Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA): Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act, 1984, S.O. 1984, c. Pr12, and the OALA Digital Seal, Landscape Architecture Title, Membership Categories and Code of Ethics pages on 25 September 2026 · Updated 25 September 2026
In Ontario a landscape architect may seal with an ink seal or a Digital Seal, but the OALA sources we could open do not say who supplies the ink seal. The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects states the sealing right on its Digital Seal page: “OALA Full Members with Certificate and Seal may seal drawings with an ink seal. They may also seal electronic documents with a digital signature (referred to as the ‘Digital Seal’).” That settles who may seal and with what. It does not settle whether the OALA issues the ink seal or the member orders it.
The Digital Seal is clearer. “To obtain a digital seal, an OALA Full Member with Certificate and Seal must register with the Certificate Authority (Notarius) and must then have the confirmation as a Full Member in Good Standing from the OALA.” The electronic seal runs through Notarius and depends on the Association confirming your standing.
The statute does not fill the gap. The Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act, 1984, S.O. 1984, c. Pr12, uses the word seal once, in s. 7(1)(i), which lets Council pass by-laws “prescribing the custody and use of the Association seal.” That is the Association’s own seal. The OALA’s Policy for Use of a Physical Seal in Professional Practice, dated March 17, 2022, is the document most likely to answer the supply question, and it would not load for this review.
Ontario landscape architect seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Ontario rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | A right to seal, not a stated duty: OALA Full Members with Certificate and Seal may seal drawings with an ink seal | OALA Digital Seal page |
| Required elements | Not published in the OALA sources that loaded | OALA Digital Seal page; OALA Act, 1984 |
| Size and shape | Not verified. No dimension in the sources that loaded | OALA Digital Seal page; OALA Act, 1984 |
| Device allowed | An ink seal on drawings, and a Digital Seal on electronic documents | OALA Digital Seal page |
| Signature and date | Not addressed in the sources that loaded | OALA Digital Seal page |
| What must be sealed | No list found. Drawings may carry the ink seal and electronic documents the Digital Seal | OALA Digital Seal page |
| Electronic seal | Digital Seal through Notarius, after OALA confirmation as a Full Member in Good Standing. The public can verify it free | OALA Digital Seal page |
| Renewal and lapse | The Digital Seal depends on good standing. No return rule was found | OALA Digital Seal page |
| Firm requirements | Title only: a firm may use the designation where the work is carried on by or under the direct personal supervision of a full member. No firm seal found | OALA Act, 1984, s. 10(2) |
| Regulator | Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), under a 1984 private Act that protects the title | Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act, 1984, S.O. 1984, c. Pr12, ss. 3, 7(1)(i) and 10, read from the Osgoode Digital Commons copy; OALA Digital Seal, Landscape Architecture Title and Membership Categories pages. Not loaded at the time of writing: the OALA physical seal and digital seal policies (March 17, 2022), the two OALA seal scenarios and the Code of Ethics file, and no rule is drawn from them |
Is a seal required in Ontario?
The OALA sources that loaded describe a right to seal rather than a general duty to seal. Full Members with Certificate and Seal may seal drawings with an ink seal and may seal electronic documents with the Digital Seal. The 1984 Act protects the title: s. 10(1) provides that “Every full member of the Association may use the designation ‘Landscape Architect’,” and s. 10(3) makes it an offence for any person in Ontario who is not a full member to take or use the designation “Landscape Architect” or “Landscape Architects.” The Act contains no sealing clause for practitioners, and the pages read do not say which submissions a municipality or client expects to see sealed.
What must appear on the seal
- Not published in the OALA sources that loaded
The wording and layout of the ink seal are not described on the Digital Seal, Landscape Architecture Title or Membership Categories pages. For the electronic seal the OALA lists what the certificate may hold: full name, email address, professional title, membership number, public key, and the validity period and serial number of the certificate. That list describes the certificate, not the face of an ink seal. Title rules still govern anything on paper: only Full Members may use the title Landscape Architect or put OALA after their name.
Size and shape
Not verified. No diameter, shape or layout appears in the sources that loaded, and the physical seal policy that may set one did not open. Do not size an Ontario landscape architect seal from a US rule or from Ontario’s surveying regulation, which governs a different profession under its own statute.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
Ink on drawings, Digital Seal on electronic documents. The OALA’s own words are “ink seal,” and the pages read name no embosser. On the electronic side the Association defines the device: “A Digital Seal is the affixing of a digital signature certificate that cryptographically secures an electronic file, thus proving the origin, the authenticity of the signer, and confirms the integrity of the signed document.”
Signing and dating
Not addressed in the sources that loaded. The OALA says its policy for the Digital Seal is set out in the OALA Handbook, and it links a companion policy for the physical seal, both dated March 17, 2022. Neither opened, so no placement, signature or date rule is reported here. The Code of Ethics page links two teaching scenarios on proper use of the seal, one about allied professionals and one about potential clients, and those files did not open either.
The OALA confirms the right to seal, and the supply question stays open
Ontario is the province in this set where the sources stop short of the supply answer. The OALA uses the phrase Full Members with Certificate and Seal, which ties the seal to Full Membership, and it routes the Digital Seal through Notarius with its own confirmation of good standing. What no page that loaded says is whether the Association issues the ink seal or the member orders it. The nearest statutory text, s. 7(1)(i) of the 1984 Act, concerns the Association’s own seal rather than a practitioner’s device.
Which documents must be sealed
No list was found. The Digital Seal page speaks of sealing drawings with the ink seal and electronic documents with the Digital Seal, and stops there. It does not say which submissions require a seal, and the Act imposes no sealing duty. Not verified for municipal or provincial submission rules.
Electronic and digital seals
Through Notarius, with OALA confirmation. In the Association’s words, “The Certificate Authority (Notarius) provides the framework and platform to issue Trusted Digital Signatures to OALA Full Members.” A member registers with Notarius and then needs the OALA to confirm Full Member in Good Standing status. Anyone can check the result: “Members of the public are able to verify a digital seal. This is free service.” The detailed policy sits in the OALA Handbook and the members’ area, and it was not read.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
The Digital Seal depends on standing: the member needs OALA confirmation as a Full Member in Good Standing to obtain it. Not addressed in the sources that loaded: what happens to either seal on resignation, suspension or retirement. Retired and inactive members have their own title forms on the Landscape Architecture Title page, but that page says nothing about their seals, so ask the OALA.
Firm requirements
The Act reaches firms through the title only. Section 10(2) lets a firm, partnership or corporation use the designation where its landscape architecture is carried on “by or under the direct personal supervision of a full member.” No firm seal was found in the Act or on the OALA pages read.
What to check before you order
In Ontario, start with the OALA. Ask whether the Association issues the ink seal to Full Members with Certificate and Seal or expects you to arrange one, and ask for the Policy for Use of a Physical Seal in Professional Practice, which the OALA links from its Digital Seal page. For electronic work, register with Notarius and have the OALA confirm your standing. Hold off on an official seal until the Association tells you who supplies it and what it must show.
If the OALA tells you members arrange their own ink seal and gives you its specification, send us that specification and we will quote from it. Until then there is nothing sourced to build an official Ontario seal from.
What we can make for your office now. The OALA pages read address the ink seal and the Digital Seal and say nothing about routine office stamps. Keep those plainly apart from a seal, and off the protected title if you are not a Full Member. A practice can then use stamps carrying a name, received and dated stamps, markers for drawing review and a firm logo stamp, none of which is a seal. See the range under landscape architect stamps and seals.
- Alberta Landscape Architect Seal: AALA Ink Stamp and Digital Seal
- British Columbia Landscape Architect Seal: Who Issues It
- Landscape Architect Seal in Canada: What Applies
Frequently asked questions
Who supplies the landscape architect seal in Ontario?
The OALA sources that loaded do not say. The Digital Seal page confirms that Full Members with Certificate and Seal may seal drawings with an ink seal, but not whether the Association issues it or the member orders it. The physical seal policy that would likely settle it, dated March 17, 2022, did not open.
Who may seal in Ontario?
OALA Full Members with Certificate and Seal. The Digital Seal page gives them the right to seal drawings with an ink seal and electronic documents with the Digital Seal.
How do I get an OALA Digital Seal?
Register with the Certificate Authority, Notarius, and then obtain the OALA’s confirmation that you are a Full Member in Good Standing. The OALA says Notarius provides the framework and platform that issue these signatures to Full Members.
Does the OALA Act create a practitioner seal?
No. The only seal in the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act, 1984 is the Association seal, whose custody and use Council may regulate by by-law under s. 7(1)(i). The Act otherwise protects the title.
Who may use the Landscape Architect title in Ontario?
Full members of the Association. Section 10(1) of the 1984 Act gives every full member that designation, and s. 10(3) makes it an offence for anyone in Ontario who is not a full member to take or use it, subject to the firm rule in s. 10(2).
Can the public check an Ontario Digital Seal?
Yes. The OALA says members of the public can verify a digital seal through Notarius and that the service is free.
Can an Ontario landscape architecture firm use the title?
Yes, where its landscape architecture is carried on by or under the direct personal supervision of a full member, under s. 10(2) of the Act. No firm seal was found in the Act or on the OALA pages read.
What size is the Ontario ink seal?
Not verified. None of the OALA sources that loaded gives a dimension, shape or layout, and the physical seal policy did not open.
What did this review not read?
The OALA Policy for Use of a Physical Seal in Professional Practice and the Policy for Use of the Digital Seal, both dated March 17, 2022, the two seal scenarios linked from the Code of Ethics page and the Code of Ethics file itself. Each was linked from an OALA page but would not load, so no rule is quoted from them.
