"Please provide a certified true copy of your passport." It is one of the most common instructions on any application form, and one of the least explained. A certified true copy is not a photocopy that somebody stamped. It is a notarial act with a specific meaning, and the person signing it is putting their own name behind a comparison they personally made.
What the notary is certifying
The notary is stating that they saw the original document, that they compared the copy against it, and that the copy is a complete and faithful reproduction. Nothing more — and the "nothing more" is the point.
A certified copy of a diploma does not certify that the diploma is genuine, that the university is accredited, or that you earned the degree. It certifies that a document exists in the physical world and that this paper matches it. The receiving institution does the rest. Understanding that saves a lot of frustration, because it explains why the notary will not certify a copy of a copy: there is no original to compare against, so there is nothing to certify.
Who can make one
In Ontario a notary public can certify a true copy. A Commissioner for Taking Affidavits cannot — that role is limited to administering oaths and affirmations. This single fact accounts for a large share of documents being sent back, because the two stamps look equally official to someone who has never needed either.
Some receiving bodies accept other certifiers — a lawyer, a bank manager, a consular officer, or in the case of certain federal applications a defined list of professionals. The instruction sheet from the body asking for the copy is authoritative; nothing else is.
What has to be in the room
- The original. Not a scan, not a photo on a phone, not a previously certified copy. If the original is held by an institution, they usually issue certified copies themselves.
- The whole document. A twelve-page contract is certified as twelve pages. Certifying page four alone changes what the copy means.
- Your identification, where the copy is of an identity document or where the receiving body requires the holder to attend.
Documents that regularly need certifying: passports and PR cards, driver's licences, birth and marriage certificates, degrees and transcripts, bank statements, corporate records, and court orders.
Where a certified copy is not the answer
Three situations look like they need a certified copy and do not:
- A vital statistics record. Ontario birth, marriage and death certificates are reissued by ServiceOntario, and most authorities want that official reissue rather than a notarised copy.
- A document going abroad. The certified copy is usually step one, not the finish. What the destination wants is normally the certified copy plus an apostille.
- A sworn statement about a document. If the form wants you to declare something about the document rather than reproduce it, that is a statutory declaration — a different act, with an oath attached.
The practical order
Ask the receiving body three questions before booking anything: who may certify, whether they need the copy authenticated for use outside Canada, and whether they have a template or wording they require. The answers decide whether you need fifteen minutes at a notary's desk or a two-stage process, and they are free to obtain.
What the certification actually says
The wording varies between offices, but the substance does not. A certification identifies the notary, states that the original was produced and examined, states that the copy was compared against it, and certifies that the copy is a true and complete reproduction. It is dated, signed and sealed, and it names the capacity in which the notary acted.
Two habits follow from that wording. Multi-page documents are normally certified as a whole and the pages kept together, because a certification that a "document" is a true copy means nothing if pages can be swapped out afterwards. And the certification is applied to the copy itself rather than to a separate sheet, for the same reason an apostille is attached rather than stamped: the statement and the object it describes have to stay together.
Copies of identity documents
Passports, PR cards and driver's licences are the most frequently certified documents in any notary office, and the requests around them are unusually specific. Some institutions want the photo page only; others want every page including the blank ones, precisely so that entry and exit stamps can be seen. Immigration and consular applications often specify which.
Two points regularly surprise people. A certified copy of a passport does not prove the passport is valid on the day it is read — it proves that a document existed and matched, on the date the notary saw it, which is why the certification is dated so prominently. And the holder normally has to attend: a notary certifying a copy of someone else's identity document, without that person present, is doing something rather different from certifying a copy of a contract.
The naming, which causes half the confusion
"Certified true copy", "notarised copy", "true copy of the original" and "attested copy" all describe the same notarial act in ordinary use. What is not the same is a notarised statement about a document — a statutory declaration in which you swear that an attached copy is genuine. That is an oath, not a comparison, and the two are not interchangeable when a form asks for one specifically.
Also different: a certified copy issued by the body that created the document. A university registrar's sealed transcript, a ServiceOntario reissued birth certificate, a court-certified order — these come from the source and are usually preferred over any notarial copy where the source can supply one. When an institution says "we require a certified copy", the useful follow-up question is whether they mean from the issuer or from a notary.
A short checklist before the appointment
- The original, complete, with every page present
- Your photo identification, if the copy is of an identity document or the receiving body requires attendance
- Written instructions from whoever asked for the copy — how many, which pages, any wording they require
- Confirmation of whether the copy is going outside Canada, since that adds a second step
Those four items are the difference between one appointment and two, and none of them costs anything to establish beforehand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I certify a copy of a copy?
No. The certification is a statement that the notary compared the copy to the original in front of them. Without the original there is nothing to compare it to, so the act cannot be performed, no matter how good the earlier copy looks.
Does the notary keep my original?
No. The original is examined, the copy is certified, and the original goes back to you in the same appointment. A notary has no reason to retain it and should not ask to.
Will a certified copy be accepted outside Canada?
A foreign authority has no way to check an Ontario notary’s seal on its own, which is why they usually also ask for an apostille. Since 11 January 2024 that is a single certificate issued by the province for the more than 120 Hague Convention countries.
Can a bank or my employer certify a copy instead?
Sometimes, and only the body asking for the copy can tell you. Some applications name an exact list of who may certify; others accept a notary only. Check the instruction sheet before assuming either way.