Official Documents Services, the Ontario office that issues apostilles and certificates of authentication, does not read the document it is given. ontario.ca says so directly: ODS does not validate contents. It looks at two things. Is this a kind of paper the province is allowed to authenticate? And do the signature and seal on it match the specimen it holds on file? A document that comes back unauthenticated failed one of those two questions, or arrived in a package the office could not process.
That makes a refusal easier to read than it first looks. The grounds are published, on the province's authentication page (last updated June 8, 2026) and on the federal page run by Global Affairs Canada. Each one starts at a particular moment: when the paper was issued, when it was notarized, when the request was put together, or when it was sent to an office that does not handle it.
The published grounds in one register
The table lists every reason the two government pages give, with the point in the paper's life where it was created.
| Ground for not authenticating | Where it starts |
|---|---|
| Commissioned by a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits, with no notary public involved | The signing appointment |
| Part of the notary's signature or seal on a different page from the rest of it | The signing appointment |
| Name or seal not identical to what ODS holds for that notary or signing officer | The notary's file at ODS |
| Issued outside Canada, with no signature sworn or witnessed before an Ontario notary | The issuer |
| Religious record, such as a baptismal certificate | The issuer |
| Already legalized by a consulate or embassy | An earlier trip through the chain |
| Pseudo-legal paper that states invented rules as law | The issuer |
| Electronic copy instead of a paper original | The request |
| Service request form incomplete, or payment missing | The request |
| Language other than English or French, without a translation in one of the two accepted forms | The request |
| Considered fraudulent or suspicious | ODS's own discretion |
| Federal document, or one notarized in a province GAC serves, sent to Ontario (or the reverse) | The choice of office |
Three of the twelve start at the desk where the paper was signed. Those are the ones a notary can prevent, so they come first below.
Faults made when the paper is signed
A commissioner's stamp alone
Many people in Ontario can take an affidavit: lawyers, paralegals, municipal clerks, and anyone appointed as a commissioner. Only a notary public's act puts a document on ODS's list. The province names documents commissioned by a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits among the papers it cannot authenticate, so a declaration sworn before a commissioner who is not also a notary goes back, however correct its wording. The difference between the two appointments is set out in the article on notaries and commissioners. Ilya Kershtein holds both, and a paper meant for use abroad is signed before him as a notary public.
A seal that runs onto the next page
ODS compares every part of the notary's signature and seal with its record, and it wants all of them visible together on one page of the document. A stamp that starts at the bottom of page three and finishes on a separate certificate page cannot be matched as a whole. The province's answer is blunt: the document has to be notarized again or issued again. No correction is made at the ODS counter.
A name or seal that does not match the file
Each notary's specimen sits with ODS, and the name and seal on the paper have to be identical to it. A name spelled differently from the record, or a seal other than the one on file, gives ODS nothing to compare. The office also lists a status of good standing for a notary public among its services, which is how an outsider confirms that a given notary is on its file.
Papers no resubmission can fix
Some documents are outside the province's authority however they are presented. Sending the same paper again gets the same answer.
- A document issued in another country. ODS authenticates only the Ontario notary's act on it, which means a signature sworn or witnessed in front of an Ontario notary. A foreign birth or marriage certificate on its own is not something the notary or the province can vouch for.
- Baptismal certificates and other religious records.
- A document a consulate or embassy has already legalized. It has finished the chain once.
- Paper written to look legal that announces rules no law contains.
A separate group sits close to this one: Ontario records issued before the date ODS began accepting them directly. Business registry documents qualify from 1991, court documents of the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice from July 10, 2023, and degrees, diplomas and transcripts of Ontario public colleges and universities from January 1, 2019. Older ones are not refused outright; they travel through a notary instead. For a certificate of divorce issued before July 10, 2023, the court can also issue a new one. Degree papers that need the notary step are covered on the degree and transcript certification page.
Faults in the request itself
A correctly notarized document still comes back when the package around it is wrong. ontario.ca sets the request out in five moves:
- Check the document on the province's authentication portal.
- Have it notarized if the portal says it has to be.
- Start the request online, or fill in the paper service request form.
- Mail the documents and the payment to ODS at 777 Bay Street in Toronto, or bring them in person to ODS or to one of the ServiceOntario centres that take them, in Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Windsor and Thunder Bay.
- Wait for the certificate: about 30 minutes at a counter for a complete request, up to 15 business days after receipt by mail.
Two things break most often at step 3 and 4. A scan or a PDF is not accepted at all, because ODS authenticates only hard copies. And an incomplete form or a missing payment stops the request before anyone looks at the seal. Mailed requests go back by regular mail; tracking needs a prepaid return envelope or a return waybill sent with the request.
Languages other than English or French
A document in another language has to be issued in Canada, notarized by an Ontario notary, and sent with a translation. The province accepts the translation in two forms. One is the work of a certified Canadian translator. The other is a translation carrying a statement by an Ontario notary who speaks English or French and the language of the document, attesting to both languages and certifying that the translation is accurate. How translations and notarial acts fit together is explained on the certified translations page.
The wrong office
Canada has more than one competent authority, and each handles its own documents. Ontario covers papers issued in Ontario and papers notarized in Ontario. Global Affairs Canada covers documents issued by the Government of Canada, and documents issued or notarized in Manitoba, in all three territories, and in the four Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador). A criminal record check issued federally, for example, belongs to GAC, while the same person's Ontario birth certificate belongs to ODS.
GAC publishes its own list of papers it will not authenticate, and it overlaps with Ontario's only in part:
- anything without an original signature or seal, which rules out plain photocopies;
- seals or signatures it does not know and cannot verify;
- religious documents, such as baptismal and religious marriage certificates;
- documents of foreign origin;
- papers from educational institutions it does not recognise;
- glued or laminated documents.
GAC says it informs the applicant in writing when it cannot authenticate a document, and it may refer a request to the authority that does handle it.
What ODS leaves to others
The province is clear about three limits of its own role. ODS has no notary on staff, so the notarial act happens before the request, never at the ODS counter. It cannot tell anyone what a foreign consulate or embassy requires; that answer comes from the destination. And because it checks only the signature and seal, an apostille confirms who signed and in what capacity. It says nothing about whether the receiving office will accept what the document says.
Once a certificate is issued, the province lets anyone verify an Ontario apostille online with its number and date of issue. That is also the quickest way for a receiving office abroad to confirm the paper is genuine. The route from a signature at this office to the certificate at 777 Bay Street, and the papers that skip the notary step altogether, are laid out on the apostille service page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will ODS fix a small problem with a notarized document at the counter?
No. ODS has no notary on staff and does not change documents. Where the notary's signature or seal is split across pages, the province says the document has to be notarized again or issued again before it can be authenticated.
Can ODS authenticate an affidavit sworn before a commissioner for taking affidavits?
Not when a commissioner alone commissioned it. ontario.ca lists documents commissioned by a Commissioner for Taking Affidavits among those ODS cannot authenticate. The signature has to be sworn or witnessed before an Ontario notary public, whose seal ODS holds on file.
Does ODS accept a scanned or emailed copy of a document?
No. The province authenticates hard copies only and states that electronic copies will not be authenticated. A request can be started online, but the paper document itself is delivered in person or mailed to 777 Bay Street in Toronto.
How can someone abroad check that an Ontario apostille is real?
Ontario lets anyone verify an apostille online with the certificate's number and its date of issue, both printed on the certificate. The check confirms the certificate was issued; it does not say anything about the contents of the document attached to it.