Canadá - Autoridade Central e informações práticas

Central Authority(ies):

Click here to access the list of all Central Authorities designated by Canada (list up-to-date as of October 2023). Comment: to save time, requests should be forwarded directly to the Central Authority of the province or territory concerned. They may, however, also be forwarded to the Federal Central Authority which will transmit them to the relevant Central Authority.

 

 

Practical Information:
(The following information was provided by the relevant State authorities or was obtained from the replies to the Service Convention Questionnaires)

Forwarding authorities
(Art. 3(1)):

- Attorney General for Canada
- Attorney General, Ministry of the Attorney General or Minister of Justice of a province or territory
- Clerks of the courts and their deputies for a judicial or a court district.
- Central Authority for Alberta
- Deputy Minister of Justice, Northwest Territories
- Huissiers and sheriffs
- Local registrars
- Members of the law societies of all provinces and territories - Members of the Board of Notaries of the Province of Québec (for non-litigious matters only)
- Revenu Québec

Methods of service
(Art. 5(1)):
Formal Service (Art. 5(1)(a))
In all provinces and territories in Canada, with the exception of the province of Québec, the term "service" covers both service and "notification".

For service or notification requests transmitted to a Canadian Central Authority under Article 5(1)(a), service or notification will be effected using the same methods as would be used to serve or notify judicial documents for proceedings in the Central Authority’s jurisdiction.

The normal procedure for service in Canada is personal service made by a process server in Alberta, a huissier in Québec, an enforcement officer of the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario or a sheriff or deputy sheriff elsewhere in Canada, on an individual or on a corporation by handing a copy of the document to the individual, or to an officer, director or agent of the corporation at its place of business.

Notification in Québec may be made by delivering the original or certified copy or abstract of the act, document or notice to the person to be notified and obtaining a receipt therefore [XpressPost].

Central Authorities in Canada will consider requests for service or notification by a particular method requested by the applicant under 5(1)(b) to the extent that such a method is not inconsistent with the law of their jurisdiction.

Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal: Federal Courts Rules, SOR/98-106.

Alberta: Alberta Rules of Court, Alta. Reg. 124/2010.

British Columbia: Supreme Court Civil Rules, B.C. Reg. 168/2009.

Manitoba: Court of Queen's Bench Rules, Man. Reg. 553/88.

New Brunswick: Rules of Court, N.B. Reg. 82-73.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986, S.N.L. 1986, c 42, Sch D.

Northwest Territories: Rules of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, N.W.T. Reg. 010-96.

Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia Civil Procedure Rules.

Nunavut: Rules of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, N.W.T. Reg. 010-96.

Ontario: Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194.

Prince Edward Island: Rules of Civil Procedure.

Québec:
Service: Code of Civil Procedure, R.S.Q., chapter C-25.01.

Saskatchewan: Queen's Bench Rules.

Yukon: Rules of Court, Y.O.I.C. 2009/65.

Service by a particular method (Art. 5 (1)(b))

Central Authorities in Canada will consider requests for service by a particular method requested by the applicant under 5(1)(b) to the extent that such a method is not inconsistent with the law of their jurisdiction.

Informal delivery (Art. 5(2))

The practice of informal delivery ("par simple remise") of judicial or extrajudicial documents is not known in Canada.

Translation requirements
(Art. 5(3)):
For both formal service and service by a particular method, translation requirements will depend on the province or territory concerned.

For Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, all documents must be written in or translated into English.

For Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario and Saskatchewan all documents must be written in or translated into English or French.

For New Brunswick and the Yukon, all documents must be written in or translated into English or French. The Central Authority of New Brunswick or the Yukon may reserve the right to require documents to be translated into English or French depending on the language understood by the addressee.

For Québec, originating documents should be drafted in or translated into French. In some instances, a French translation of the “summary of the document to be served” may suffice subject to the recipient’s consent.
The Central Authority for Québec may, on request in writing by the forwarding authority, allow service or notification of documents drafted in English or translated from a foreign language into English subject to the forwarding authority confirming that the recipient understands English.
Recipients in Québec may object to receiving a document and challenge the validity of a service or notification if the translation requirements applicable in Québec are not complied with.

Click here to read all the declarations made by Canada under the Service Convention.

Costs relating to execution of the request for service
(Art. 12):

Costs for the execution of service will be $100 Can. In Québec, execution of service by a bailiff (huissier) costs $100, and notification is free of charge.

Click here to access the list of all provincial and territorial Central Authorities designated by Canada to receive requests for service in their jurisdiction.

Click here for information on methods of payment.

Time for execution of request: The average time for performance of service is:

Alberta: 4 weeks
British Columbia: 3-6 weeks
Manitoba: 3-4 weeks
New Brunswick: 2-4 weeks
Newfoundland and Labrador: 4 - 6 weeks
Northwest Territories:3-6 weeks
Nova Scotia: 2-4 weeks
Nunavut: 4-6 weeks
Ontario: 4-6 weeks
Prince Edward Island: 2-3 weeks
Québec: 4 weeks
Saskatchewan: 2-4 weeks

Judicial officers, officials or other competent persons
(Art. 10(b)(c))

Many businesses commonly referred to as "Process Servers" serve judicial and extra-judicial documents, for a fee. These businesses are listed in the Yellow Pages under "process servers".

In the province of Québec, service must be effected by a sheriff or a member of the Chambre des huissiers de justice du Québec.

Chambre des huissiers de justice du Québec
100, Alexis-Nihon, bur. 250
Montréal (Québec) H4M 2N7
Telephone : +1 (514) 721 1100
Toll free: +1 (855) 721 1100
Fax: +1 (514) 721 7878
Email: chjq@chjq.ca
http://www.chjq.ca/

Oppositions and declarations
(Art. 21(2)):
Click here to read all the declarations made by Canada under the Service Convention.
Art. 6: In addition to the Central Authorities, the sheriffs, deputy-sheriffs, sub-sheriffs, clerk of the court or his/her deputy for the judicial district (except in Manitoba where there are no judicial districts) in which the person is to be served or the huissiers (only in Quebec) are competent to complete the certificate of service.
Art. 8(2): No opposition
Art. 9(1): The Central Authorities in Canada designated in accordance with Articles 2 and 18 of the Convention are competent to receive requests for service transmitted by a foreign consul within Canada.
Art. 10(a): No opposition
Art. 10(b): No opposition
Art. 10(c): No opposition
Art. 15(2): Declaration of applicability (see declarations)
Art. 16(3): Declaration of applicability (see declarations)
Derogatory channels (bilateral or multilateral agreements or internal law permitting other transmission channels)
(Arts. 11, 19, 24 and 25)

Disclaimer:
Information may not be complete or fully updated – please contact the relevant authorities to verify this information.

To view the bilateral treaties regarding judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters that are in force for Canada, please visit http://www.accord-treaty.gc.ca/ under the headings "Bilateral" and "Judicial Co-operation (civil and commercial)".

 

Useful links: Alberta:
https://www.alberta.ca/office-of-sheriff-civil-enforcement.aspx

Quebec:
https://www.quebec.ca/gouvernement/ministere/justice (Ministère de la Justice | Gouvernement du Québec (quebec.ca))

Saskatchewan:
www.sasklawcourts.ca
www.qp.gov.sk.ca (to view Saskatchewan legislation, regulations, rules of court and court forms)

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