fbpx

Electronic signatures for education in Canada

Share   | 

Empower students and staff with eZsign

In today’s modern and connected world, there’s virtually no reason for schools to be stuck signing paper documents with a pen. Parents, students, and staff expect more, and advances in cloud technology, faster networks, and unparalleled security mean that e-signatures are an easy and cost-effective way to reduce paperwork across Canadian schools, improve the educational experience, and empower student success.

Table of Contents

eZsign gives you the technology, security, and peace of mind to integrate electronic signatures into all your document signing workflows, so you can get back to changing lives, not chasing paperwork.

Get back to changing lives,
not chasing paperwork

eZsign benefits

Tech-forward schools are the future of Canadian education. Why use e-signatures at your educational institution?

Convenience

Replace paper cuts and ink splotches with seamless, mobile-friendly workflows on any device.

Speed

Users across industries report getting important signatures back in hours, not days.

 

Visibility

Know exactly where every document is in the signing process with a user-friendly dashboard.

Efficiency

Eliminate mountains of paperwork, data entry, and time-consuming paper document management.

Best of all: students, teachers, and staff can get back to what really matters—educating the leaders of tomorrow.

eZsign features

With eZsign, all your use cases are covered, whether you’re asking for parents to sign up for a bake sale or provide a consent for emergency medical treatment:

Assurance level 4

Never wonder if the right person is signing your documents thanks to Canada’s highest identity authentication standards.

Time stamping authority

Know the exact date and time any user takes any action on a document thanks to trusted, third-party timestamps.

Long-term validation

Trust that signatures will be provable for decades to come thanks to trusted, third-party long-term validation.

Secure payment integration

Easily collect electronic payments thanks to an integration with Moneris, Canada’s trusted payment processing platform.

Proof of evidence

Sign documents knowing you have exactly what you need to prove their validity in court if they’re ever challenged.

ISO compliance

Go paperless with confidence because your e-signature solution complies with recognized international standards.

Bilingual

Take advantage of all eZsign features, training, customer support, and more in either English or French.

Made in Canada

When you work with us, you’re supporting one of Canada’s leading homegrown tech companies.

“Since adding eZsign, we get all our documents back fast. We don’t have to make appointments with students anymore, we don’t have to chase after them to get things signed, and we don’t have to keep paper copies anymore. Everything gets stored correctly on our servers. We save time, paper, and space.”

—Ahuntsic College, Montreal, Quebec

How eZsign can be used in schools

E-signatures can be used everywhere in schools:

  • Operations and HR
  • Student and parent services
  • Fundraising and development
  • Recruitment and onboarding


From recruiting teachers and staff to signing enrollment paperwork, permission slips, and so much more, electronic signatures can streamline every department of every school in Canada. Below, read about just 10 of the many document types K–12 schools, colleges, and universities in Canada are signing electronically.

“Everything just keeps getting better and better!”

—Ahuntsic College, Montreal, Quebec

10 document types Canadian schools are signing electronically

School documents aren’t just for education: they are often legally binding documents laying our rules, responsibilities, liability, safety, and more. Sign them all with confidence with eZsign:

Enrollment forms

When students start at a new school, or a new grade, there’s a lot of excitement, nervousness, and stress. With e-signatures, administrators can eliminate paper enrollment processes to make students’ and parents’ lives easier, speed up the receipt of critical signatures, and automate follow-up if anything is missing, so students can start school on time.

Codes of conduct and student handbooks

Students need to agree to abide by a code of conduct, or student handbook. Not complying could be grounds for disciplinary action, including expulsion. Handbooks carry legal weight, so it’s important to make sure they’re signed properly. With multi-factor authentication, assurance level 4, and time stamping, schools can be sure these documents have valid signatures. Plus, allowing students and parents to sign on their phones means schools can get everything back the same day, not weeks later.

Medical forms

Schools are responsible for student health, safety, and wellness. If something goes wrong, they may be liable. School staff needs to know whether a student has a health condition or not and how best to treat it, thanks to medical forms signed by the student’s doctor and parent or guardian. Routing these forms electronically means students don’t need an appointment with their doctors to get them signed, and the school can easily see whose medical information is missing or incomplete.

Permission slips

Permission slips don’t need to be literal slips of paper anymore! Instead of manually printing, cutting, distributing, collecting, and following up on missing permission slips, which takes forever and might mean a student can’t participate in an important class activity, get them signed electronically to remove the stress and all the time-consuming tasks that go along with them.

Individualized education plans (IEPs)

Educators across Canada have recognized that students learn in different ways, and at different paces. IEPs are unique to each student and are often very personal. Managing them electronically means better privacy, faster parent responses, and a better experience for everyone, including the educators and staff putting these plans into action.

Financial aid forms

The cost of education can vary widely based on factors like location, school type, public/private status, religious affiliation, and more. Loans, aid, scholarships/bursaries, waivers, and more all require an enormous amount of paperwork, financial records, and more. With e-signatures, you can move managing these documents to the cloud, making the process much easier and ensuring students get the resources they need to succeed.

Student residence agreements

In addition to being educators, schools are also often landlords when students live on campus. They need to sign legally-binding leases, either individually or with their parent or guardian. Plus, the school could be hundreds of kilometers away. Digitalizing the signing process lets everything run more smoothly, even from afar, so that when the student arrives on campus, the only thing they’re nervous about is making new friends.

Study abroad applications

Processing study abroad paperwork can be complicated, not least of all because many of the signers may be in another country! Thankfully with e-signatures, students, educators, and study abroad coordinators can make the process quick and seamless, no envelopes or air mail required!

Internship, externship, and co-op agreements and paperwork

Real job experience is one of the most valuable assets educational institutions can give their students. Internships, externships, and co-ops involve off-campus learning across town or across the province. They also involve a lot of important paperwork and signatures. Making it easy to do on a phone, tablet, or computer allows schools to get signed documents and reports back in hours, not weeks, so students can continue on their educational journey and graduate from their programs.

Graduation applications

Graduation is often one of the most meaningful milestones in young peoples’ lives. Make graduation approval as easy and seamless as possible by digitalizing the graduation application process and allowing students to sign documents right from their smartphones. They can also agree to rent or borrow their caps, gowns, sashes, and other regalia electronically, too, making it much easier on staff.

“We don’t have to print anything anymore. We can easily track where every document is in the signing process. The system automatically sends reminders to people who haven’t signed yet. It’s fantastic.”

—Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue

E-signatures for education in Canada

Empower students, educators, administrators, and parents across Canada—all thanks to paperless processes and electronic signatures. Everyone will appreciate the increased efficiency, faster workflows, and reduced time and stress.

To talk about integrating e-signatures at your school, get in touch with our team today.

Book your discovery call to discuss how e-signatures will work for your institution. Gain access to a customized free trial account, set up for your needs.