Do I have to send the formal notice by registered mail?
In the United States? This answer is Québec and Canadian law. The US side of this site answers different questions, state by state: different law, and different coverage. Go to the US side
Short answer
In Quebec, the government says to send the original of the formal notice (mise en demeure) by registered mail and to keep a copy of the letter as well as the proof of receipt issued by Canada Post.
In detail
The reason is simple: without proof of receipt, you cannot show that the formal notice actually reached the person it was addressed to. Yet that is often the date from which interest runs, and it is the date that starts the deadline you gave.
The procedure described has three steps: make a copy of the letter, send the original by registered mail, keep the copy and the proof of receipt. The copy serves as your exhibit; the proof of receipt establishes the date.
A formal notice sent another way is not void for that reason, but it leaves you with a problem of proof if the other party denies having received it. If you have already sent yours another way, keep everything that establishes it was sent and received.
What to document
The tracking number, the date it was sent, the date of delivery or of the attempted delivery, and the name of the person who signed. Photograph or scan the Canada Post proof: paper receipts fade, and the hearing may be several months away.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.