credential assessement

For most federal economic immigration streams, including Express Entry, you will require an ECA,

The ECA compares your education to its Canadian equivalent. If you obtained Canadian

education, you don’t need an ECA. If you have more than one post-secondary degree,

you usually only need to have your highest degree assessed. We recommend to claim as many

CRS points as possible to get all your credentials assessed.

If your spouse, common-law, or conjugal partner is accompanying you and has a post-secondary degree, we recommend they get an ECA on their education because you can claim more point on CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) for Express Entry, even though it is not a requirement. 

IRCC will only accept ECAs from designated organizations:

World Education Services (WES)

Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

International Credential Assessment Service of Canada

International Qualifications Assessment Service

International Credential Evaluation Service

Medical Council of Canada (professional body for Doctors) (Physicians Apply)

Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (professional body for Pharmacists)

NNAS National Nurse Assessment Services (professional national nursing assessment)

CRNA – College of Registered Nurses of Alberta

CRLPN – College of Registered Licensed Practical Nurse (Alberta)

www.crpna.ab.ca  College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Alberta

If you are a physician, you use Physician Apply or pharmacist and nurses, we recommend you

use World Education Services (WES) for your ECA as they have the most efficient processing

time. If you’re a Doctor, the Medical Council of Canada must evaluate your primary medical

degree. If you’re a Pharmacist and need a license to practice, you need to get your ECA from

the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada. 

Whichever organization you choose, the evaluation process can only begin once they receive the necessary documents from you or your university.  They’ll need your official transcripts and usually a copy of your degree and other documents.

The evaluation process itself can also take several weeks to several months. Since you need an

ECA to be eligible to submit to the Express Entry pool if you’re applying as a skilled worker,

getting started on your ECA is usually one of the first steps of your Express Entry immigration

process.