Guide · Notary practices

What a notary
site may say.

In Ontario, "notary public" is an office you are appointed to, not a profession you can open on your own. Lawyers and paralegals can apply for it, and their websites then answer to two sets of rules: the Notaries Act and its neighbours, and the Law Society's marketing rules. The Law Society has already warned about one mistake in particular: offering notarization online.

Published 2026-11-04 · Formory Marketing Group

Under section 1 of the Notaries Act, the Attorney General appoints notaries public. Ontario's information for notaries says there are no notaries by virtue of office: everyone, including lawyers and paralegals, must apply and be appointed. A lawyer's or paralegal's appointment lasts for life while their licence is in good standing, and is suspended if the licence is suspended or in abeyance (section 7).

Anyone else can be appointed only if notarizing is a required part of their existing job. The ministry's application page says appointments are not granted to start a new line of business or expand services to clients, and non-lawyer notaries may only notarize documents for the business or organization they were appointed for. Since January 1, 2026, those appointments run for 10 years under Regulation 831, section 3.

Section 6(3) of the Act makes it an offence, with a fine of up to $10,000, to carry on business as a notary public, hold yourself out as one, or perform a notary's functions without a current appointment. A "Notary services" page is a statement that you hold one. The Law Society adds a detail for licensees: to charge a fee for notarial work, a lawyer or paralegal must be in the 50% or 100% fee category.

Lawyers and paralegals are automatically commissioners for taking affidavits under O. Reg. 386/12. That lets them take affidavits and administer oaths, affirmations and declarations. It does not let them notarize. Ontario's guidance says commissioners cannot notarize documents or certify true copies, and that commissioned documents cannot be apostilled.

A notary has all of a commissioner's powers, and can also witness or certify and attest the signing of a document and certify true copies (Notaries Act, section 3). So a paralegal office that has not been appointed can advertise commissioning, but not notarization or certified true copies. The statutory style for an appointed commissioner, in section 4(4) of the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act, is "A commissioner for taking affidavits in and for the courts in Ontario".

Section 3(3) of the Notaries Act lets a notary act without being in the person's physical presence only if regulations provide for it. The only regulation under the Act, Regulation 831, deals with appointment fees and terms. Ontario's notary guidance says it directly: remote notarization is not permitted, and documents notarized remotely will not be authenticated or apostilled by Ontario's Official Documents Services.

The Law Society issued a notice to the professions on February 26, 2025 after seeing a proliferation of online notary services in Ontario. It warns that licensees offering them may face regulatory action and that documents notarized that way may be invalid. Its practice resource, dated August 31, 2026, repeats that all notarizations must be done in person.

"Virtual notary", "notarize online in 10 minutes" and a booking button labelled "video notarization" should come off an Ontario notary's site, Google listing and ads.

Commissioning is different. Section 9 of the Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act requires oaths and declarations to be taken in person unless a regulation allows otherwise, and O. Reg. 431/20 does. Its current text, in force since March 1, 2026, sets five conditions: an electronic method that lets participants see, hear and communicate in real time for the whole transaction; confirmation of the deponent's identity; a modified jurat stating that the oath was administered under the regulation and where each person was; the stamp information where the commissioner's appointment requires a stamp; and reasonable precautions, including making sure the person understands what they are signing. Section 2 requires a record of each remote transaction.

Signing a jurat without properly administering the oath is an offence with a fine of up to $2,000 (section 10). On the website, "affidavits and statutory declarations by video" is accurate. "Notarization by video" is not.

Section 26.1 of the Law Society Act bars anyone who is not a licensee from holding themselves out as able to provide legal services, with fines of up to $25,000 and then $50,000. Section 1 counts drafting wills, powers of attorney and documents affecting property as legal services. A non-lawyer notary's site should not offer them.

Immigration is a separate trap. Section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act allows only members of a provincial law society (including Ontario paralegals), notaries who belong to the Chambre des notaires du Québec, and members of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants to represent or advise for a fee. IRCC says it will not deal with unauthorized paid representatives. An Ontario notary appointment is not on that list, and holding a consultant's licence does not make anyone a notary, which in Ontario comes only by appointment. A page that runs "notary and immigration services" together should say which licence covers which service.

When a lawyer markets notarial work, Rule 4.2-1 of the Rules of Professional Conduct requires it to be demonstrably true, accurate and verifiable, and not misleading. Rule 4.2-1.1 requires every piece of marketing to say the lawyer is licensed as a lawyer, and the commentary expects it to say whether services are provided by lawyers, paralegals or both. Paralegals have the same duties under Rule 8.03, including identifying themselves as licensed paralegals. The lawyers' commentary treats words such as "best" and "#1" as awards or rankings that must be genuine.

Fees follow Rule 4.2-2 and Paralegal Rule 8.03(3): each advertised fee must be reasonably precise about the service it buys, say whether disbursements, third-party charges and taxes are extra, and be honoured in every case. No Ontario regulation sets what a notary may charge the public; Regulation 831 only sets what notaries pay the government. The Competition Act adds that a price you cannot actually pay because of fixed extra fees is misleading. "$25 per signature, HST extra, each additional page $10" works. "From $25" with a booking fee hidden until checkout does not.

Your name and licence type, lawyer or paralegal, on every page and in the Google listing description. "Notary Public, Ontario" only if you hold the appointment. Separate lines for notarization and true copies (in person only) and for affidavits and declarations (in person or by video). If you help with documents going abroad, use Ontario's wording: Official Documents Services issues apostilles and certificates of authentication, and, per its authentication page, a notary who attests a translation must state that they speak English or French and the document's language. Fees with what each covers. Our notes on websites for notaries cover the rest.

This is a plain summary of the Ontario and federal statutes, regulations and Law Society rules listed below as of November 2026, not legal advice.

• Notaries Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. N.6 — sections 1 to 3, 6 and 7
• R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 831 (General) under the Notaries Act, as amended by O. Reg. 338/25 and 336/26
• Commissioners for Taking Affidavits Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.17 — sections 4, 9 and 10
• O. Reg. 431/20, Administering Oath or Declaration Remotely, as amended by O. Reg. 21/26
• O. Reg. 386/12, Commissioners and Other Persons Who May Take Affidavits
• Ontario — Information for notaries public in Ontario (August 18, 2026)
• Ontario — Becoming a commissioner or notary public (non-lawyer and non-paralegal)
• Ontario — Authenticate a document for use outside Canada
• Law Society of Ontario — Notice: online notary services are not permitted (February 26, 2025)
• Law Society of Ontario — Commissioner for taking affidavits and notary public (August 31, 2026)
• Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.8 — sections 1, 26.1 and 26.2
• Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct, Chapter 4 (Rules 4.2-1 to 4.2-2)
• Law Society of Ontario — Paralegal Rules of Conduct, Rule 8.03
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act — section 91
• IRCC — Learn about representatives
• Competition Act — section 74.01

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