Certificates of Origin

The Hamilton Chamber can certify a variety of documents for international shipping. We follow the procedures set out by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in regards to certifying documents. Before we can certify your documents, we require that you either have them notarized or provide us with a notarized letter of waiver. If you will be doing a lot of shipping, providing a notarized letter is generally easier and less time-consuming. We will keep the letter on file so that you do not need to have your shipping documents notarized each time you have a certification done. The letter will be valid for two years, unless your contact information changes.

Questions? Please email hcc@hamiltonchamber.ca.

*Please Note: Our office is currently operating in a hybrid format and there may not be a staff member in the office at all times of the day. If you would like to arrange a Certificate of Origin signature and stamp, please contact us using the e-mail above in order to coordinate a pickup or drop-off.*

The Letter of Waiver

  1. Download this letter, then copy and paste the text onto your company’s letterhead, deleting or replacing the red text as needed.
  2. Sign the customized letter in front of a lawyer or notary public, who will then stamp the document. If you have a commissioner of oaths on staff, that person can notarize the letter for you.
  3. Bring the notarized letter of waiver to the Chamber office at 120 King Street West, Plaza Level with the documents you need certified. This process will take about 10-15 minutes, depending on the number of documents that need to be certified. Our hours of operation are 8:30am – 4:30pm, Monday to Friday.

Cost for document certification is $15.00+hst per shipment for members of the Hamilton Chamber and $40.00+hst per shipment for non-members.

Documents certified:

  • Certificates of Origin
  • Visa applications (especially to Saudi Arabia)
  • Contracts
  • Agency agreements
  • Certificates of analysis
  • Membership in a Chamber
  • Business registration in provinces/country
  • Certificates of free sale
  • ask us!

We cannot certify:

  • NAFTA certificates of origin—see CCRA form B232
  • Certificates of origin from other countries (but we can sign off that origin is non-Canadian)
  • Government inspection agency certificates
  • Any document with a boycott clause
  • Scholastic degrees or diplomas
  • Personal documents, such as divorce, marriage or death certificates
  • Food inspection certificates


Additional resources: