Can Notaries Public administer oaths to themselves?
No, section 21 of the Evidence Act states that “An oath may be administered to any person”. There must be two persons involved—the person administering the oath, and the person taking the oath (the affiant). This is also stated in the jurat as “Sworn/Affirmed/Declared before me […]”. Notaries Public should be aware that signing a document with such a jurat where there was no affiant before him may be committing a criminal act. Section 138 of the Criminal Code of Canada makes it an offence to sign a document as being sworn or declared before them when it was not. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for two years.
