You may have completed education, done training or gained work experience in your home country. In many cases, completing education or training will grant you a credential, such as a degree, diploma, certificate or trade certificate. These are referred to as international credentials.
Employers may not understand how your International credentials compare to credentials here in Canada. In order to show them what your experience and education equals in Canada, you will need to have your credentials evaluated by a reputable organization.
There are organizations in Canada that will evaluate credentials for your level of education and for your employment experience for a cost. They are listed on the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada website. It is very important that you compare evaluation services and their reports before choosing the service that will work best for you.
Tips on choosing an evaluation service:
- If you plan on applying to an educational institution(s) or licensing organization in Canada (or Ontario), ask what type of evaluation report is needed and which evaluation service you should get it from.
- Make sure that the report you are getting will be useful for the following purposes: immigration, employment, and education. Education includes higher education, continuing education and/or entry into apprenticeship training programs.
- Apply to an evaluation service that will review all of your documents, such as transcripts, training/course outlines, academic credential, etc. Employers prefer evaluation services that review all documents.
- Find out if the service you choose charges a separate fee for each credential you want to have evaluated, or if they have 1 fee for all of your credentials.
- Find out if the evaluation service sends, free of charge, a second original copy of your evaluation report directly to where you need it to go.
- If you are receiving social assistance in Canada, ask your caseworker if the Government will pay for your evaluation report.