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2. Getting your Educational Credential Assessment

If your diploma or degree is not from Canada, you need to get an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

Home > Work in Canada > Permanent Residency > Express Entry: The Ultimate Guide > Express Entry: Step-by-Step Guide > 2. Getting your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) is used to check the Canadian equivalency of a foreign degree, diploma or certificate. For example, an ECA will determine if an applicant’s foreign Master’s degree is of the same standard when compared to a Canadian Master’s degree. If your credential is awarded in Canada by a Canadian educational body, you do need to provide an ECA.

For the Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), you do not need a minimum education level to qualify for Express Entry. However, you can still get CRS points for any secondary education you've had outside Canada (if you apply for the ECA for your diploma). 

List of IRCC-designated organizations

There are seven designated organizations for ECAs:

• Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (CES, Date designated: April 17, 2013).
• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICASC, Date designated: April 17, 2013).
• World Education Services (WES, Date designated: April 17, 2013).
• International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS, Date designated: August 6, 2015).
• International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES, Date designated: August 6, 2015).
• Medical Council of Canada (professional body for Doctors) (MCC, Date designated: April 17, 2013).
• Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (professional body for Pharmacists) (PEBC, Date designated: January 6, 2014).

​Keep in mind that ECA report must be issued on or after the date IRCC designated the organization.
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​Most applicants will be able to get their ECA done by selecting one of the first 5 designated organizations from the list above.

If you are a specialist physician (NOC 3111) or general practitioner/family physician (NOC 3112), the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) must do the ECA for your primary medical diploma.

If you are a pharmacist (NOC 3131) and need a license to practice (for example, providing patient care in a community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, etc.), the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) must do your ECA.

ECA validity period

An ECA is valid for a period of 5 years from the date it is issued. To be accepted by IRCC, the ECA must not be more than five years old on the date that IRCC gets (i) your Express Entry profile, and (ii) your application for permanent residence.

Comparative table of the 5 designated organizations 

The price includes all the credentials you want to add (except for CES, which is the price per credential). Include all your credentials, so as not to pay an additional fee and waste time if you want to assess another credential later.

	CES University of Toronto	ICAS Canada	WES	IQAS	ICES
Price (excl. taxes)	$210	$200	$220	$200	$200
Processing time	14 weeks	20 weeks	7 weeks	12 weeks	8 weeks
Canada Delivery (excl. taxes)	Standard: free Courier: 25$	Standard: N.A. Courier: 25$	Standard: $7 Courier: 25$	Standard: N.A. Courier: 15$	Standard: free Courier: 26$
International Delivery (excl. taxes)	Standard: $10 Courier: $90	Standard: N.A Courier: $85	Standard: N.A. Courier: $85	Standard: N.A. Courier: $75	Standard: N.A. Courier: $75

​The obvious choice here is WES being the quickest of them all, and not that more expensive than the other providers.

The processing time is approximative and begin once a complete application is received. Processing times can also depend on the volume of application received. We recommend using WES, below is a guide for getting your ECA from them, and some few tips.

Applying for an ECA though WES

Be always careful that you are in the Canadian WES website, as there's a U.S. one as well. You can check that on the top right corner of the WES page.

Step 1. Use their Free Degree Equivalency Tool

With WES, you have an option to use the Free WES Degree Equivalency Tool before you create an account. This will give you an idea of what your ECA results "may be", this is in no way a replacement for an ECA.

The tool is simple to use and requires only the following information: name, country of residence, e-mail, country of education, name of Degree/Diploma, numbers of years of study. Then you can search for your institution. If you don't find your institution, research again but without typing anything the box, you will get the list of all institutions and look again (sometimes, there can be spelling problems with some languages such as Arabic).

If you still don't find your school, you can still apply through WES.

Step 2. Understand the required documents, that depends on your country of education

You have to go to this page. Choose your country and type of education (secondary education is high school and higher education is post high school). You then have to choose which type of high school diploma you got (French, Spanish, British, ... ).

Depending on your answers, you will get the documents you will have to provide. If you have a higher education diploma, the documents you will be asked to provide are:

• A copy (does not need to be certified) of your diploma/degree/certificate (final or provisional).
• An envelope with your academic transcripts for all the years you attended the institution.  It does not have to be an official envelope with the name of your institution in front, but has to be either stamped or signed across the back flap by an appropriate official at your institution. You can then either ask your institution to send your sealed or signed envelope directly to WES, or send it yourself (you can send it with your other documents in one delivery).
• If you diploma/degree/certificate and/or your academic transcripts are not in French or English, you will need to provide in addition (do not just send the translation, send the foreign language documents too) a copy of a word-for-word French or English translation, either done by your academic institution or by a certified translation service. Translations do not need to be in the sealed envelope.
• If you are from a set of countries (Morocco, Pakistan, etc.), you will need to add your high school diploma, and high school transcripts in a sealed envelope by the relevant body. You will need to check in the WES required documents page.

Although it is NOT required, you can add this form. It has to be signed by you and your institution and can help you request your documents. It has to be included in the sealed envelope and must also include the WES number that you get when you register and pay your fees (see step 3).
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Step 3. Create your account and pay your fees

Go here to create your account. After entering your personal information, add your credential data. You can add as many credentials as you want, it will be the same price (however, if you add a credential later on, you will have to pay an additional fee). You will then have to pay the fees, either by credit card, cheque/money order, or Western Union.

Once, you are done you will be getting your WES Reference Number.

Step 4. Gather your required documents

As discussed in step 2, the documents required depend on the country of education. After gathering them and/or have them prepared by your institution, make sure that the address in the mail contains your WES Reference Number (as to avoid any delays).

When sending your documents to WES, use of express courier service is recommended. The last thing you would want is to go through all the process again, if lost in transit. However, if you are not in a hurry, want to save some money and take the risk, you can send it by regular mail (you should check if your postal system is trustworthy).

Step 5. Wait for the review to be completed

WES will review the submitted documents and communicate with you via e-mail when needed. In most cases, the evaluation will be completed in 20 business days after document submission. There will be delays if the documents submitted are incorrect or WES needs additional verification. 

You can monitor the status of your application in your online WES account. You do not need to worry if your courier says the documents have been delivered, but your WES status does not change as it can take up to 3 weeks from delivery to update your status. Below are the WES evaluation statuses:

• Waiting for required documents.
• Documents received – Review in Progress.
• Waiting for verification from institution : WES may find it necessary to verify the documents you submitted with the issuing institutions. In such cases, WES will send a copy of your submitted documents to your educational institution and ask them to authenticate the same.
• Completed: you will be able to see your electronic report in your account. You will also be able to track the transit of your ECA report (hard copy) using the tracking IDs provided.​

How to interpret your ECA results

An ECA report from WES is provided below. You need to enter the reference number at the top right of your report in your Express Entry application.

ECA sample report

Depending on the results of your ECA, you can claim up 150 CRS points. If you are not sure of what your ECA report is saying, check out this link that contains all ECA possibilities and its CRS points equivalent. You can calculate your overall CRS score here.

For a “professional degree,” the degree program must have been in: medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine, or pharmacy.

Express Entry Step-by-Step Guide

Click here for the next step, taking your language test(s).

1. Finding your NOC (National Occupational Classification)

To be eligible, you need to first check that you work experience, as defined by the NOC system, is eligible for Express Entry.

Go to step 1.

2. Getting your Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) if you credential is not Canadian - YOU ARE HERE

You need to get your foreign educational credential assessed by one of IRCC's approved third parties. 

3. Taking your English and/or French language tests

For all the three Express Entry programs, you need to take English and/or French test(s) and score a number of points to be eligible.

Go to Step 3.

4. Checking your eligibility to Express Entry

Check if you eligible to Express Entry under one of the three economic immigration programs. 

Go to Step 4.

5. Calculate your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score

You need next to understand how to calculate your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score. This score is the one you will be ranked with in the Express Entry pool.

Go to Step 5.

6. Getting into the Express Entry Pool

After taking your language exam(s), and getting your ECA (if your credential is not Canadian), you need to verify your eligibility through the Come to Canada Tool and then create your Express Entry profile to get into the pool of applicants.

Go to step 6.

7. Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA)

If you have enough CRS points, you will get an Invitation to Apply. You will have 60 days to fill additional forms and submit your supporting documents.

Go to step 7.

8. Your document checklist: Tips and Advice

After receiving you Invitation to Apply (ITA), you will need to upload the requested supporting documents. Get ahead and make sure you will not have a problem gathering them.

​Go to step 8.

9. From Ackownlgedgment of Receipt (AoR) to Passeport Request (PPR)

After submitting your documents, learn about the process of approval of your application and the different updates that will let you have an idea on where you application is at.

Go to step 9.

10. Preparing your landing in Canada

Check out our before landing and living pages, to learn all about Canada, its biggest cities, its healthcare and education systems, what things to do first when arriving in Canada, etc.