more complicated. Build the bridge document into your appointment plan rather than discovering the gap after OCT writes back asking for clarification.

Confusing apostille with notarization

Some applicants reading older instructions, or instructions written for use of Ontario credentials abroad, confuse a notary's seal with an apostille. They are different instruments. A notary's seal is a domestic Canadian instrument; an apostille is an international certificate issued under the Hague Apostille Convention by the country of origin's designated authority — Global Affairs Canada in Canada's case, since Canada acceded to the Convention in early 2024. Most OCT applications stay within Canada and don't need an apostille. If your file is travelling overseas (a Canadian-trained teacher applying to a regulator outside Canada, for example), the apostille is a separate step after the notary step.

Booking 24 hours before an OCT deadline

OCT processing windows are unpredictable, and so is mail. If your file has to land at OCT by a specific date, give yourself a week of buffer between the notary appointment and the regulator's deadline. Same-day notary appointments are often available in Ottawa, but the postal service is the part of the chain we can't control.

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

Pricing and Booking

For a typical Ontario-trained B.Ed. graduate applying to OCT, the realistic notary cost is in the $40 to $50 range — a certified copy of photo ID and a certified copy of the parchment. For a cross-province move with a marriage certificate in the mix, expect $60 to $80. For an IET file with several documents and a sworn declaration, $80 to $120 is closer. Tell us the document list when you book and we'll give you a clean estimate before the appointment.

To confirm pricing for your exact stack of documents, contact us with the OCT checklist and the documents you intend to certify.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will OCT accept a notarized copy from an Ottawa notary?

Generally yes, where OCT's checklist calls for a certified true copy. An Ontario notary public's certified copy of a B.Ed. parchment, photo ID, marriage certificate, or out-of-province teaching certificate is the standard form OCT accepts in place of an original. We can't promise OCT will accept any specific document for any specific application — that decision belongs to the College — and we strongly recommend you read the current OCT checklist on oct.ca before your appointment, since requirements can change. Where OCT specifies that a document must come directly from the issuing institution (most notably university transcripts), no notarized copy substitutes for the institutional channel.

How long does an OCT certified-copy appointment take?

For a typical OCT applicant bringing a small stack of documents — a photo ID, a B.Ed. parchment, and a marriage certificate, for example — the appointment usually takes between 15 and 25 minutes. The bulk of that time is photocopying, attaching the certificate page to each copy, signing, and applying the seal. Larger files with five or six documents and a sworn statutory declaration can run 30 to 45 minutes. We don't bill by the minute; pricing is per document and per declaration. If you book online with the document list filled in, we can plan the slot length for your specific stack rather than the generic default.

Can you certify a copy of my B.Ed. parchment if it's been laminated?

Yes. A laminated B.Ed. parchment is fine for a certified true copy. We work with the document as it is — we won't unlamiate it, and we don't need it stripped of the lamination to make the copy. The notary's certification is on the photocopy and certificate page, not on the parchment itself, so there's no need to disturb the original. Oversized parchments that don't fit standard letter paper are also fine; we can produce an 11x17 reduction or a multi-page certified set. OCT and other regulators accept both formats. Bring the parchment as it is and we'll handle the rest.

My B.Ed. is in my maiden name and my passport is in my married name. What do I bring?

You bring both originals and the bridge document — usually a marriage certificate or a court-ordered legal name change. We make a certified true copy of each: the parchment in the maiden name, the passport in the married name, and the bridge document linking the two. If your situation is more complicated — multiple marriages, transliteration from a non-Latin script, or a name spelled differently across documents — we can commission a short statutory declaration of "one and the same person" to make the chain explicit. OCT decides whether the package is sufficient; our job is to produce clean, certified copies and a clearly worded declaration.

Do I need an apostille on my OCT certified copy?

Most OCT applicants don't. Apostilles are only relevant when a Canadian-issued document needs to be recognised by a foreign government under the Hague Apostille Convention, which Canada joined in early 2024. If you're using your Ontario teaching certificate to apply for a job overseas, the apostille is issued by Global Affairs Canada and sits on top of the notary's seal. For a domestic OCT application — Canadian-trained, cross-province from BC or Alberta to Ontario, or IET applying within Canada — the certified copy is generally enough on its own. Read your specific checklist; if it mentions the Hague Convention, ask us at the appointment and we'll flag the additional step.

Final Recommendation

If you're preparing an OCT application from Ottawa, the cleanest workflow is straightforward. Read OCT's current checklist for your application path on oct.ca twice — once to understand the shape of the file, once with a highlighter to mark every line that calls for a "certified true copy" or a sworn declaration. Those highlighted lines are your notary list. Everything else either comes from the issuing institution, travels regulator-to-regulator, or sits with a certified translator or another professional.

Then book one appointment, bring all the originals on the highlighted list at once, and walk out with a clean stack of certified copies the same morning. We can handle a typical Ontario-trained, cross-province, or IET file in 20 to 45 minutes depending on the document count.

What we won't do — and what no honest notary should do — is tell you whether OCT will accept the package as a whole, advise on which application path to use, or weigh in on immigration questions running in parallel for IET applicants. For those calls, the College's published guidance is the source of truth, and a regulated immigration consultant or a lawyer is the right professional. Our job is the certified copy and the statutory declaration, done well, on the day you need them.

Book Your Appointment

If you're ready to certify your OCT documents in Ottawa, here's the practical detail.

• Certified true copies start at $20 per document. Bring originals.
• Statutory declarations start at $25, including the "one and the same person" name-change declarations OCT applicants commonly need.
• Phone: (613) 434-5555 — call to book or to ask whether your specific document is a notary step or an issuing-body step.
• In person: contact us to confirm address and to book a slot.
• Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Saturday, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Closed Sundays.

Same-day appointments are often available. If your OCT deadline is tight, call rather than book online so we can fit you in.

We'll expand any block on this page on request — just bring your OCT checklist and the originals it points to.

Sources

• Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)
• OCT — Becoming a teacher in Ontario
• OCT — Internationally educated teachers
• BC Teacher Regulation Branch — Out-of-province teachers
• Alberta Education — Teacher certification
• Quebec ministère de l'Éducation — Teaching authorization
• Canadian Free Trade Agreement — Labour mobility (Chapter 7)
• Global Affairs Canada — Authentication and apostille
• Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario (ATIO)
• Ordre des traducteurs, terminologues et interprètes agréés du Québec (OTTIAQ)
• Notaries Act (Ontario)
• Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act (Ontario)