General information
Documents certified by the Chamber
Documents not certified by the Chamber
Cost and Payment Instructions
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For many years, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce (CCC) has been asked by Canadian companies to certify a wide variety of documents. The most common are Certificates of Origin, while others relate to such diverse documents as visa request letters, partnership agreements, sales or agency agreements, and so on.
Documents presented to the Chamber for certification require relevant background documents (such as Government certificates and/or approvals) before these can be certified.
As a matter of policy and for reasons of liability, all documents must be notarized before the Chamber certifies them. Notarization is a process by which a lawyer, notary public or commissioner of oaths (i.e., someone who can take sworn statements) certifies, from a person’s sworn statement, that the facts described in her/his signed documents are true.
Exporters that frequently have Certificates of Origin and Visa request letters certified often find the notarization process costly and time consuming; an alternative to notarization of these documents is through a letter of waiver.
To allow sufficient time for the Chamber to review your documents and determine if we can assist, we recommend that you send them to us for review via e-mail (certification@chamber.ca) or facsimile (613-238-7643) prior to having them notarized and/or reporting to one of our regional offices for certification. Upon review, we will advise if we can be of assistance and guide you through the process.
Once approved by the Chamber, documents and payments can be dropped at or mailed to any of our 3 offices. If the documents should be mailed/couriered back to you, please include a prepaid return envelope or waybill.
The Chamber also offers an ONLINE CERTIFICATION SERVICE for Certificates of Origin. This service offers quick turnaround, instant creation and submission of repetitive applications, the ability to accept invoices and other documents in all major formats and immediate authentication by foreign authorities of documents validated.
For more information, please visit www.tradecert.com/canada or contact us at certification@chamber.ca and 1-800-661-2930.
Documents certified by the Chamber
Documents will be certified by the Chamber if they fall within our scope of work and meet the following requirements:
- issued by a Canadian company in English or French
- the proper background documentation is provided
- original document is presented and has been duly signed and notarized
- issued using our template, or in a format approved by the Chamber
- the fees have been paid
The following documents will be certified by the Chamber:
1. Certificate of Origin
• When exporting vehicles overseas, the certificate of origin must include the vehicle clause (please refer to template) and the original ownership of the car must be provided (owner’s permit). The vehicle identification number (VIN) on the owner’s permit must match that on the certificate of origin
• The Chamber’s template must be used.
• Invoices and other shipping documents submitted as supporting documents should meet the following requirements:
o Exporter’s and Consignee’s names and addresses must be included
o Itemized merchandise must match that listed on certificate of origin
o Country of origin must be listed and match certificate of origin
o Place and date must be included
o Must be signed by authorized representative
2. Letter of Authenticity
• Canadian Chamber will certify if company is registered in Canada
• Proof of registration must be provided
3. Visa Request Letter
• Should be notarized or a Letter of Waiver should be on file
• Visa application letter must be signed by company official
• Proof of company registration in Canada
4. Agent/Representational Agreements
• Company must provide signed agreement/contract governing the relationship
All other documents (except those listed below) will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Documents not certified by the Chamber
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce cannot certify (the following is not an all-inclusive list):
• Certificates of origin from foreign entities
• Government certificates
• Certificates of origin related to an International Trade Agreement (example NAFTA)
• Certificates of composition and analysis
• Certificates of fumigation
• Certificates of value
• Documents with a boycott clause or with reference to quality or human consumption
• Scholastic degrees or diplomas
• Personal documents, such as divorce, marriage or death certificates.
Fee schedule for all provinces and territories (for manual certification):
Canadian Chamber members (for all documents)
1 set* $16.00 (GST and QST included)
Non-Members (for Certificates of Origin and Visa request letters)
1 set* $30.00 (GST and QST included)
Non-Members (for all other documents)
1 set* $40.00 (GST and QST included)
* For fee purposes, a “set” constitutes putting up to 8 stamps on documents. This can be any combination of documents such as certificates of origin, invoices, packing lists, way bills, etc…, as long as they are related to the same shipment (same consignee address must be on all documents), same list of goods and are going to the same destination; OR 8 originals of the same document.
Payment instructions
• Full payment required prior to certification of documents
• Payment methods accepted are credit cards, cash, certified or corporate cheque, money order, electronic fund transfer, or bank draft.
• Customer is responsible for all shipping costs. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce requests that customers provide a courier account number in order to cover shipping costs; if a courier account number is unavailable, a credit card number is requested to cover shipping costs or a prepaid return envelope should be included.
Available in Microsoft® Word format. Please refer to instructions above.
