Notary Fees in Ontario: What Notaries Charge and Why

Last updated: October 14, 2026

Notary Fees in Ontario: What Notaries Charge and Why

Quick answer: Ontario does not set a standard notary fee; each notary sets its own. Minute Notary charges a flat $24.95 per seal plus HST, online by video or in person, every day from 8 AM to 8 PM. The other Ontario notaries in our comparison post $28 to $150 before HST for the first seal, and several add travel, holiday or instant-service charges on top. Most notaries charge per seal (one signature and seal by the notary), so a 20-page affidavit sworn once is one fee. An MPP constituency office or a community legal clinic may commission an affidavit free, but they are commissioners, not notaries, and cannot certify copies or seal a document for use abroad. Every rate we charge is on our pricing page.

Below: how our price compares with the posted rates of other Ontario notaries, what you get for it, what is usually extra, and the free routes with their limits. For a question about your own document, contact us or call (613) 434-5555.

Caption: One seal is one notarial act: the notary signs and seals once. That is the unit most Ontario notaries price by.

Key Takeaways

Minute Notary vs Other Ontario Notaries

We opened the public pricing page of each office below on October 14, 2026, and recorded three things: the posted price of the first seal, whether it offers an online appointment, and what it charges to come to you (the travel fee, on top of the seals).

Posted prices on each office's own public pricing page on October 14, 2026, before HST unless the page says otherwise. "—" means the page does not offer or price it. The offices are described, not named; we keep each page's address and the date on file. Prices change without notice, and the page you book from is the price you pay. The table compares us with the offices whose pages we opened; it is not a list of every notary in Ontario.

What stands out:

• Every other office in the table starts above us, at $28 to $150 for the first seal. Ours is $24.95.
• One price, online or in person. Several offices in the table charge more for an online appointment than for an in-person one. Ours is $24.95 either way.
• A flat travel fee. Ours is $60 once per trip, up to 30 km from our nearest office in Ottawa or Toronto. Posted travel fees elsewhere in the table go up to $599, and several are charged by the kilometre, by zone or by distance band.

Why Clients Choose Minute Notary

Price is only part of it. This is what the $24.95 includes, and how the appointment works.

• One flat price. $24.95 per seal plus HST, online or in person, weekday or weekend. A Sunday evening costs the same as a Tuesday morning, and same-day is the ordinary price.
• Open every day, 8 AM to 8 PM. Saturday and Sunday included, booked online in a few minutes.
• About 3 to 4 minutes online. Join from your phone, tablet or computer, and sign on the same device with your finger or mouse. Nothing to print.
• The sealed PDF by email. You receive it with a completion certificate shortly after the appointment, and the receiving organization can check it at minutenotary.ca/verify. If they want paper, add a printed copy at checkout and we mail it anywhere in Canada.
• We come to you. A mobile visit anywhere in Ontario, at home, at work, in a hospital or a care home: $60 once per trip, up to 30 km from our nearest office; beyond that, an additional travel fee applies.
• The full total before you pay. No per-page charges, no complex-document surcharges, and no consultation fee for a quick question.
• Students and low-income families can save up to 15% on online appointments. Please contact us.
• The next step too. Certified true copies, wills and powers of attorney, and apostille and authentication for documents going abroad, from one team.

How Notaries Count a Fee

Every notary charges for the same thing, a notarial act, but counts it differently. Three models cover almost every pricing page.

Per seal, stamp or notarization. One unit under three names: the notary signs and seals once. A multi-page document sworn once is one seal. Each exhibit to an affidavit is usually one more, because the notary endorses every exhibit; several pages in our table say so, and Minute Notary counts one stamp per exhibit. Each certified true copy is one seal.

Per signature. Some offices count each person who signs, so one document signed by two people is two acts. The Ontario walk-in chain in our table charges by the number of times it signs and seals. At Minute Notary the first signer is included and each additional signer on the same document is $24.95.

First-and-additional tiers, and bundles. Most offices in the table charge more for the first seal than for each one after it, sometimes in steps. Minute Notary charges $24.95 for every seal, the first one and the tenth, so you can work out your total before you book. Wills and powers of attorney are often priced per document or as a set: the province-wide online network posts them from $119.95 per document; Minute Notary charges $115 for one estate document in person, $200 for any two, and $240 for a will plus both powers of attorney.

What Is Usually Extra

The headline price on most pages covers one act for one person. Here is what the offices in our table charge on top, next to ours.

• Travel. The Ontario walk-in chain posts $139 to $599; the Toronto and Ottawa chain, from $199; the Mississauga office with curbside service, $150 within 5 km; the London office, $98.95 under 20 km; each plus the notarization. Minute Notary: $60 once per trip, up to 30 km from our nearest office in Ottawa or Toronto; beyond that, an additional travel fee applies.
• Evening, weekend, holiday and instant service. The Mississauga lawyer's office adds $30 for an evening, weekend or urgent appointment; the Toronto office that also works online adds $32.99 on a statutory holiday; the province-wide online network adds $8.95 for instant online service. Minute Notary has no evening, weekend or same-day surcharge; its one timing charge is an $8 instant booking fee when an online slot starts within 20 minutes of checkout.
• Per-page charges. The North Toronto paralegal office adds $1 per page for a multi-page document. Minute Notary never charges per page.
• HST. 13% on top at every page that mentions tax.
• Card fees. Minute Notary passes through card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 on online payments, shown as its own line before you pay. Most other pages do not say whether a card fee applies.

Caption: On a home visit the travel fee is one line and the seals are another. Online, the card processing fee is shown as its own line too.

A worked example: one affidavit with two exhibits, signed by one person, is three seals at any per-seal office. At $24.95 per seal that is $74.85 before HST; online, card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 is added on the amount including HST and shown before you pay.

Online vs In Person

Ontario lets affidavits and statutory declarations be commissioned over video under O. Reg. 431/20, and the province's guide for commissioners sets out the modified jurat and the record to keep. That is the "online notary" most pages are selling: a video call, an ID check, the oath or affirmation, and a signed, sealed document sent back to you. Our online notary service works that way, and the appointment averages 3 to 4 minutes once the call starts.

Some acts stay in person. Certifying a true copy needs the notary to inspect the paper original, and witnessing an ordinary signature needs the notary in the room. Minute Notary also witnesses wills and powers of attorney in person only, as a matter of our own practice. For those, we come to you on a mobile visit.

On price, the table shows three patterns: the same price either way (Minute Notary and a few others), less online (the province-wide network, $43.95 against $48.85), and more online at several offices (the Peel Region office that also works online, for example, $49.99 against $35). Online removes the travel fee in every case.

Free and Low-Cost Options, and Their Limits

Not every sworn document needs a notary, and not every commissioner charges. Here is what the offices themselves say, limits included.

MPP constituency offices. Members of Provincial Parliament can commission documents, and many constituency offices do it for constituents at no charge. MPP Monica Ciriello's office page: "As your Member of Provincial Parliament, MPP Monica Ciriello is authorized to commission a variety of documents, including affidavits and statutory declarations. This service is offered free of charge to Hamilton constituents." MPP Jess Dixon's services page: "We are pleased to be able to offer Commissioner of Oaths services free of charge." The limits are on the same pages: set hours by appointment, a list of the forms the office will take, no certified true copies, and no guarantee "that your documents can or will be commissioned." Each office decides what it will sign. Call yours first.

Municipal clerks. Ontario's page on finding a commissioner says you can swear an affidavit for municipal business before a clerk at city hall, and that "a fee may be charged for this service." The City of Toronto's City Clerk's Office posts $28.85 including HST per document for provincial affidavits, provincial registrations, and travel and immigration documents, and no charge for City business and pension documents. It will not commission wills, codicils, or "documents requiring the signature of a guarantor or a Notary Public."

Community legal clinics. The Community Advocacy & Legal Centre: "We provide commissioning of affidavits and notarial services to those living on a low income," and those who qualify financially "do not have to pay for either of these services." The Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County helps with documents for subsidized housing, income assistance, child care subsidies and name or gender marker changes, not with family law, corporate declarations or real estate.

Banks and credit unions. Some branches have a staff member who holds a commissioner appointment and will swear a document for their own customers, usually the bank's own forms. We found no bank page that posts it, so call first.

Courthouses and ServiceOntario. The province's page points court filers to the courthouse and vehicle transfers to a ServiceOntario centre with commissioner services, says in each case that a fee may be charged, and notes that commissioning is not available at the court counter at this time.

Caption: Many MPP offices commission affidavits and declarations for constituents at no charge. They decide what they will sign, and they are not notaries.

When a free commissioner is not enough. Ontario's guide for commissioners says the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act "does not itself authorize commissioners to certify true copies of documents," and the province's find-a-notary page says a notary public has all the powers of a commissioner and can also verify signatures, marks and copies. You need a notary public, and will pay a fee, when:

• the document is going abroad and needs a notary's seal before an apostille or authentication; see apostille vs notarization;
• you need a certified true copy of a passport, diploma or other original;
• the receiving office names a notary public for a witnessed signature;
• the free office will not take the document, such as a will, a separation agreement or a real estate form.

Our notary public vs commissioner of oaths guide sorts documents by which one they need; our commissioner of oaths page covers the ones that need only commissioning.

What a notary can and cannot do: A notary public checks your government photo ID, administers the oath or affirmation, watches you sign, and signs and seals the document; a notary can also certify a true copy and witness a signature. A notary does not draft your document, choose your form, advise on what it should say, or guarantee that the receiving office will accept it. Those answers come from the receiving office or your own lawyer.

How Minute Notary Prices It

One flat rate per seal, posted in full before you book. The pricing page has every figure, worked examples and the FAQ; this is the short version.

A document sworn or signed once is one seal, however many pages; each exhibit and each additional signer is one more. Every line is shown before you pay, and the online appointment averages 3 to 4 minutes once the call starts.

How the Appointment Works with Minute Notary

1. Tell us what you have. Contact us or call (613) 434-5555 with the document type, how many documents and how many people sign. We tell you how many seals that is and whether it is done online or on a mobile visit.
2. Book and see the total. Every line, HST and card fee included, is shown before you confirm. Leave the signature lines blank.
3. The appointment. Online: a short video call, your photo ID, the oath or affirmation, your signature while the notary watches, and the sealed document back to you. In person: the same steps at your door, with the travel fee charged once per trip.
4. After. If a receiving office needs more copies or seals, each is the same $24.95.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a notary charge in Ontario?

Each notary sets its own fee; Ontario posts no standard rate. Minute Notary charges $24.95 per seal plus HST, online or in person, every day from 8 AM to 8 PM. The other Ontario notaries in our comparison posted $28 to $150 before HST for the first seal on October 14, 2026. Most charge per seal, meaning one signature and seal by the notary, so a multi-page document sworn once is one fee. Travel, extra witnesses, holiday or instant service, HST and card fees can come on top.

Are notary fees regulated in Ontario?

Ontario does not post a standard notary fee; each notary sets their own. The province's own page on finding a notary public or commissioner says only that "a fee may be charged for this service" and names no amount. The fixed fees you will meet are the ones public bodies post for their own counters, such as the City of Toronto's $28.85 including HST per document at the City Clerk's Office.

Can I get a document notarized for free in Ontario?

You can often get an affidavit or statutory declaration commissioned for free. Many MPP constituency offices do it for constituents, and community legal clinics do it for clients who qualify financially. Those are commissioners of oaths, and each office decides what it will sign. A commissioner cannot certify a true copy or put a notary public's seal on a document going abroad; for those you need a notary public, and a fee applies.

Is a commissioner of oaths cheaper than a notary?

Often, but not because of a rule. A commissioner of oaths can only administer oaths and take affidavits and declarations, so commissioning tends to sit at the low end of the price range or is offered free by public offices. A notary public has all the powers of a commissioner and can also certify copies and witness signatures. At Minute Notary, commissioning and notarizing are the same $24.95 per seal plus HST.

What counts as one seal or stamp?

One notarial act: the notary signs and seals once. A 20-page affidavit sworn once is one seal. Each exhibit attached to an affidavit is usually one more, because the notary marks and endorses each exhibit. Each certified true copy is one seal. At offices that charge per signature, a document signed by two people is two acts. Ask "per what?" before you compare two prices.

Is it cheaper to notarize online or in person?

It depends on the office. In our comparison, a few offices charge the same online and in person, one charges less online, and several charge more online. Online always removes the travel fee. At Minute Notary the seal is $24.95 plus HST either way; paying online adds card processing of 2.9% + $0.30, and a mobile visit adds a $60 travel fee once per trip, up to 30 km from our nearest office.

Do I pay HST on notary fees?

Yes. Most notary pricing pages add 13% HST on top of the posted figure, and a few do not say either way. A few public bodies quote a tax-included price, such as the City of Toronto's $28.85 including HST per document. When you compare two notaries, check whether each figure is before or after HST.

Why do some notaries charge less for the second document?

The first act carries the fixed cost of the appointment: checking your ID, keeping the record and setting the time aside. Many offices price the first seal higher and each extra seal lower, sometimes in steps. Minute Notary charges the same $24.95 for every seal, so the first one costs the same as the tenth and you can work out the total before you book.

Final Recommendation

For a single document, Minute Notary's $24.95 is less than the first-seal price at every other office in our comparison, it is the same online or in person, and the full total is on screen before you pay. If a free commissioner will take your affidavit or statutory declaration for use in Ontario, that route costs nothing. If the document is going abroad, needs a certified true copy or names a notary public, contact us and we will tell you how many seals it needs and whether it can be done online today.

Book Your Appointment

Need a document notarized or commissioned? Minute Notary charges $24.95 per seal plus HST, online or in person, with every line shown before you pay.

• Contact us: Ask a question or request a visit
• Call: (613) 434-5555
• Posted rates: Pricing
• Service pages: Online notary, Mobile notary, Commissioner of oaths, Certified copies
• Related guides: Notary public vs commissioner of oaths, Apostille vs notarization
• Hours: Every day, Saturday and Sunday included, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Ottawa time)

Sources

Posted fees, each opened on October 14, 2026:

• Twenty-four public notary pricing pages in Ontario. The businesses are not named in this article; the address and the date for each row are kept in our editorial file.
• Minute Notary: Pricing

Official and public-office pages, each opened on October 14, 2026:

• Ontario: Find a notary public or commissioner of oaths for taking affidavits
• Ontario: Guide for newly appointed commissioners for taking affidavits in Ontario
• City of Toronto: Certifying legal documents (Commissioner of Oaths)
• MPP Monica Ciriello: Commissioning Document Request
• MPP Jess Dixon: Services
• Community Advocacy & Legal Centre: Commissioning and notarizing
• Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County: Commissioner/Notary