Many newcomers who wish to immigrate to Canada need some proof of education level & what equivalence it holds within the Canadian education system. Well, this is where an Educational Credential Assessment serves a critical function for newcomers. Here’s how ECA can help you immigrate to Canada.
An ECA helps to contextualize an applicant’s educational achievements for the Canadian immigration system. However, ECAs can also do much more than prove your eligibility for immigration.
What Is An ECA?
An ECA is a document that assesses a newcomer’s international education credential & determines its Canadian equivalent. Newcomers can order ECAs from organizations that the IRCC designs to assess foreign education credentials.
Many of these organizations offer numerous kinds of ECAs, including ECAs for professional licensing & certification, education, employment, & immigration purposes. Choosing the right ECA for your needs is crucial.
What Is Included In ECA For Immigration?
There’s no doubt about it that ECA can help you immigrate to Canada. Though there is some variation between different service providers, an ECA for Canadian immigration generally includes:
- A verification of your educational background
- The Canadian equivalence of your credential
- Identification & description of the assessed credential, including:
- Name & year of credential
- Requirements for entry & program length
- Status & name of issuing institution
- Major/ specialization of credential
How Does Having An ECA Impact An Applicant’s Immigration Chances?
In addition to proving their eligibility to an immigration pathway/ program, an ECA can also be an effective way to increase your immigration chances.
This is because further education tends to be rewarded under the Canadian immigration system. Moreover, ECAs are the main vehicle by which IRCC assesses education.
For instance, looking at the CRS scoring grid for an applicant’s education, we can see that the higher a newcomer’s education level, the more points they are awarded under the system.
Therefore, getting your credentials assessed might increase your chances of obtaining an ITA under the Express Entry system.
- Assessing More Than One Credential
Many immigration programs will only require applicants to assess this highest education credential to determine their eligibility for a program. However, scoring systems might still reward additional education if it can be assessed.
For instance, under the CRS scoring grid above, we can see that having two or more certificates, diplomas, or degrees can earn up to 128 points for single applicants. This is an additional eight points within the CRS when compared to someone with only a bachelor’s or three-year degree, which can imply the difference between obtaining an ITA & not being invited to an Express Entry draw.
- Getting Different Types Of ECAs
ECA can help you immigrate to Canada. Pursuing different types of ECAs might also be beneficial to an applicant based on their situation. For instance, an applicant might order an ECA for an educational credential to prove their eligibility for a program while also ordering an ECA for a technical degree or professional certification for employment purposes. Both might be assessed & potentially be rewarded under the immigration system.
Continuing this example, if an applicant has a one-year college degree along with professional certification under a skilled trade, they might choose to get both assessed using different kinds of ECAs. Though the applicant might not get additional education points under the CRS for their professional certification, an ECA for a professional license or certification can be a powerful way to increase job prospects within the Canadian labor market.
In addition, an ECA can also be helpful to those in bridging programs who are looking to expedite earning a Canadian credential in a regulated profession based on their previous professional & educational credentials.
This in turn helps secure employment in Canada & might expedite earning a Canadian certification in a licensed profession. This can further lead to an individual being able to apply under different Provincial Nominee Program streams depending upon their situation, thus aiding their immigration chances.
PNPs are immigration programs run by provincial & territorial governments that allow them to nominate newcomers to immigrate to their jurisdictions. Nominations are often based on the educational, professional, or human capital factors of applicants.