Educational Credential Assessment for Canadian Immigration

An Educational Credential Assessment for Canadian immigration converts a degree, diploma, or certificate earned outside Canada into a Canadian equivalency that immigration officials can score. If you’re applying through the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the report is mandatory. If you’re applying through the Canadian Experience Class or Federal Skilled Trades Program, it’s technically optional but leaves points on the table if you skip it. Expect to pay between C$200 and C$264, wait roughly three to six weeks, and hold a report that stays valid for five years from the issue date.

When You Need an ECA

Federal Skilled Worker applicants with education from outside Canada must submit an ECA to enter the Express Entry pool. There’s no substitute. IRCC requires both the foreign credential and a valid ECA report before you can create a profile under this stream.¹

Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Program candidates can enter the pool without one. But once in, everyone competes on Comprehensive Ranking System score, and foreign education without an ECA earns zero points. A single bachelor’s degree is worth 120 CRS points for an applicant without a spouse, often the difference between an Invitation to Apply and months of waiting.²

If your credential was earned in Canada, you use it directly. No ECA needed.

What an ECA Is Worth in CRS Points

Education points are assigned based on your highest completed credential. For an applicant without a spouse or common-law partner:

Secondary diploma: 30 points
One-year post-secondary program: 90 points
Two-year post-secondary program: 98 points
Bachelor’s degree or three-year-plus program: 120 points
Two or more credentials, one of them three years or longer: 128 points
Master’s or professional degree required for a licensed profession: 135 points
Doctoral degree: 150 points

Applicants with a spouse receive slightly fewer points in this category because some points shift to the spouse’s own factors. Education also feeds skill-transferability bonuses when paired with strong language scores or Canadian work experience.²

Assessing Multiple Credentials

If you hold two or more foreign credentials and at least one came from a program of three years or longer, having both assessed can push you from the 120-point tier to the 128-point tier. Eight points sounds small, but draws often cluster tightly. You’ll pay for a separate ECA on each credential, and the arithmetic usually favors it.

Your Spouse’s Education

A spouse or common-law partner immigrating with you can earn additional CRS points from their foreign education, but only if they also obtain an ECA showing the credential equals a completed Canadian secondary or post-secondary credential.³ Skip it and those points don’t count.

Falling Back to Secondary School

Normally you only need an ECA on your highest credential. If your post-secondary credential doesn’t receive a Canadian equivalency for any reason, you can get your secondary school diploma assessed separately and claim the 30 points for high school completion.³

Which Organization Can Issue Your Report

IRCC only accepts ECA reports from organizations it has specifically designated. A report from any other evaluator will not be recognized. Five multipurpose organizations handle assessments across most academic fields:³

World Education Services (WES): C$264 plus 13% HST and delivery. Document review runs two to four weeks, followed by up to two more weeks for evaluation.⁴
International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS): C$210 per credential.⁵
Comparative Education Service (CES) at the University of Toronto: C$241.50 per application.⁶
International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS): C$260 per credential, with additional credentials at C$100 each. Standard processing is about 15 business days, with a rush option of five to seven.⁷
International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) at BCIT: C$200 per credential. Renewal of an expired report is C$50.⁸

All five follow IRCC’s framework but set their own fees and timelines. When choosing, consider which organization has verification experience with your country and institution. Stronger networks in a given region often mean faster verification.

Regulated Professions Have Their Own Bodies

Some occupations require you to use a specific professional body rather than a multipurpose organization. Choose the wrong one and IRCC will reject the report:

Physicians: If your primary occupation is specialist physician, surgeon, or general practitioner or family physician, the Medical Council of Canada must assess your primary medical diploma. The electronic report is generated within 14 business days; a paper copy can take up to eight weeks.⁹
Pharmacists: If your primary occupation is pharmacist and you need a license to practice, use the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada.³
Architects: Since May 2024, applicants whose primary occupation is architect must use the Canadian Architectural Certification Board. ECAs issued by other designated organizations before October 31, 2024 remain acceptable while valid.¹⁰

An ECA Is Not a License to Practice

The report confirms that your foreign education is equivalent to a Canadian credential for immigration scoring. It does not grant you the right to work in a regulated profession. An ECA equating your degree to a Canadian master’s in engineering does not authorize you to practice engineering in Canada.¹¹

Each province and territory licenses regulated professions through its own bodies. If you plan to work in nursing, engineering, accounting, law, teaching, or any other regulated field, contact the regulator in the province where you intend to settle. Licensing often involves additional exams, supervised practice, or bridging programs, all separate from the ECA.¹¹

Documents You’ll Need

Every designated organization publishes its own checklist, but the core requirements are consistent:

Official transcripts, typically sent in a sealed envelope with an institutional stamp or signature across the flap. Most organizations require them mailed directly by the institution or hand-delivered by you in the sealed state.¹²
Your degree certificate or diploma, as a clear copy of the final document proving program completion.
A copy of your passport bio-data page to confirm your identity matches the academic records.
The organization’s application form, with the institution name and credential title filled in exactly as they appear on your documents.

Digital Transcripts Where Available

Sealed paper envelopes are no longer the only path. WES accepts electronic transcripts through verified platforms including MyCreds, the National Student Clearinghouse, My eQuals, and Digitary Core, and some institutions send records directly through secure channels like Parchment.¹³ Check both your university’s and the assessment organization’s document requirements. When electronic delivery is available, it’s faster and removes the risk of envelopes lost in the international mail.

Translations

Documents not in English or French must be accompanied by a translation, an affidavit from the translator, and a certified photocopy of the original.¹⁴ Submit both the original-language version and the translation. Incomplete translation packages are one of the most common reasons applications stall.

One warning worth carrying with you: submitting forged or altered academic documents is treated as misrepresentation under Canadian immigration law and triggers a five-year ban on entering Canada from the date of the final determination.¹⁵¹⁶

How to Apply and How Long It Takes

Each organization runs an online portal. You create an account, enter your academic details, upload identification, and pay the fee. After that, arrange for your institution to send transcripts by mail or electronically. If you’re sending physical documents, keep tracking numbers for every shipment. International mail to assessment offices goes missing more often than most applicants expect, and without tracking you have no proof of delivery.

Once documents arrive and are verified, evaluation typically takes two to six weeks depending on the organization and how quickly your institution responds to verification requests. IQAS quotes about 15 business days once the file is in the processing queue.⁷ WES estimates two to four weeks for document review, then up to two more weeks for evaluation.¹⁷ The biggest variable isn’t the organization. It’s how quickly your university sends transcripts and how quickly the organization can verify them.

When the evaluation is complete, you receive a report with a unique reference number. Enter that number into your Express Entry profile so IRCC can verify the results electronically.

How Long the Report Stays Valid

An ECA report is valid for five years from its issue date.⁴ It must be valid at two moments: when you complete your Express Entry profile, and when you submit your permanent residence application after receiving an Invitation to Apply. If the report expires between those two steps, IRCC will refuse the application.³

If your report is close to expiring while you’re still in the pool, contact the issuing organization. Some offer renewal or re-issuance. ICES at BCIT, for example, charges C$50 to renew an expired report.⁸ Others require a fresh application. If your ECA will expire within six months and you haven’t received an invitation, start the renewal process now rather than after the ITA arrives.

If the Equivalency Looks Wrong

Sometimes a report assigns a lower Canadian equivalency than you expected. A four-year foreign degree might be equated to a three-year Canadian credential, or a master’s assessed as a bachelor’s. Appeals exist but rarely succeed. The equivalency is treated as conclusive evidence under the regulations, so IRCC will not second-guess the designated organization’s determination. If you believe there was a genuine error, contact the issuing organization and supply additional supporting documentation. If that doesn’t work, you can apply to a different designated organization for a fresh evaluation. Different organizations occasionally reach different conclusions because they apply slightly different methodologies.

1
Government of Canada. Federal Skilled Worker Program
2
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Express Entry – Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Criteria
3
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Educational Credential Assessment
4
World Education Services. Evaluations for Canadian Immigration (ECA)
5
International Credential Assessment Service of Canada. Services – Immigration to Canada
6
University of Toronto. Fees, Additional Applications, and Forms
7
Government of Alberta. Assessment for Immigration – How to Apply
8
BCIT. Step 2 – Service Fees
9
Medical Council of Canada. Educational Credential Assessment
10
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. New Designated Educational Credential Assessment Organization for Architects
11
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Does an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) Mean That I Can Be Licensed in a Regulated Profession?
12
World Education Services. Understanding Required Documents for Credential Evaluation
13
World Education Services. How to Send Electronic Academic Records to WES
14
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What Language Should My Supporting Documents Be In?
15
Justice Laws Website. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – Section 40
16
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Consequences of Immigration and Citizenship Fraud
17
World Education Services. Current Processing Times for WES Credential Evaluations