Client Identification and Verification

To help prevent fraud, the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) — the regulator of lawyers and licensed paralegals in the province of Ontario, Canada — has enacted By-Law 7.1, Section 23, which requires all licensed lawyers and paralegals to collect and retain identification records for every client.

Accordingly, please note that the following information must be provided before a Licensed Paralegal or Notary Public can act for you:

Full name (for an individual) or registered business name (for an entity)
Business number and place of issuance (if applicable)
The nature of the business or business activities of the entity (not required for financial institutions, government agencies, or reporting issuers)
The name, title, and contact information of every individual authorized to act as a legal representative
Address (home address for an individual, or registered business address for an entity)
Telephone number
Email address
Occupation
A copy or photograph of the notarized document.

Documents Accepted for Verifying Personal Information

The following documents are accepted for verifying your personal information. Please note that these documents must be valid and not expired at the time they are presented to the Notary Public:

A Canadian passport or a foreign passport showing your full legal name
Driver's licence
Canadian Citizenship Card / Canadian Permanent Resident Card
Ontario Photo Card
Canadian federal firearms licence
Nexus card
CNIB identification card for the blind
Canadian Armed Forces identification card
A foreign government-issued National Identity Card
Certificate of Incorporation (for businesses)

Alternative Verification Documents

The following documents may be used as alternative (though not mandatory) verification documents if you do not have any of the identification documents listed above:

Canadian Social Insurance Number (SIN) or social insurance card
Provincial health card (e.g., an OHIP card issued by the province of Ontario)
Senior's card
A licence or membership card issued by a professional association (Law, Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering, Nursing)
Student card
Temporary Resident Permit.

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