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Educational credential assessment (ECA) for Canada: who issues it and what it is used for

An educational credential assessment (ECA) is a report from an organization IRCC has designated. It says what a credential earned outside Canada is equal to in Canada. For the Federal Skilled Worker Program it must be less than 5 years old when you complete your Express Entry profile and again when you submit your application. Fees and times differ by organization, so check each one.

People searching "ECA" are usually partway through an Express Entry profile and have just hit a field that asks for an ECA reference number. Others are at the very start and want to know whether they need one at all, which organization to use, and how long the report lasts. This page answers those questions from IRCC's own text and from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

An ECA is not a test of your knowledge, and it is not a decision about your immigration application. It is a document written by a third party that compares a foreign credential with Canadian ones. IRCC then uses that comparison to award points and, for one program, to decide whether a basic requirement is met.

This guide covers what an ECA is, which bodies issue them, the separate professional bodies for three occupations, how long a report stays usable, which credentials need assessing, how education points connect to the report, and the mistakes that cause trouble. It is general information. It does not tell any reader whether their credential will be assessed at any level, which organization to pick, or how to answer a question on their own profile. Everything below was read on IRCC's page (dated 22 June 2026) and in the Regulations (current to 21 September 2026) on 10 October 2026. IRCC changes designations and rules from time to time, so confirm on the official page before you order anything.

What an ECA is, in IRCC's words and in the law

IRCC's page says the report must show that a completed foreign credential is equal to a completed Canadian secondary or post-secondary credential. That is the whole job of an ECA: a translation of a foreign qualification into the Canadian scale that the points tables use.

The legal basis is in the Regulations. Under section 75(2)(e) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, a skilled worker applying under the Federal Skilled Worker Program has to submit either their Canadian educational credential, or their foreign diploma, certificate or credential together with an equivalency assessment. That assessment, the Regulations say, must be less than five years old on the date the application is made. Section 78 then sets the education points: 25 is the maximum, built from 5 points for a secondary school credential up to 25 for a doctoral-level credential, with 22 for two or more post-secondary credentials where one is three years or longer.

Two things follow from that structure. First, the ECA matters most to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, where an assessed foreign credential is a basic requirement. Second, for people in the pool who already qualify under another federal program, IRCC describes the assessment as the way a foreign credential earns points in the Comprehensive Ranking System. If you hold only Canadian credentials, there is nothing to assess. IRCC states it plainly: "You don’t need an assessment for a Canadian degree, diploma or certificate."

The ECA is also not the same as a professional licence. A regulated occupation such as nursing, engineering or teaching has its own provincial regulator, and getting an ECA does not give anyone the right to practise. Those are separate processes with separate bodies.

The organizations IRCC designates

Only a designated organization or professional body can issue an ECA that IRCC accepts. IRCC's page lists these general-purpose organizations, with the date each was designated: - Comparative Education Service, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (designated 17 April 2013) - International Credential Assessment Service of Canada (17 April 2013) - World Education Services (17 April 2013) - International Qualifications Assessment Service, run by the Government of Alberta (6 August 2015) - International Credential Evaluation Service, BCIT (6 August 2015)

The page also lists three professional bodies, required for certain occupations: - Architects: the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, designated 20 May 2024. IRCC says it is required where the person's primary occupation is architect and a licence is needed. The page ties this to NOC code 21200. - Specialist and family physicians: the Medical Council of Canada, designated 17 April 2013, for the primary medical diploma. The page lists NOC codes 31100, 31101 and 31102. - Pharmacists: the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada, designated 6 January 2014, where the primary occupation is pharmacist and a licence is needed. The page ties this to NOC code 31120.

Section 75(2.1) of the Regulations explains why this matters. If a professional body has been designated for the occupation a person names as their primary occupation, the assessment has to come from that body, and it has to show that the foreign credential is equivalent to the Canadian credential required to practise the occupation in at least one province where that body's assessments are recognized. A general ECA from one of the five organizations above does not meet that rule for those occupations.

Designations can be added or changed, and IRCC publishes the current list. Treat the list above as dated 10 October 2026 and check IRCC's page for the live one.

Which credentials get assessed

IRCC's guidance on how many credentials to assess is short. In its words: "In most cases, you only need an assessment for your highest level of education." That is the starting point.

The exception is when a profile claims points for more than one credential. The page says that if you hold two or more credentials, you need an assessment for each one you want counted. It also says that to get full points for more than one credential, at least one of them must be for three or more years of study. That mirrors the structure in section 78 of the Regulations, where the 22-point tier needs two or more post-secondary credentials, one of which is of three years or longer.

IRCC gives a list of fields in which a professional degree can earn the same points as a master's degree. The page lists medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, podiatry, optometry, law, chiropractic medicine and pharmacy, and names a nursing degree as an example of a degree that does not qualify for that treatment. The Regulations put the same idea in legal terms: an entry-to-practice professional degree for a TEER 1 occupation where licensing by a provincial regulatory body is required. Whether a specific degree falls in or out is a question about the person's own credential, which is outside what a general page can answer.

A few practical points follow from this: - Assess the credential you actually intend to claim. An ECA covers what was assessed, not everything you ever studied. - Spouses or common-law partners can also have their education assessed for points, according to IRCC's page. - Keep your original documents. IRCC's page tells applicants to keep originals and to be ready to upload copies if invited to apply. - A credential is judged as completed. IRCC says the report must show a completed foreign credential, so a programme not finished is a different question from one that is.

How long an ECA lasts, and what happens if it expires

The validity rule is the one most often missed. IRCC says: "Your ECA must be less than 5 years old when you:" and then lists two moments: when you complete your Express Entry profile, and when you submit your application.

The second moment is the risky one. Profiles can sit in the pool for months, and an ECA issued three years ago will still be valid today but may not be valid by the time an invitation arrives and the application is submitted. IRCC's page is blunt about the consequence: "If you apply with an expired ECA, we’ll refuse your application."

The Regulations repeat the same five-year limit in section 75(2)(e) for the equivalency assessment, measured on the date the application is made. That means the age check is not a policy preference that could be waived at the officer's discretion; it is written into the class definition.

Two sensible habits come out of this, both about dates and neither about strategy: - Note the issue date printed on the report and the date five years later. Put both in a place you will see. - Read the date rules again whenever IRCC updates its page, because validity periods are exactly the sort of rule that gets changed.

Professional-body assessments carry the same five-year limit in the Regulations text (section 75(2.1)), so a doctor, pharmacist or architect faces the same clock, with the extra condition on who issued the report.

Costs, times and the reference number

IRCC's page does not publish fees or turnaround times for ECAs. It states: "Processing times and costs may vary by organization or professional body." That is all the official page gives, and so this page does not put a dollar figure on an ECA. Each designated organization sets its own price, its own list of required documents, and its own method for receiving transcripts. Some require documents to be sent directly from the school; some accept other routes. Read the organization's own page and compare, because the differences are real and they change.

IRCC does explain what to do with the result. When the report is issued, the applicant enters the results and the reference number into the Express Entry profile. The exact wording on the report matters. A typo in the reference number is an avoidable problem; copy it exactly.

A few things the page does not say, and that this page therefore does not say either: it gives no processing-time promise, it does not list credentials by country, and it does not say that any particular credential will be rated at any particular level. Those answers come only from the assessing organization after it has reviewed your documents.

The ECA is one of several costs and deadlines in the Express Entry process. Language results have their own two-year validity (see language tests for Canada PR), proof of funds has its own table (see Express Entry proof of funds), and the government fees are in the Canada PR fees guide. It helps to put every expiry date in one list.

Where ECAs go wrong

The common problems are procedural, and most of them are about timing and fit.

The report is too old by the time it is needed. The five-year clock runs to the application date, not to the date the profile was created. A report that was valid at profile creation can expire in the pool.

The wrong body issued it. For architects, specialist and family physicians, and pharmacists, a general ECA is not the document the Regulations describe when a professional body is designated for the person's primary occupation.

The wrong credential was assessed. The page says that in most cases only the highest level needs assessing, but a profile that claims points for a second credential needs that second one assessed too. A credential that was never assessed cannot earn points.

The points were expected to follow automatically. The ECA says what the credential equals. The points are awarded by IRCC from the profile and the report together. IRCC's tables show, for example, education points in the Comprehensive Ranking System running from 28 (without a spouse: 30) for a secondary school diploma up to 140 (without a spouse: 150) for a doctorate, and IRCC's separate Federal Skilled Worker factor running from 5 to 25. The figures are IRCC's, read on its page dated 22 June 2026, and they depend on the equivalency in the report. A reader cannot work out from a general page what a particular report will say.

The documents were not ready. Assessing bodies need transcripts and sometimes certificates in particular formats, and IRCC separately asks applicants to hold original documents. A gap here costs time, not money alone.

A misstatement in the profile. If the profile describes a credential differently from the report, that is a mismatch that an officer can see. Misrepresentation is a serious ground under section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and is covered in misrepresentation and the five-year ban.

If your situation involves an unusual credential, a partial degree, a name change or a country where documents are hard to obtain, those are questions about your own facts. Only a lawyer or a licensed immigration consultant may advise on them for a fee, under section 91 of the Act. Using a representative is optional; if you hire one, check their licence on the public register first.

Find a regulated adviser

If you want a licensed immigration consultant or a lawyer to look at whether your credential and documents fit an Express Entry profile, use the Migratio directory to find a regulated adviser, and check their licence on the official register before you sign anything. Migratio is a directory and booking platform. It does not give immigration advice, does not choose a program for anyone and has no connection to IRCC or any province.

Questions people ask

Do I need an ECA for Express Entry?

IRCC says an applicant with education completed outside Canada needs an ECA to be eligible as a principal applicant under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, or to earn points for that education. It also says you do not need an assessment for a Canadian degree, diploma or certificate. Which program applies to you is a question about your own facts.

How long is an ECA valid for Canada?

IRCC says the ECA must be less than 5 years old when you complete your Express Entry profile and when you submit your application. An expired ECA at application leads to refusal, according to IRCC's page.

Which organizations can issue an ECA?

As at 10 October 2026, IRCC lists five general organizations: the University of Toronto's Comparative Education Service, the International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, World Education Services, IQAS and BCIT's International Credential Evaluation Service. Architects, specialist and family physicians, and pharmacists have designated professional bodies. Check IRCC's page for the current list.

How much does an ECA cost?

IRCC's page does not list a fee. It says processing times and costs may vary by organization or professional body. Check the price on the organization's own website before ordering.

Do I need to assess every degree I have?

IRCC says that in most cases you only need an assessment for your highest level of education. If you want points counted for two or more credentials, each needs an assessment.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-10.

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