You lost me in that forest of a sentence, but still it's clear:
-documents in English or French (which would include passports from every country I'm aware of) do not need to be translated, and regular photocopies fine (unless directed otherwise of course). Some people like to get notarized copies of these thigns, that's fine if they want - it won't hurt.
-for most countries, 'certified true copy plus certified translation' means eg notary or similar certifies the copy, certified translator certifies the translation. (Yes, I know this for a fact and from experience, for many/most if not all countries in the larger European space anyway).
-there are sometimes specific requirements for certain documents (eg original) in certain countries.
-some/several countries in latin america - it's required that govt certify the copy.
-I mostly agree with the comment that because CAnada doesn't adhere to the Hague convention about apostilles, Apostille per se is not needed. But I'm not sure that there's a big difference in practice between the govt certification and the Apostille for Mexico. [Side note: the reverse direction for Canadian docs in Apostillophile countries IS a big deal because it means a notarized copy from any province has to go to Foreign Affairs and is a royal pain.]
-But seriously: the easiest way is to ask someone local who does this for a living. If it were me, I would look up on google maps the closest Notary/Translation bureau in Mexico city to the Canadian Embassy and ask them what is needed for the Canadian Embassy's immigration section. They'll know.
That is a bit of a dense forest, I agree,
I agree more with the common sense advice "to ask someone local who does it for a living".
I won't try to parse the website, other than to say:
-it also says that docs in English/French do not need to be translated, and the 'true copy' requirement for the most part flows out of the requirement to get a translation (the doc being translated or a copy needs to be attached).
-passports by their very nature are intended to be documents that can be recognized by other countries and there are widely accepted standards for what goes in them (by international bodies in the UN system).
Of course if you wish to pay more money to get that done, you're welcome to, and I'm just a sirmadam on the internet.
Sorry about that, guys, didn't mean for it to be as dense as it was! No offence was meant, we are just two very concerned folks.
Thanks a lot for your input on this. We will follow your suggestions to find more info from a local source.