Evaluating Your Credentials
Credentials are academic or educational qualifications, such as degrees or diplomas, that you have completed. Credentials can also be occupational qualifications, such as professional certificates or work experience.
If you received your credentials outside of Canada, they are called “international credentials” or “foreign credentials”. You may need to get your credentials evaluated if you want to work or study in Canada.
Academic credentials
These are examples of academic credentials:
- Secondary (high) school diploma
- College diploma
- Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree
- PhD or Doctorate degree
- Professional school degree (for example, a degree in law, medicine, or teaching)
Occupational or professional credentials
These are examples of occupational or professional credentials:
- Professional licences
- Memberships in professional associations
- Apprenticeships
- Trade certificates
- Work experience
Getting your foreign credentials evaluated
You may need to get your foreign credentials evaluated for work or if you want to apply to a college or university.
There are some organizations that will review and evaluate your foreign credentials by comparing them to similar credentials you can get in Canada. There is a fee for these services.
- Comparative Education Services (CES)
- International Credentials Assessment Service (ICAS)
- World Education Services