A certificate of good standing (or certificate of compliance in Quebec) from a provincial corporate registry confirms a corporation is validly constituted and in good standing. These are public records with the registrar's signature and seal.

In Ontario: business registry documents issued since 1991 are in the direct-apostille category at ODS - no notarization required, submit directly.

For federally incorporated companies: the relevant document is a certificate issued by Corporations Canada under the Canada Business Corporations Act. This is a federal document and goes to GAC.

Not government certificates - copies of the corporate constitutional documents. These need notarization first (a notary certifies a true copy of the articles), then apostille through the appropriate provincial or federal authority.

Private documents. Require notarization before apostille. The notary witnesses the authorized signatories, certifies the resolution or agreement, and the notarized document goes to the relevant competent authority by province of notarization.

Private documents requiring notarized true copies. Some foreign investment and immigration applications require bank statements issued within the last 3 months - factor the timing of requesting fresh statements into the sequence.

The Convention explicitly excludes administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. Commercial invoices, customs declarations, certificates of origin for import/export purposes, and bills of lading fall outside the Convention. If a counterpart abroad is asking for an apostille on what is functionally a trade document, clarify whether they actually need a corporate certificate (which can be apostilled) or a customs record (which cannot).