Once upon a time, a Petition for a Patent required a hand-written signature. Since 1999, patent filing via CIPO's E-commerce website automatically creates a Petition for a Patent. The Strategis registration/login is accepted as valid verification, so there is no longer a requirement for a hand-written signature.
Today, I received a letter from the CIPO stating that "Signature is required on the declaration of small entity." This is due to Bill C-29, but I believe that the amended Patent Act and amended Patent Rules do not specify that "A hand-written signature is required." Therefore, please consider accepting the Small-Entity Declaration without a hand-written signature if the submission is made via E-commerce since the applicant has already verified his/her identity with Strategis ID which is equivalent to a digital signature.
