On January 11, 2024 the Apostille Convention (Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents) comes into effect for Canada. The Republic of Bulgaria is a party of the Apostille Convention and applies its provisions.

 The competent authorities issuing Apostille in Canada are:

1. The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of Canada – for documents issued by the Federal authorities or by the Authorities of all the provinces except for Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

2. For the documents issued by the Authorities of the provinces Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario – the competent Authority of the respective province:

• Alberta - the Ministry of Justice of Alberta;
• British Columbia - the Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia;
• Saskatchewan- the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General of Saskatchewan;
• Ontario - the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario.

The documents authenticated in Canada before January 11, 2024, in order to be used in Bulgaria, must be legalized. The Bulgarian Embassy in Ottawa and the Bulgarian Consulate General in Toronto will continue to legalize documents authenticated in Canada before January 11, 2024.

Official information about the Apostille Convention and how it will change authentication services before and after it takes effect in Canada on January 11, 2024 is available at the website of the Government of Canada:

https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/about-a_propos/services/authentication-authentification/apostille-convention.aspx?lang=eng

https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/about-a_propos/services/authentication-authentification/apostille-convention.aspx?lang=fra