For Private Legal Documents to get used abroad, they must first get notarized by a Canadian notary. After that, the documents proceed through a process known as document authentication and legalization. The authentication and legalization process is the Canadian equivalent of an Apostille or Attestation.

Legal Documents that are Canadian in origin can get translated into the country’s language where they are destined. It is essential to determine if the translations must be authenticated and legalized. We will happily discuss your specific situation.

With the assistance of MCA Process Service, our related company, we can take the necessary steps to obtain documents from any court located across Canada. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation and provide you with a timeline and costing.

Our office works with many certified Canadian translators. We are capable of assisting with the translation of your document when required. The speed at which documents get translated or the translation cost can vary depending upon a few factors. These factors include the nature of the document and complexity. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your needs while offering cost-effective solutions.

The speed at which documents get authenticated and legalized can vary depending upon the particular diplomatic mission. Reach out to our office, and we will happily discuss your requirements and offer the expected timelines.

Our unique approach, the “Completion Time Method”, balances the total time required to have documents authenticated by Global Affairs and legalized by a specific Embassy or Consulate. We suggest a processing option that best fits your situation. The processing option that we recommend typically means that you are not paying high fees for our services. We would be happy to discuss your specific requirements and help you determine a cost-effective processing package.

Our office will always provide a breakdown of fees that meets your specific requirements. We provide a fully itemized quote that lists our fees and disbursements.

We suggest using a national courier such as FedEx, Purolator, DHL or Canada Post “Xpresspost”.  Each of these courier options offers a form of tracking and considering that the documents are sensitive in nature the ability to track your item is strongly recommended.

Once the authentication and legalization services have been completed, our clients can provide a prepaid return courier to our office.  If however it is more convenient, our office will happily arrange for the return courier either to our client directly or to an authorized third party of their choosing.

At Capital Authentication we do not like to return documents to a client using regular lettermail.  Regular lettermail is not encouraged given the sensitive nature of the documents.  However, where a client has specifically requests this method of return, we will comply.

This is a very good question and it really depends upon where one intends to use the document.  As long as the document is a Canadian document, Global Affairs Canada will authenticate either an original document or a notarized copy of the document.  If using a notarized document, the notary must be a Canadian notary.   The more important question to ask is whether the diplomatic mission in question will accept notarized documents instead of original documents.  It is always best to consult the diplomatic mission to determine if original documents and/or notarized documents can be used.  There are some diplomatic missions that will only accept original documents.

Should a problem arise with the processing of your documents due to a change in policy or requirements by Global Affairs Canada or at a particular diplomatic mission our office will be in contact with our clients immediately, by e-mail and/or telephone, so as to identify the problem and determine the best possible solution.

There are many instances when it is more convenient for a client to have documents sent directly to our office as opposed to their receiving them first.  For example, government issued documents such as birth certificates can be sent directly to us.  We can receive them and start compiling a client dossier with the authentication and legalization component to commence once we have all of the documents.