How to become a notary in Canada in 2026: British Columbia's full-profession route through the Society of Notaries Public and SFU's MA in Applied Legal Studies, Quebec's civil-law notaire path (law degree, master's in notarial law, Chambre training), Ontario's appointment system ($145 lifetime for lawyers and paralegals, $110 job-based appointment for non-lawyers), and Alberta's Justice appointment portal.
Applies in: British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta
Canada has two completely different things called a notary, and every confused vendor page on the internet mixes them up. In British Columbia and Quebec, a notary is a full licensed profession: you earn it with a graduate-level education, an exam or professional training program, and admission to a regulator — the Society of Notaries Public of BC or the Chambre des notaires du Québec — and it is a career. In Ontario and Alberta, a notary public is an appointment you hold: lawyers and paralegals (and BC lawyers) are notaries by virtue of their licence, and everyone else applies to the provincial government and is appointed only where their work genuinely requires it. Work out which system your province uses before you read another word, because the timelines, costs and gatekeepers have nothing in common.
A BC notary can handle real estate conveyances, wills, powers of attorney and marine protests as an independent practitioner. A Quebec notaire holds an even broader civil-law mandate — real property, succession, marriage contracts, company documents — closer to a continental European notary than to anything in the rest of Canada. An Ontario or Alberta notary public appointed on a non-lawyer basis does something much narrower: witnesses signatures, administers oaths and affidavits, and certifies copies as part of an existing job. None of the appointment provinces will hand a non-lawyer a commission as a way to launch a notary business. That is the single most common misunderstanding, and it is where vendor lead-gen pages ("become a notary in 30 days") make their money.
The gatekeeper. The Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia, under the Notaries Act. Only Society members are non-lawyer notaries in the province; lawyers get notary powers through the Law Society of BC instead.
The education. The prerequisite is the Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies (MA ALS) at Simon Fraser University — the Society's FAQ is blunt that no other institution offers an equivalent program. If you hold a Canadian common law degree (JD or LLB), that counts as equivalent; a Master of Laws (LLM) does not, and neither does a civil law degree on its own — civil-law graduates must complete the MA ALS or a common law degree. You do not need prior legal work experience to apply to the MA ALS, though time in a law or notary office helps your file.
The application. Applications go through the Society's own portal and the Notary Education Program runs annually — the intake starting January 2027 is open. Every applicant faces law enforcement and criminal record verification, a credit and financial background check, and identity verification.
The exam and enrolment. The Notaries Regulation requires applicants to pass an examination on the duties of a notary public, set by the Society with the board of examiners. The Society publishes the examined subject areas, the assessment method and the passing score each year, and updates them at least six months before any change. Pass the exam and you are enrolled as a member of the Society.
The Notary Education Program is a 6-month program running January to June, and the application portal opens in September. Expect two blocks of four weeks of in-person training in Vancouver, separated by a mentoring period, plus a 6-week mentorship in a notary's practice under an approved notary — in person, not remote. Your file also needs three reference letters (none from friends or family), including one from a practising notary, and proof of a university-level accounting course.
The gatekeeper. The Chambre des notaires du Québec — a separate professional order from the Barreau.
The education. A bachelor's degree in civil law from a recognized law school, then a master's degree in notarial law structured in three parts: notarial law courses in fall and winter, applied notarial law in summer, and the supervised placement. Université Laval's career guide describes the placement as 16 weeks at a minimum of 35 hours a week in a notary's practice, which you arrange yourself and have approved by the program.
The Chambre's program. On top of the master's, you complete the Chambre's professional training program — the federal Job Bank's entry summarizes it as a 15-day program at the Chambre plus the licence — with the program's own written and oral assessments, the Order's examination, and a practical case exercise.
Admission. Finish the program, satisfy the Order's administrative requirements, take the collective oath (assermentation collective), and you are inscribed on the roll as a notaire. Total elapsed time from cégep: roughly five to six years.
The two doors. Door one is for lawyers and paralegals licensed by the Law Society of Ontario and in good standing: apply to Official Documents Services (ODS) at ServiceOntario, pay $145 once, and the appointment is for life. Government lawyers and paralegals pay nothing. Door two is for everyone else: apply to the Ministry of the Attorney General and be appointed because your job needs it — senior government officials, corporate staff handling inter-provincial or international trade, patent and trademark agents, union head-office staff, and employees of Ontario businesses whose operations require notarization.
The non-lawyer rules. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, at least 18, proficient in English or French, and — the part that kills most applications — you must show that notarizing is part of your existing duties, with a letter of authorization from your employer. The appointment is not a business licence: the Attorney General will not grant it so you can open a notary practice or add notarization to your service menu.
The fee schedule, settled. Ontario Regulation 831 under the Notaries Act sets three numbers and vendor pages keep mixing them: $145 for a Law Society licensee's commission, $110 for a non-licensee's initial commission, $75 for a non-licensee's reappointment. Fee waivers apply to employees of the federal government, the Ontario government, Ontario municipalities (on the head of council's request), and Ontario First Nation bands. Now you know which vendor quotes are wrong.
The gatekeeper. Alberta Justice, under the Notaries and Commissioners Act.
Eligibility. At least 18, an Alberta resident, no criminal record, and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident — and you must meet the eligibility criteria in the province's Application Process and Review Criteria document. Read that document before you touch the portal.
The application. New and renewal applications go through the Notary Public Portal (an Alberta.ca account is required), with the required documents attached. A notary clerk reviews the file for completeness, then it is scheduled for the Notaries Public Advisory Committee, which meets three to four times a year. The decision arrives by email.
The old paper-era details you can ignore. Vendor pages still describe mailing application forms to the Official Documents & Appointments office, submitting sample documents, and explaining why a lawyer cannot do the notarizing instead. The current process is the online portal and the Review Criteria document — use Alberta Justice's live page, not a years-old vendor article.
The correction in this guide covers the Ontario remote-notarization rule only. Two other details were not rechecked against the regulators' pages during that correction: the British Columbia January 2027 intake timing in this guide, and the Quebec placement, oath, and duration details in this guide. Confirm both on the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia and Chambre des notaires du Québec pages linked in Sources before you apply or plan around them.
| Ontario — lawyer or paralegal notary commission (lifetime, while in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario) | $145 one-time |
|---|---|
| Ontario — non-lawyer notary commission (job-necessity appointment via the Attorney General) | $110 initial |
| Ontario — reappointment for a non-lawyer/non-paralegal notary | $75 |
| Ontario — government lawyers and paralegals | Fee waived |
| British Columbia — SFU MA in Applied Legal Studies tuition | Set by SFU, not the Society |
| Quebec — Chambre professional training program | Check the Chambre's current schedule |
Ontario fees are from O. Reg. 831 (FEES) under the Notaries Act, verified October 2026. This is why vendor pages disagree: $145 is the lawyer/paralegal commission, $110 the non-lawyer initial appointment, and $75 the non-lawyer reappointment.
Yes, in British Columbia and Quebec — there, notary is its own licensed profession with a full education program, not a lawyer add-on. In Ontario and Alberta, the answer is narrower: you can be appointed a notary public without being a lawyer, but only if your actual job requires you to notarize documents. Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General will not grant a non-lawyer appointment so you can start a notary business or expand your client services.
Plan on years, not weeks. The prerequisite alone — SFU's Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies — is a graduate program, and the Society's Notary Education Program runs on an annual cycle (applications for the January 2027 intake are open through the Society's portal). After that come the Society's checks and the enrolment examination under the Notaries Act and Notaries Regulation. The Society publishes the examination subject areas, assessment method and passing score each year.
A bachelor's degree in civil law from a recognized law school, a master's degree in notarial law that includes the supervised placement, the Chambre des notaires du Québec's professional training program (which includes the in-person training component), and then the licence from the Chambre, with a collective swearing-in before you join the roll. The Federal Job Bank summarizes the minimum as the civil law degree, the notarial master's with its 16-week stage, a 15-day program at the Chambre, and the licence — roughly five to six years of study and placement after cégep.
Licensed lawyers and paralegals in good standing with the Law Society of Ontario pay a one-time $145 commission fee to Official Documents Services and hold the appointment for life (government lawyers and paralegals are exempt). Non-lawyers appointed through the Ministry of the Attorney General pay $110 for the initial commission and $75 for reappointment. Those are the figures in Ontario Regulation 831 under the Notaries Act — if a vendor quotes you $75 for a first appointment or $145 for a non-lawyer, they are mixing up the fee schedule rows.
Through Alberta Justice's Notary Public Portal, which needs an Alberta.ca account. You must be at least 18, an Alberta resident, have no criminal record, and be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, then read the Application Process and Review Criteria document and submit your application with the required documents. A notary clerk reviews it for completeness and schedules it for the Notaries Public Advisory Committee, which meets three to four times a year — the decision comes by email, so apply well ahead of when you need the appointment.
Expect a background check in every province. Alberta requires no criminal record as a stated eligibility condition. British Columbia subjects every applicant to law enforcement and criminal record verification plus credit, financial and identity checks. In Ontario, lawyers and paralegals are already vetted through their Law Society standing, and non-lawyer applicants go through the Attorney General's review.
In British Columbia, yes: members of the Law Society of BC are lawyers and notaries public — only members of the Society of Notaries Public of BC are non-lawyer notaries, practising under the Notaries Act. In Quebec the two professions are separate orders: advocates belong to the Barreau and notaries to the Chambre des notaires du Québec, with a different degree, training program and licence.
A commissioner for taking affidavits administers oaths, affirmations and declarations: they take affidavits and statutory declarations, and certify only that the oath was properly administered — the deponent, not the commissioner, stands behind the truth of the statements. Municipal commissioners are explicit that a commissioner is not a notary public and cannot notarize documents: certifying true copies, witnessing signatures for wider use, and the notarial seal belong to notaries public. For non-lawyers, both appointments run through the Ministry of the Attorney General.
No — not in Ontario. Under the Notaries Act, a notary must be physically present with the person requiring notarization, and remote notarization is not permitted. Documents notarized remotely will not be authenticated or apostilled by Ontario's Official Documents Services. This guide states no remote-notarization rule for any other province — check your own regulator before offering any remote service.