If you need to present your Canadian birth certificate outside of Canada, you may need to have your certificate authenticated and legalized. Confirm requirements by contacting the embassy, high commission, or consulate of the country where your document will be used:

• Foreign embassies and high commissions in Canada
• Foreign consulates in Canada

In most cases, the answer is no. Global Affairs Canada no longer accepts notarized copies of birth certificates for authentication. If you need to use your birth certificate outside of Canada, it will need to be authenticated and legalized. To meet the criteria of the authentication process at Global Affairs Canada, you must submit an original long-form birth certificate.

Canadian birth certificate must be obtained from the vital statistics office of the province in which the event occurred.  They cannot be obtained through the Canadian Embassy.  Requests should be sent directly to the appropriate provincial vital statistic office.  The fee for issuing birth certificate will vary from province to province.

You cannot obtain a Canadian birth certificate for a Canadian child born outside of Canada.  You must apply instead for a Canadian citizenship certificate

A Short Form Birth Certificate contains less information than a Long Form Birth Certificate and is smaller in size.  It will contain basic information regarding the child’s birth, but does not show the names of the child’s parents.

A Long Form Birth Certificate contains more information than a Short Form Birth Certificate and is larger in size.  It will contain the name of the child and the names of both parents.  If only one parent was declared, then it will show the child’s name & the mother’s name.

Although a Short Form Birth Certificate is a valid legal document, most government agencies prefer the Long Form Birth Certificate as identification as it contains more information concerning your identity, especially in the case of children/minors.

Our customers choose to have their birth certificate delivered directly to our office in Ottawa, saving time.  When having it sent directly to us, we will confirm when it arrives and can begin the process of authentication and legalization as it arrives.  To do this, have the birth certificate delivered to our address as follows:

Your Name

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