Montreal, March 27th, 2020

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Quebec notarial practice has been halted unconventionally. Though legal notarial services figure among essential services permitted to operate, the majority of notarial offices have closed to the public. Notaries are choosing to put their health and families first and no longer exercise their government delegated power of public officers.

The status of public officers give notaries the power to receive notarial deeds en minute or authentic deeds. By law, these notarial documents have the highest legal security in the province. They are virtually incontestable in a court of law. In fact, the government estimates that some legal documents are so important and the consequences so severe, that they must be signed in the presence of a civil notary who verifies both identity and capacity. Common notarial deeds include : power of attorney, last will and testament, mandate of protection, renunciation to an estate, declaration of heredity, declaration of transmission, marriage contracts, hypothecs, deed of sale, donations, etc.)

Under the current Notarial act, all notarial deeds en minute must be signed on cotton paper in the physical presence of the notary.

Today, on this 27th of March 2020, the Minister of Justice has signed a decree (Arrêté numéro 2020-010) to the effect that notarial deeds can now be executed and signed electronically following certain formalities.

Notaries now await further instructions for the practical application of the decree. More is to come in the upcoming days.

See our publication on the Sécurité of Notarial Electronic Deeds, La Revue du Notariat, 2018.