Swearing an affidavit sounds complicated, and while a serious matter, is a relatively simple service to perform. Don’t worry, notary-toronto.ca can help you! A notary is empowered to swear affidavits and can walk you through the process.

An affidavit is a written document that lists a series of statements. These statements are then sworn before a notary and may be used as evidence in a trial. The person swearing the document is swearing that the contents of the affidavit are true. It is very important to review your affidavit before swearing it to ensure you know what you are confirming for the court. It is illegal to lie on an affidavit.

Affidavits are most commonly used to confirm evidence in a court proceeding. However, affidavits can be used for a wide variety of matters outside of the court room. Affidavits are often used in court as part of legal proceedings, but they can be used in numerous other situations as well. If you wish to do business in another country, that country's government may require you to swear an oath that certain facts are true before they will approve your business. 

Notaries in Ontario are empowered to swear affidavits. This act "binds" the person swearing the oath to ensure the contents of the affidavit are true. Our notaries can "swear" any affidavit in Ontario, even one used in court. A notary's role when swearing an oath is simple. A notary is not confirming the information themselves, but rather physically witnessing someone swear that the information is true. Please do not sign the affidavit before you bring it to the notary. The notary will ask you to cross out your signature before swearing the oath. You will be asked to re-sign the document after the oath above your crossed out signature. 

Also, if your affidavit refers to an "exhibit" remember to bring those exhibits to your appointment. Our notary must make certain notations on all exhibits before your affidavit will be considered "valid". 

In the Small Claims Court, Affidavits are supposed to go on Form 15 B, which you can find by clicking here! You should also take a look at the Rules of the Small Claims Court for more information, which can be found here!

If you are suing in the Superior Court of Justice and wish to create your own affidavit, pay attention to the Rules of Civil Procedure rule 4.06. If you would like, take a look at our sample affidavits below. Remember, we are not providing legal advice and cannot consult on the content of the form. 

The affidavit is different depending on whether you are involved in an action (largely in person) or application (largely written).