Before 2024, Canadians who needed documents accepted abroad had to complete a two-step process:

• Authentication by a Canadian authority (Global Affairs Canada or a provincial office)
• Legalization by the destination country's embassy or consulate in Canada

Each step meant separate fees, separate wait times, and physical submissions to separate offices. For a document going to Italy, the chain went: Canadian notary → Global Affairs Canada → Italian Consulate → back to the applicant. Total time: often two to three months.

Canada announced its accession to the Convention on May 16, 2023. The Convention entered into force for Canada on January 11, 2024.

From that date, the two steps collapsed into one. A single apostille from a Canadian competent authority now replaces the authentication-and-legalization chain for any of the 130 countries that are also Convention members. Embassies in

Canada no longer legalize Canadian documents for those countries.

Many websites, mostly US-based apostille services, still list Canada as a non-Hague country requiring embassy legalization. Some list China the same way. Both are wrong.

China joined the Convention on November 7, 2023. Canada joined on January 11, 2024. If a website is telling you to go to the embassy for a Hague-member destination, the information is outdated.

Non-Hague countries still follow the old two-step process. The Convention only applies between member countries. If your destination is the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, or another non-member country, authentication plus embassy legalization is still required.