Legal value and verification of a signature

Yes. Canadian law recognises electronic signatures. In Quebec, an electronic signature has the same value as a handwritten one when the document stays intact and the link between the signature and the document is maintained.

meo keeps the evidence: each signer agrees to sign online and enters a one-time code received by email or text message. meo then seals the PDF and timestamps it; any change breaks the seal. The signature certificate dates each step. meo’s seal is issued by SSL.com, a certificate authority on Adobe’s Approved Trust List (AATL): Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader recognise it as valid, with no set-up by the person who opens the file.

Exceptions: a holograph will, a notarial deed, and anything a third party requires signed by hand. Details below.

• A holograph will is written in full and signed by hand by its author (Civil Code, art. 726).
• A notarial deed follows your notary’s process, outside meo.
• Anything a third party refuses in electronic form: a bank, an insurer or a public body can require its own form or a handwritten signature.

Depending on the province, other documents may need a particular form. If in doubt, check with your legal adviser before you send the document.

• Consent. Before seeing the document, each signer ticks “I agree to receive and sign documents electronically.” and can read the Electronic Signature Terms. Once per request is enough; the certificate records the date.
• The link with the person. The signer opens their personal link, then enters a one-time code received by email or text message. The certificate records the method, where the code was sent and the time of the check.
• The document’s integrity. Once every signature is collected, meo seals the PDF with a digital seal and a trusted timestamp. Any later change breaks the seal.
• The timeline. meo dates each step: sending, viewing, code checked, consent and signature.

The Signature certificate is a PDF file separate from the signed document. It describes the document (name, request sender, page count, SHA-256 fingerprint of the original PDF), then, for each signer, their email, the authentication method and where the code was sent, the signature mode, the IP address at signing and the time of each step. A detailed chronological record follows. The “Meo reference” printed in the margin of every page of the signed copy also appears on the certificate.

In Documents, open the ”… - signé.pdf” file, click File details, then View the signature certificate. You can also open the file’s ⋮ menu, point to Download and choose Signature certificate, or Signed copy with certificate to get everything in one file. The signer finds the same choices under Download, in their portal.

Each file (signed copy, certificate, signed copy with certificate) carries its own seal. Acrobat shows a single digital signature in it, the seal’s; the signers’ names appear in the signature certificate.

1. Open the downloaded file in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.

2. Open the signatures panel, then the signature’s properties.

3. Read the two results: one says whether the document has been changed since it was signed, the other whether Acrobat recognises the seal’s certificate. You can also display that certificate, with its holder and its validity period.

For an intact file, Acrobat says the signature is valid. The signer shown is “Documents Meo” and the certificate is issued by SSL.com.

A warning, or a signature validity shown as “unknown”, does not mean the document is invalid: Acrobat could not confirm, on that computer, the certificate used for the seal. A change is reported differently: Acrobat says the document has been modified since it was signed.

Keep the file as you downloaded it: a printed, scanned or “printed to PDF” copy no longer carries the seal.

In Quebec, the Act to establish a legal framework for information technology lets everyone choose a document’s medium, unless the law requires a specific one (s. 2). A document whose information stays intact and complete has the same legal value on paper or on any other medium (ss. 5 and 6). A person’s signature on a technological document can be set up against them when that integrity is ensured and the link between the signature and the document has been maintained since signing (s. 39). The Civil Code defines a signature as the name or personal mark a person regularly uses to show their consent (art. 2827). Federally, Part 2 of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act covers the federal laws it designates; the other provinces and the territories each have their own electronic commerce act.

• meo does not check identity documents. It keeps the method used, the email address or phone number that received the code, and the successful code check.
• The IP address shows the connection used, not a precise place.
• meo does not confirm that a given contract is valid: that also depends on its content and on the rules that apply to your situation.

This page is general information, not legal advice.

• Prepare a document for signature
• Frequently asked questions about signatures