When you are submitting an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, there are a number of education-related requirements that you must meet.
These educational credential requirements particularly apply to those People who have received educational training outside of Canada and need to demonstrate Canadian equivalency of their foreign educational credentials. This equivalency is shown through an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)
The equivalency report of your credential is used by IRCC to Make sure you meet the educational requirements outlined in your immigration program.
The official definition of an equivalency assessment is as follows:
“equivalency assessment” (ECA report) includes a determination, issued by an organization or institution designated under R75(4), that establishes whether a foreign diploma, certificate or credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian educational credential.
Designated credential organizations
The following organizations have been authorized by IRCC
Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
International Credential Assessment Service of Canada
International Qualifications Assessment Service
International Credential Evaluation Service – British Columbia Institute of Technology
The above organizations have been authorized to issue ECAs for all educational requirements except certain professional degrees, which are expanded upon below.
Professional educational credentials
For certain regulated professionals, it is necessary for the applicant to seek their ECA from separate bodies.
The ECA report must only be sought if the applicant intends to pursue this specific regulated profession in Canada through the equivalency of their foreign credentials.
The professional bodies that supply ECAs for specific professions, highlighted through NOC codes, are listed below:
| Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100) | Medical Council of Canada (MCC) |
| Specialist physicians (NOC 3111) or specialists in surgery (NOC 31101) | |
| General practitioners and family physicians (NOC 3112 or NOC 31102) | |
| Architects (NOC 2151 or NOC 21200) | Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) |
| Pharmacists (NOC 3131 or NOC 31120) | Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) |
Other requirements from education credentials:
– The equivalency must be demonstrated to a completed Canadian secondary or postsecondary credential.
– The credential must be from a recognised institution.
A few examples of equivalents include:
A university-level credential at the doctorate level could be recognised through:
– Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree with a focus in [area of concentration]
– Doctorate (Ph.D.)
– Earned doctorate (Ph.D.)
– Earned doctorate degree
– Professional doctorate degree
A Dentistry degree could be recognized through:
– Four to seven years of professional study in dentistry
– Five or more years of professional university study in dentistry
– First professional degree in dentistry
– Doctor of Dental Surgery degree
A Law degree could be recognised through:
– Bachelor of Laws
– Juris Doctor
– First professional university degree in law
– First professional university degree in law, preceded by [x-year] prerequisite undergraduate study
For a full list of equivalency possibilities, please visit the IRCC’s comprehensive list here.
