Do I Need an ECA, and How Do I Get One?

Anyone whose degree, diploma or certificate is from outside Canada and who wants Express Entry to count it. IRCC gives two reasons. First, you cannot be the principal applicant under the Federal Skilled Worker Program without one. Second, foreign education earns no points at all, on the 67-point grid or in the CRS, until a report says what it is equal to in Canada.

Your spouse or partner's foreign education can earn points too, if they are coming with you, and it needs its own report. A Canadian degree, diploma or certificate needs no assessment.

An educational credential assessment checks that your foreign credential is real and says which Canadian credential it matches. That is all it does. It does not get you a job at a certain level, and it does not licence you to work in a regulated profession. Licensing is done by the province you settle in, and it is a separate process.

There are different kinds of assessment. You need the one marked for immigration purposes. If you have another kind, the organization that issued it may be able to re-issue it.

Usually just your highest one. If you have a master's degree, you assess the master's and not the bachelor's underneath it.

The exception is when you want points for two or more credentials. Then each one needs its own report, and at least one of them must be for a program of three years or longer. The order you earned them in makes no difference.

If your post-secondary credential comes back as not equal to a Canadian one, you can have your secondary school credential assessed instead. That still earns the points for finishing high school.

Most people use one of five designated organizations: Comparative Education Service at the University of Toronto, International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, World Education Services, International Qualifications Assessment Service in Alberta, and International Credential Evaluation Service at BCIT. Fees and processing times differ, so check them before you pick.

Three occupations must use a professional body instead. Doctors whose primary occupation is NOC 31100, 31101 or 31102 go to the Medical Council of Canada. Pharmacists under NOC 31120 who need a licence go to the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada. Architects under NOC 21200 who need a licence go to the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. If your job does not need the licence, one of the five organizations can do it.

Five years from the date it was issued. It has to be under five years old on two days: when you complete your Express Entry profile and when you submit your application for permanent residence. If it will run out while you wait in the pool, ask the issuer about re-issuing it. An application filed with an expired report is refused.

Enter the result and the reference number in your profile. Keep the original documents. When an invitation comes you upload copies with the application, so have the scans ready before that day.

We check which credential to assess before you pay for a report, because the wrong choice can cost points or a second fee. Then we read the result against both the 67-point grid and the CRS so the profile claims exactly what the report supports.