From January 11, 2024, Canada will accede to the Hague Apostille Convention, which means the Canadian public documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, diploma, extracts from criminal record) must be apostilled for its official use in Slovakia. Such documents do not need to be subsequently super-legalized at the Slovak Embassy in Ottawa.

Documents super-legalized before January 11, 2024, will continue to be valid and usable in the Slovak Republic, and the Embassy of the Slovak Republic will continue to super-legalize such documents.

The Apostille will be issued by the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) or the relevant provincial office.

GAC is responsible for issuing an apostille on a document:

1. issued by the Government of Canada;
2. issued or authenticated in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon;

Provinces and territories that will issue an apostille

The competent authority of the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan will issue an apostille on a document issued or authenticated by the authorities in their province.

The competent authority of the provinces of Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan will issue an apostille on a document authenticated by the authorities of its province, regardless of the province/territory in which the document was issued.

The competent authority of the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec will issue an apostille on a certified document only if this document was also issued in its province.

In the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan, the competent authorities are:

• Ministry of Justice of Alberta
• Ministry of Attorney General of British Columbia
• Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery of Ontario
• Ministry of Justice of Quebec
• Ministry of Justice and Attorney General of Saskatchewan

The detailed procedure for obtaining an apostille clause from the relevant Canadian office can be found on the website of the General Affairs Canada (GAC).