How to Get an Apostille in Quebec

Apostilles for documents issued in Quebec come from the Ministère de la Justice du Québec, the province's designated competent authority. Once the ministry attaches its apostille certificate, the document is recognized in every Apostille Convention member country without any further embassy or consulate step.

Federal documents — including RCMP certified criminal record checks and federal corporate records — are handled by Global Affairs Canada rather than the provincial ministry, so it is important to sort your documents by issuing level before you begin.

The ministry verifies an official signature or seal already on the document. Government-issued originals, such as birth and marriage certificates from the Directeur de l'état civil, generally carry the required official signature. Most other documents — powers of attorney, declarations, copies of diplomas, corporate resolutions — must first be notarized by a Quebec notary or otherwise certified by a recognized authority.

Quebec's notarial system differs from the rest of Canada: notaries in Quebec are a distinct legal profession under civil law. If your document was notarized elsewhere in Canada, it typically needs to go through that province's process instead, so match the document to the province where it was issued or notarized.

Many Quebec documents are issued in French, which is perfectly acceptable for the apostille itself — the apostille certifies the signature and seal, not the language. However, the receiving country may require a certified translation of the document, the apostille, or both.

Conversely, if your Quebec document is going to a French-speaking destination such as France or Belgium, the French original may be an advantage. Confirm the receiving authority's language requirements before ordering translations, so you translate only what is actually needed.

Common Quebec documents that clients apostille include birth, marriage, and death certificates from the Directeur de l'état civil, university diplomas and transcripts from Quebec institutions, notarized powers of attorney for property or family matters abroad, and corporate documents for international transactions. Divorce judgments, single-status attestations for marrying abroad, and adoption records also come up regularly, each with its own preparation requirements before the ministry will process it.

If the destination country is not a member of the Apostille Convention — for example Qatar, Kuwait, or Vietnam — the apostille route does not apply. Those documents follow the authentication and legalization pathway through the relevant embassy instead.

Visa Jet is a private document support agency, not a government body, and we are not affiliated with the Ministère de la Justice du Québec. We help clients confirm the correct pathway, coordinate notarization and certified translations where needed, and manage submissions remotely by email and secure courier from anywhere in Canada or abroad.

Government fees and processing times are set by the ministry and vary. For help with your Quebec documents, contact info@visajet.ca or call +1 819-635-8787.