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What is an ECA, and do I need one for Canada?

An ECA, or educational credential assessment, is a report from an organisation IRCC designates, stating what your foreign degree is equal to in Canada. You need one to enter Express Entry with foreign education, to claim education points, and to meet the Federal Skilled Worker minimum. WES issues most reports for Indian degrees, and a report is valid for five years.

What it is

Immigration officers are not in a position to judge whether a degree from a particular Indian university equals a Canadian bachelor's. So IRCC designates a handful of organisations to do it, and their report is the only evidence of foreign education that Express Entry accepts.

The designated organisations include World Education Services (WES), International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (ICAS), International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS), Comparative Education Service (CES) and International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES). Physicians and pharmacists use their own professional bodies instead.

Who needs one

  • anyone claiming points for education completed outside Canada
  • every Federal Skilled Worker applicant, because a completed credential is a minimum requirement
  • your spouse, if you want points for their education

Canadian degrees do not need one.

How it works, in practice

  1. Open an account with the assessment body and pay the fee.
  2. Ask your university to send attested transcripts and degree certificates directly to the assessor. This is the step that takes weeks in India; assessors do not accept documents that pass through your hands.
  3. Receive the report, which names a Canadian equivalent, and enter its reference number in your Express Entry profile.

WES's processing time is measured from the day your documents arrive, and the total is commonly one to three months from application.

Things to know

  • The report is valid for five years from the date of issue.
  • One report can cover several credentials; ask for all of them to be assessed if you have a bachelor's and a master's.
  • If the equivalency comes back lower than you expected, a second body can be asked, but not the same one.

Start the ECA in the same week as your language test. Both must exist before the profile can be submitted, and the ECA is the slower of the two.

Sources

Checked against these on by Anu Francis, Head of Sales — Canada Migration. Immigration rules change without notice — if you are reading this much later, check them again.