On May 12, 2020, Ontario introduced and passed Bill 190, the COVID-19 Response and Reforms to Modernize Ontario Act, 2020 (“Bill 190”). Among the many changes included in Bill 190 is an amendment to the Notaries Act removing the requirement for a Notary to be in the physical presence of the person with respect to whom the Notary is exercising his or her powers.
Regulations will be required before online notarization is a reality, however, we can look at U.S. states that have adopted online notarization to understand what it will look like. A client will upload their document to a portal. The client will then connect with the Notary in a video conference where the parties can simultaneously view the document and each other. The Notary verifies the client’s identity visually using scanned photo ID, and then witnesses as the client electronically signs the document. Similar to how a traditional Notary operates, the Notary signs and places his or her notarial seal on the document.
