Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for Express Entry
If you completed your education outside Canada, an Educational Credential Assessment may be required to establish Federal Skilled Worker Program eligibility or to claim Express Entry points for your foreign education. The assessment must be for immigration purposes, issued by an organization or professional body designated by IRCC, and still valid when required.
What Is an Educational Credential Assessment?
An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) is a report used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to verify that a completed foreign degree, diploma, certificate or other educational credential is valid and determine its Canadian educational equivalency.
For Express Entry , you need an ECA issued for immigration purposes. Other credential evaluations prepared for employment, admission to a school or another purpose do not automatically satisfy the Express Entry requirement.
To receive Express Entry education points for a foreign credential, the ECA must show that the completed credential is equivalent to a completed Canadian secondary school credential or a Canadian post-secondary credential.
The immigration consequence is based on the Canadian equivalency stated in the ECA report, not simply the title printed on the foreign diploma. A credential called a master's degree in another country does not automatically receive master's level Express Entry points.
Who Needs an ECA for Express Entry?
Whether an ECA is mandatory depends on the Express Entry program and on whether you need the foreign education to establish eligibility or claim points.
A foreign-educated candidate applying through the Federal Skilled Worker Program generally needs an ECA because secondary education is a minimum FSWP requirement and foreign education must be assessed to establish its Canadian equivalency.
The Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades Program do not have a minimum education requirement. However, a candidate with foreign education needs a valid ECA to receive CRS education points for that foreign credential.
| Program | Education requirement | Role of ECA |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Skilled Worker Program | Secondary education required | Needed to establish the Canadian equivalency of foreign education |
| Canadian Experience Class | No education requirement | Needed to claim CRS points for foreign education |
| Federal Skilled Trades Program | No education requirement | Needed to claim CRS points for foreign education |
ECA Requirements by Express Entry Program
Federal Skilled Worker Program
The Federal Skilled Worker Program requires at least secondary education. If the education was completed outside Canada, the candidate needs a completed foreign credential and an ECA for immigration purposes showing its Canadian equivalency.
Education also forms part of the separate 100-point FSWP selection grid. A candidate must obtain at least 67 points across the six FSWP selection factors, so the equivalency reported by the ECA can affect whether the candidate reaches that threshold.
Canadian Experience Class
There is no education requirement under the Canadian Experience Class. A candidate can therefore qualify for CEC without an ECA if the other requirements are met.
Foreign education will not, however, generate the corresponding CRS education points without a valid ECA for immigration purposes.
Federal Skilled Trades Program
The Federal Skilled Trades Program also has no education requirement. An ECA is therefore not a basic FSTP eligibility requirement, but it can allow foreign education to contribute to the candidate's CRS score.
Do You Need an ECA for Canadian Education?
You do not need an ECA for a Canadian degree, diploma or certificate. The ECA system is used to assess education completed outside Canada.
A candidate who has both Canadian and foreign credentials may nevertheless need an ECA for the foreign credential if that credential is being used to establish FSWP eligibility or to claim additional Express Entry education points.
Canadian post-secondary education can also produce separate CRS additional points where the applicable requirements are met. Under the current CRS, an eligible Canadian post-secondary credential of one or two years can provide 15 additional points, while an eligible credential of three years or longer can provide 30 additional points.
An ECA establishes the Canadian equivalency of foreign education. It does not turn foreign study into Canadian education and does not create the separate CRS additional points available for qualifying study completed in Canada.
IRCC-Designated ECA Organizations
Most Express Entry candidates must obtain their ECA from an organization designated by IRCC. As of September 23, 2026, IRCC lists five general designated organizations.
| Designated organization | Date designated |
|---|---|
| Comparative Education Service — University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies | April 17, 2013 |
| International Credential Assessment Service of Canada | April 17, 2013 |
| World Education Services | April 17, 2013 |
| International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) | August 6, 2015 |
| International Credential Evaluation Service — British Columbia Institute of Technology | August 6, 2015 |
Processing procedures, document requirements, fees and processing times can differ between organizations. Candidates should follow the instructions of the organization they select and ensure that the service ordered is an ECA for immigration purposes.
IRCC accepts ECAs from its designated organizations subject to the applicable rules. Before ordering, also check whether your primary occupation places you under a designated professional body instead of the general organization rules.
Special ECA Rules for Architects, Doctors and Pharmacists
Some candidates cannot simply choose one of the five general ECA organizations. IRCC has designated professional bodies for particular occupations and circumstances.
| Occupation | NOC | Designated professional body |
|---|---|---|
| Architect | 21200 | Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) |
| Specialist in clinical and laboratory medicine | 31100 | Medical Council of Canada (MCC) |
| Specialist in surgery | 31101 | Medical Council of Canada (MCC) |
| General practitioner / family physician | 31102 | Medical Council of Canada (MCC) |
| Pharmacist | 31120 | Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) |
Architects
If your primary occupation is architect, NOC 21200, and you need a licence to practise, IRCC requires the Canadian Architectural Certification Board to perform the assessment.
IRCC also maintains a transitional rule: an architect with an ECA issued by another designated organization before October 31, 2024 can continue to use that ECA if it remains valid.
If the position does not require an architecture licence — for example, certain project-management roles — IRCC indicates that one of the general designated organizations may assess the credential.
Physicians
If your primary occupation is specialist in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100), specialist in surgery (NOC 31101), or general practitioner or family physician (NOC 31102), the Medical Council of Canada must assess the primary medical diploma.
Pharmacists
If your primary occupation is pharmacist (NOC 31120) and you need a licence to practise, the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada must perform the assessment. This includes practice settings such as community, hospital and long-term-care pharmacy.
Where a pharmacy degree is used in a position that does not require a pharmacist licence — such as some pharmaceutical-industry or government positions — IRCC states that a general designated organization may assess the credential.
Do not assume that every physician, pharmacist or architect automatically follows the same ECA route. IRCC's rules refer to the candidate's primary occupation and, for architects and pharmacists, whether a licence is required to practise in the intended role.
Which Educational Credentials Should You Have Assessed?
In most cases, IRCC states that you only need an ECA for your highest completed level of foreign education. For example, if you have a master's degree, you generally do not also need an assessment of the bachelor's degree merely to claim the master's-level education points.
The important qualification is that the ECA result must actually recognize the credential at the level you intend to claim. The foreign title of the credential does not control the Canadian equivalency.
If the post-secondary credential is not recognized
IRCC states that if a foreign post-secondary credential is not equivalent to a completed Canadian credential, a candidate may have the secondary-school credential assessed. If it is recognized as equivalent to Canadian secondary school, the candidate may then receive the applicable points for secondary education.
When Should You Assess Two or More Credentials?
A candidate who wants Express Entry points for two or more credentials needs a valid ECA for each foreign credential being used for that category.
To receive the full points for the “two or more” education category, at least one of the credentials must have been issued for completion of a program of three years or longer.
IRCC also confirms that the order in which the credentials were completed does not affect the education points.
Assessing only the highest credential is normally sufficient when that single credential produces the education level you intend to claim. If you intend to claim the separate “two or more credentials” category, however, each credential relied on for that category needs the required assessment.
How to Read an ECA Result for Express Entry
The key immigration information in an ECA is the Canadian equivalency assigned to the completed foreign credential. That equivalency determines which education category may be used in the Express Entry profile.
Examples of education levels recognized by the CRS include secondary school, one-year post-secondary study, two-year post-secondary study, a bachelor's degree or other program of three or more years, two or more credentials, a master's degree or qualifying entry-to-practice professional degree, and a doctoral degree.
Candidates should use the actual equivalency and wording of the ECA rather than converting the foreign credential based on its local name, length or professional status.
Express Entry points follow the recognized Canadian equivalency. A credential described locally as a doctorate, professional doctorate or master's degree should not be entered at that CRS level unless the ECA supports the corresponding Canadian equivalency.
How an ECA Affects Your CRS Score
Education is a core human-capital factor under the Comprehensive Ranking System. The current CRS provides up to 150 education points for a principal applicant without an accompanying spouse or common-law partner, or up to 140 for the principal applicant where an accompanying spouse or partner is included.
Foreign education can generate these points only when the applicable ECA requirements are satisfied.
Education can also interact with official-language proficiency and Canadian work experience under the CRS skill-transferability factors. The education combinations can contribute up to 50 points, subject to the overall skill-transferability maximum of 100.
For example, post-secondary education combined with CLB 9 or higher in all four first-official-language abilities can produce more transferability points than the same education combined with lower language results.
You can estimate the effect of your assessed education using the Maplevisa CRS Calculator .
The report establishes the Canadian equivalency of the foreign credential. The points then depend on that equivalency and the applicable Express Entry scoring rules, including spouse status and potential skill-transferability combinations.
How an ECA Affects Federal Skilled Worker Points
For the Federal Skilled Worker Program, education is not only relevant to the CRS. It is also one of the six factors in the separate FSWP 100-point selection grid.
Education can provide up to 25 FSWP selection-factor points. The number depends on the recognized Canadian education level or the Canadian equivalency stated in the ECA for foreign education.
This distinction is important because the FSWP selection grid and the CRS perform different functions. A candidate first needs to satisfy the program requirements, including reaching at least 67 points under the FSWP selection factors. The CRS then ranks eligible candidates in the Express Entry pool.
For a full explanation of the threshold, see the Federal Skilled Worker Program guide .
How Long Is an ECA Valid for Express Entry?
An ECA must be less than five years old when you complete your Express Entry profile and when you submit your permanent residence application.
Candidates already in the pool should therefore monitor the assessment date rather than assuming that an ECA only needs to be valid when the profile is first created.
If the ECA will expire while you are in the pool
IRCC advises candidates to ensure that the ECA remains valid for the time they expect to remain in the pool. If it will expire before an application can be submitted, the issuing organization may be able to reissue it depending on the organization and type of assessment.
If the ECA expires before the PR application
The ECA must still be less than five years old when the permanent residence application is submitted. IRCC expressly states that an application made with an expired ECA will be refused.
The current Express Entry Ministerial Instructions also address expiry while a profile remains in the pool: when an ECA result used for the expression of interest becomes five or more years old, the candidate is deemed no longer able to meet the requirements related to that result.
Receiving an Invitation to Apply does not make an expiring ECA permanently valid. Check that the assessment will still be less than five years old on the date the complete permanent residence application is submitted.
How to Enter an ECA in Your Express Entry Profile
IRCC instructs candidates to enter the ECA results and reference number in the Express Entry profile, keep the original documents, and be prepared to upload copies if invited to apply for permanent residence.
Entering more than one educational credential
If you are claiming more than one credential, each relevant credential should be entered separately in the Education history section of the Study and languages form.
IRCC's current instructions direct candidates to enter the highest degree, diploma or certificate, save it, and then use the option to add the remaining credentials.
Ensure that the education level entered in the profile is supported by the ECA result and that every assessment relied on for points remains valid.
IRCC lists an expired ECA as one of the common reasons an Express Entry profile may become ineligible. Changes affecting education or a new assessment should be reflected accurately in the profile.
An ECA Is Not the Same as Professional Licensing
An ECA is an immigration credential assessment. It does not, by itself, give a person the legal authority to practise a regulated profession in Canada.
Professional licensing is governed separately by the relevant provincial or territorial regulatory body and may involve additional academic review, examinations, supervised practice, language requirements, registration or other conditions.
This distinction is particularly important for regulated professions. Even where IRCC requires an ECA from a designated professional body, completing the ECA process does not necessarily mean that the candidate has completed all requirements for Canadian professional licensure.
Use the ECA to establish the immigration equivalency required by Express Entry. Separately verify the licensing requirements of the provincial or territorial regulator if you intend to work in a regulated occupation.
Common ECA Mistakes in Express Entry
Ordering the wrong type of assessment
Express Entry requires an ECA for immigration purposes. A credential evaluation prepared for another purpose should not be assumed to qualify.
Using a non-designated organization
The assessment must come from an organization or professional body designated by IRCC under the applicable rules.
Using the wrong ECA provider for a regulated occupation
Architects, physicians and pharmacists can be subject to special professional-body requirements. Check the primary occupation and licensing circumstances before ordering an assessment.
Claiming the foreign degree title instead of the ECA equivalency
The Canadian equivalency stated in the ECA determines the immigration education level. Do not assume the foreign credential's title produces the same Canadian level.
Assessing only one credential but claiming “two or more”
To obtain the full points for two or more credentials, IRCC requires an assessment for each foreign credential being used, with at least one corresponding to a program of three years or longer.
Letting the ECA expire
The ECA must be less than five years old both when the Express Entry profile is completed and when the permanent residence application is submitted.
Confusing an ECA with professional recognition
An ECA does not guarantee employment in the profession and does not replace the licensing process for a regulated occupation.
ECA for Express Entry FAQs
What is an ECA for Express Entry?
An Educational Credential Assessment verifies a completed foreign educational credential and states its Canadian equivalency for immigration purposes.
Do I need an ECA if I studied in Canada?
You do not need an ECA for a Canadian credential. You may still need one for foreign education that you want to use for FSWP eligibility or Express Entry points.
Is an ECA mandatory for the Canadian Experience Class?
No. CEC has no education requirement. However, you need an ECA if you want to receive CRS education points for foreign education.
Is an ECA mandatory for the Federal Skilled Trades Program?
No. FSTP has no education requirement. A valid ECA can nevertheless allow foreign education to generate CRS points.
Is an ECA required for the Federal Skilled Worker Program?
If you are relying on foreign education, an ECA is required to establish its Canadian equivalency. FSWP requires at least secondary education.
How long is an ECA valid?
It must be less than five years old when you complete your Express Entry profile and when you submit your permanent residence application.
Do I need an ECA for both my bachelor's and master's degrees?
In most cases, IRCC says you only need an assessment for your highest level of education. If you intend to claim points for two or more credentials, each foreign credential relied on for that category needs the required assessment.
Can I use WES for Express Entry?
World Education Services is currently one of IRCC's designated ECA organizations. However, special rules apply to certain candidates whose primary occupation is architect, physician or pharmacist.
Which ECA organizations does IRCC accept?
IRCC currently lists Comparative Education Service, International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, World Education Services, International Qualifications Assessment Service and International Credential Evaluation Service as the five general designated organizations, in addition to designated professional bodies for specified occupations.
Who assesses foreign medical degrees for Express Entry?
If the candidate's primary occupation is specialist in clinical and laboratory medicine (NOC 31100), specialist in surgery (NOC 31101), or general practitioner or family physician (NOC 31102), IRCC requires the Medical Council of Canada to assess the primary medical diploma.
Who assesses a pharmacist's degree?
Where the primary occupation is pharmacist (NOC 31120) and a licence is required to practise, IRCC requires an assessment from the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada. Different rules may apply where the intended role does not require pharmacist licensure.
Who assesses an architect's foreign credential?
Where the primary occupation is architect (NOC 21200) and a licence is required to practise, IRCC requires the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, subject to the transitional rule for certain valid ECAs issued before October 31, 2024.
Does an ECA guarantee professional licensing in Canada?
No. An ECA is used for immigration purposes and does not itself authorize a person to practise a regulated profession in Canada.
Can an expired ECA be used after receiving an ITA?
The ECA must still be less than five years old when the permanent residence application is submitted. IRCC states that an application submitted with an expired ECA will be refused.
ECA organizations, professional-body requirements, equivalency rules and Express Entry requirements can change. Verify the current IRCC requirements before ordering an assessment, creating or updating an Express Entry profile, or submitting a permanent residence application.
Educational Credential Assessment — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada