Get the document from the right body first
An apostille does not create or replace a document. It authenticates one that already exists — confirming the signature and the capacity of the official who issued it, so a country that is party to the Apostille Convention will accept it without further legalization.
That means the order matters. Identify the body with authority to deliver your document, obtain an acceptable copy from that body, and only then request the apostille. Asking for an apostille on a photocopy, an expired form, or a document from the wrong issuer is the most common reason a request stalls.
- Which body has authority to issue this document
- Whether your existing copy is recent enough to qualify
- Whether the destination country requires one apostille or two
Civil status, businesses and land
The Directeur de l'état civil issues civil-status records: birth, marriage and death certificates, certificates of a change of name, and attestations such as a certificate of single status. Issuance dates matter here — older copies are generally not accepted, so plan on ordering a fresh one rather than apostilling a copy you already have in a drawer.
The Registraire des entreprises du Québec issues business records, including certificates of compliance, certificates of a change of company name, and certificates of amalgamation. The Registre foncier issues certified copies of documents recorded in the land register.
- Directeur de l'état civil — birth, marriage, death, change of name, single status
- Registraire des entreprises — compliance, name change, amalgamation
- Registre foncier — certified copy of a land-register document
School, college and university records
The Ministère de l'Éducation issues secondary-level diplomas, including the secondary school diploma and the vocational studies diploma. Report cards and letters confirming school attendance are not issued by the ministry — you request those from the school the student attended.
The Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur issues the college studies diploma (DEC). College transcripts come from the college itself, and university diplomas or attestations come from the university itself.
Watch one trap: if the document comes from a private college that is not subsidized, or is not recognized by the ministry, it must be accompanied by an official declaration from a lawyer or a notary before it can be apostilled.
- Ministère de l'Éducation — secondary and vocational diplomas
- The school — report cards, attendance confirmation
- Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur — DEC
- The college or university — transcripts, university diplomas
Notarial acts and the legal professions
A notarial act — a marriage contract, a will, a contract of sale, a hypothec, a donation — takes two steps. You obtain a certified copy from the notary who drew up the original act. You then obtain a certificate of authenticity from the Chambre des notaires du Québec, confirming that the notary is a member of the order and did sign that act. Both pieces travel together.
The Chambre des notaires also performs will searches and protection-mandate searches. The Barreau du Québec issues its own documents, including attestations of study at the École du Barreau, and likewise performs will and protection-mandate searches; it is also where a lawyer's standing is verified.
- Certified copy of the act — from the notary who produced it
- Certificate of authenticity — from the Chambre des notaires
- Will or protection-mandate search — Chambre des notaires or Barreau
Judgments, divorce and the RDPRM
Judgments of the Court of Québec, the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal, and certificates of divorce, fall under the Ministère de la Justice. You do not request them centrally: you go to the court office (greffe) of the judicial district where the judgment was rendered.
Certificates from the Register of Personal and Movable Real Rights (RDPRM) are obtained from that registry directly.
- Greffe of the district where the judgment was rendered
- Certificate of non-appeal, if the destination country asks for one
- RDPRM — certificate from the register
Police record checks
A police check for civil purposes — what used to be called a good-conduct certificate — is normally obtained from the police service of the municipality where the person lives. If that municipality does not offer the service, an RCMP-accredited firm can perform it. The Sûreté du Québec handles criminal record and background verification.
Two routing rules matter. If the document was issued by the RCMP, it is not apostilled in Québec — it goes to Global Affairs Canada. And if it was issued by a private firm, it must be accompanied by an official declaration from a lawyer or a notary.
- Municipal police service — civil-purpose check
- RCMP-accredited firm — where the municipality does not offer it
- RCMP-issued document — route to Global Affairs Canada instead
Where the apostille itself comes from
Two different bodies are involved, and they are not interchangeable. Every organization named above issues a document. The apostille is then affixed by the competent authority — for Québec public documents, the Ministère de la Justice du Québec, through its Délivrance des apostilles office. None of the issuing bodies listed above affixes apostilles.
Requests are filed through the ministry's online service, or by mail to Délivrance des apostilles, 276 rue Saint-Jacques, bureau 301, Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1N3. A fee applies per document, and Québec issues apostilles in French only — plan for that if the destination country expects the certificate in another language.
Québec's authority stops at Québec documents. It does not apostille a document issued by a federal authority, another province or a territory; those go to Global Affairs Canada. Sending a federal document to Québec costs you the processing wait, not just the fee.
- Québec public document — Ministère de la Justice (Délivrance des apostilles)
- Federal, other-province or territorial document — Global Affairs Canada
- Québec apostilles are issued in French only; a fee applies per document