Is Turkish notarisation enough for Québec?
A Turkish notary certifies that a named person signed, or that a copy matches an original. It does not certify that a translation is faithful, and it confers no standing in a Québec professional register. Notarisation still matters — for powers of attorney, certified copies and the apostille step.
Checked on 8 September 2026 Last updated 9 September 2026
In brief
- Certification level
- Notarised translation (Türkiye) + Apostille + Consular legalisation
- Estimated time
- A notary appointment is quick; the apostille that follows it is the slower step
- Destination country
- Québec
Accepted under conditions
"Notarised" is one of those words that sounds like a universal standard and is not. Turkish notaries perform a well-defined set of acts, and knowing exactly which one you have been sold explains what it will and will not achieve in Québec.
What a Turkish notary certifies
Three acts account for almost every notarised document in a Canadian file:
- Certification of a signature on a translation. A translator who has filed a signature specimen at that notary office signs a declaration, and the notary certifies that the signature is that translator's. The notary is not reading the Turkish and the Turkish original side by side and vouching for accuracy.
- Certified copy of an original. The notary compares a copy with the original produced before them and certifies that they correspond. This is a genuinely useful act and is discussed on the copies page.
- Drawing up a deed. Powers of attorney, consents and declarations are prepared by the notary, and here the notary is responsible for the document itself.
Why the first act does not satisfy Québec
Québec bodies look for a translator entered in the province's professional register, sealing the work in that capacity. The Turkish chain answers a different question — who signed — and answers it well, within the Turkish system. No amount of additional Turkish certification converts an identity guarantee into a professional registration in another jurisdiction. This is set out at length on the Québec translation rule page.
It follows that stacking certifications does not help. Notarisation, then an apostille on the notarisation, then a consular stamp, all point in the same direction and none reaches the point at issue.
Where Turkish notarisation is still necessary
Do not conclude that the notary is irrelevant to your file. Several steps depend on it:
- Powers of attorney, without which nobody can obtain your documents in Türkiye on your behalf.
- Parental consent for a minor studying abroad.
- Certified copies where you must keep the original and send a copy.
- The apostille step: notarial acts are apostilled through the courthouse commission, so notarisation is the gateway to authentication for private documents.
- Anything used inside Türkiye — property, inheritance, company matters — where the notarial chain is the correct chain.
The power of attorney is where this matters most
If you are in Canada, a power of attorney drawn up at a Turkish consulate is directly valid in Türkiye and requires no apostille. A power of attorney drawn up before a local notary in Canada is a foreign document: it needs authentication in Canada and a translation in Türkiye before it can be used, which is slower and more expensive. The comparison is on the power of attorney page.
Notary costs are not published here
We do not publish notary amounts anywhere on this site, including the fees page. The charge depends on the type of act, the number of pages and the statutory items attached to it, and any figure written on a website is wrong at the next revision. The exact amount is calculated by the notary office when the document is presented to it, and it appears on your quotation as a third-party item alongside apostille and courier. The structure is explained on the costs page.
What we do
We arrange the notarial steps your file needs on the Turkish side: attending the notary under your power of attorney, obtaining certified copies where the original must stay with you, and taking notarial acts through to apostille. We do not perform notarial acts ourselves — that is the notary's office, and only a notary can do it. What we provide is the file preparation, the attendance and the follow-through.
Frequently asked questions
No. The certification relates to the signature of the translator registered at that office. Turkish notaries are not translating your document or comparing versions, and the wording of the certification says so if you read it closely.
A copy certified by a Canadian notary is a Canadian document, and Turkish offices will treat it as foreign: it needs authentication in Canada and translation in Türkiye. For Turkish documents it is usually simpler to have the copy certified in Türkiye.
Sometimes, outside the formal channels. Employers, landlords and private institutions set their own standards and often accept it. It is regulated bodies — orders, courts, immigration authorities — that apply their own rule instead.
For a deed in your name, either you attend or someone attends under a power of attorney granted by you. For certified copies and translation certification, an attorney can act throughout, which is what makes the process workable from abroad.