Loyalist Township offers Commissioner of Oaths services at the Municipal Office, 263 Main Street, Odessa.
A Commissioner of Oaths is a person who is authorized by the Province of Ontario to take an oath when you sign an affidavit or statutory declaration. They are given this authority by the Ministry of the Attorney General. The Commissioner is not responsible for the content of the affidavit.
What can and cannot be signed Process Responsibility Fees
A Commissioner of Oaths is not a Notary Public. If you require a document to be "notarized" as opposed to "commissioned" the person who administers the oath or affidavit is a Notary Public - generally a lawyer and not a Commissioner of Oaths. The Township does not have a Notary Public.
A Notary Public is a person who is authorized under the Notaries Act to commission documents, certify or notarize documents as true copies and to verify signatures. The requirements to become a Notary Public are more stringent than for a commissioner and most are lawyers or judicial officers.
If you are signing a legal document that requires your oath, the content of that document is your sole responsibility. When you are making an oath, you are known as the "deponent" – the person whose signature is being commissioned to ensure the content of the affidavit.
As a deponent, you must understand the details in the document to which you are attesting – and you must understand that by swearing an oath, you are attesting that those details are correct.
What can and cannot be signed
The following is a listing of forms a Commissioner of Oaths can sign:
- Adult Name Change documents
- Affidavit for Lost/Stolen or Damaged Passport
- Affidavit from the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal
- Affidavit of a Lost Cheque
- Affidavit of Proof of Loss of Motor Vehicle/boat (from an Insurance Company)
- Affidavit of Proof of Residency
- Affidavit of Unregistered Vehicle (boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, trailers etc.)
- Canadian Citizenship forms
- Delayed Statement of Live Birth
- Domestic and Foreign Pension document (*Proof of Life)
- Immunization exemptions
- Statutory Declaration for Motor Vehicle Deals Compensation Fund
- Statutory Declaration for OSAP – Statement of Common Law Status/Supporting Children
- Statutory Declaration of Apprenticeship Hours
- Statutory Declaration of Lost Identification (must include police report number)
- Statutory Declaration of Theft of a GST or Federal Cheque
- Statutory of a Lost/Stolen/Counterfeit Bank Card
- Sworn Statement for the Transfer of a Used Motor Vehicle in the Province of Ontario
- Loyalist Township generated documents
- Travel Affidavit
The following is a listing of documents a Commissioner of Oaths cannot sign:
- Age of Majority or BYID Card Application
- Certified True Copies*
- Court, Legal or Civil issue related documents
- Custody documents
- Declaration for Replacement of Shares
- Declaration of a Translator
- Declaration or Claimant and Indemnity
- Divorce, Separation, Marriage or Cohabitation documents
- Documents related to debt
- Documents requiring the signature of a Notary Public from Countries outside of Canada
- Power of Attorney
- Real Estate related documents
- Statement of Arrears
- Statutory Declaration of Progress Payment Distribution – Holdback Security Deposits
- Tender documents
- Wills, “Living Wills”, Codicils to Wills or Estate Settlement document
* Forms which call upon a Commissioner of Oath, yet also request certified true copies of other documents as attachments will require an appointment with the Township Clerk or Deputy Clerks.
Process
Book online, contact the Township Clerk's office by calling 613-386-7351 or by emailing clerk@loyalist.ca before you come, to make sure a Commissioner of Oaths will be available to assist you.
You must present one original piece of photo identification in the form of government-issued photo identification: i.e. a valid driver’s license, which includes your address.
Your signature must be witnessed in front of the Commissioner. All documents to be commissioned must be signed in the presence of the Commissioner of Oaths.
Responsibility
The Commissioner is not responsible for the content of the affidavit; it is the responsibility of the person whose signature is being commissioned to understand the details of what is being signed and to ensure the information is correct.
It is at the exclusive discretion of the individual Commissioner of Oaths whether or not they choose to sign the document. If a Commissioner of Oaths is unsure about the identity of the deponent or the content of the document for any reason, the Commissioner of Oaths may refuse to sign the document and the deponent will be referred to a lawyer.
Cost
The cost for having a document Commissioned is $20. We accept cash, cheque or debit. We do not accept credit cards.
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