Getting your degree assessed for Express Entry when your university has to send the documents

The Educational Credential Assessment is the document most Express Entry candidates outside Canada get wrong first, and the one that takes longest to fix. The mistake is assuming you scan your degree, upload it and wait. The organizations IRCC designates for this work insist on official academic records that come from your institution, not from you, and the report is only issued once those records have arrived and been accepted.

That single fact decides your timeline. If your university is slow, closed, merged or unused to sending transcripts abroad, the assessment waits for it.

What an ECA is, and what it is not

IRCC describes an ECA as a report verifying that your foreign degree, diploma or certificate is valid and equal to a Canadian one. The issuing organization tells you, in IRCC's words, "what your education is equal to in Canada".

It is not a licence. IRCC's Help Centre says getting an ECA for the Federal Skilled Worker Program does not mean your work experience and professional credentials are automatically recognized in Canada, and you must still go through the process of getting your licence. It is also not any credential evaluation. IRCC states you need an ECA for immigration purposes, and a report ordered for an employer or a licensing body does not satisfy it. The report type matters as much as the organization.

Who actually needs one

IRCC says you need one if you completed your education outside Canada and want to be eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, or want points for that education under the Comprehensive Ranking System.

• Federal Skilled Worker eligibility: IRCC requires either a Canadian credential, or a completed foreign credential plus an ECA for immigration purposes. Without the report, foreign education counts for nothing on the 67-point grid.
• Canadian Experience Class and Federal Skilled Trades: you can be eligible without an ECA, but your foreign education then earns no CRS points.
• Your spouse or common-law partner: IRCC states you can also earn points for their education if they are coming with you. Their foreign credential needs its own ECA.
• Canadian credentials: no assessment needed.

IRCC says you typically only need your highest level of education assessed. The exception is where you want points for more than one credential, covered below.

The organizations IRCC accepts, and the three professions that go elsewhere

IRCC designates five general organizations. A report from anyone else is not an ECA, however professional it looks.

• Comparative Education Service, University of Toronto, designated 17 April 2013.
• International Credential Assessment Service of Canada, 17 April 2013.
• World Education Services, 17 April 2013.
• International Qualifications Assessment Service, Government of Alberta, 6 August 2015.
• International Credential Evaluation Service, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 6 August 2015.

Three professions do not use those five. IRCC directs physicians under NOC 31100 to 31102 to the Medical Council of Canada, pharmacists under NOC 31120 to the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada, and architects under NOC 21200 to the Canadian Architectural Certification Board, designated 20 May 2024. If your primary occupation is one of these, a WES or ICAS report on the same degree does not do the job.

Why your university has to send the documents itself

IRCC leaves the document rules to the organizations, and what they say is consistent. You upload copies. Your institution sends the official record.

• Comparative Education Service tells applicants to have the official academic records sent in a sealed envelope directly to CES, and issues the report only once all supporting documents and the official record have been received and verified. Official electronic transcripts are accepted from an institutional email account.
• ICES at BCIT asks you for colour copies of your identification, each final award and each academic record. The official documents must be mailed or emailed directly from the institution, with proper seals, signatures and postal markings, and must never be handled by the client, the client's friend, relative or any third party. Generic email accounts are rejected.
• IQAS in Alberta has you upload your passport, any proof of name change, the credential and translations. Transcripts arrive through a secure electronic system, or by mail from the issuing authority, attested, dated and in a sealed envelope stamped with the institution's seal across the back flap. Only if the institution cannot mail them may you post that envelope yourself, and you cannot open it.
• World Education Services publishes requirements country by country, and states that documents must be received and accepted before an evaluation can be completed. It reserves the right to send copies to the institution for authentication, and the evaluation is on hold until the institution replies.

The reason is fraud. IQAS says documents are reviewed for evidence of tampering, that it may contact your institution directly to check your application, and that it will not assess credentials it suspects are altered or fraudulent. A sealed envelope or an email from the registrar's own domain is the control.

Getting a slow or reluctant institution to cooperate

This is where applicants abroad lose months, so start here rather than with the online form. The transcript request is the long pole.

1. Read your organization's requirements for your country of study first. CES, ICES and WES publish country-specific rules, and what a Nigerian, Indian or Filipino university must send is not the same list.
2. Ask the registrar or examinations office, not your department, for the exact document named, sent directly by the method the organization accepts. If they can only hand the sealed envelope to you, do not open it, and check your organization permits that route.
3. Confirm the sending address is institutional. A registrar using personal webmail will have to send again.
4. Sort translations at the same time. IQAS accepts a qualified professional translator who need not be certified in Canada, with no notarization. ICES asks for literal certified translations into English and exempts French.

We do not publish processing times. Each organization and IRCC publishes its own, and they change, so check the current figure with the organization you choose. What they do say is that the clock starts when the institution's documents have been received and accepted, not when you paid.

What the report is worth in points

The report states what your credential equals in Canada, and the profile awards points for that level. IRCC's CRS grid, last modified 22 June 2026, gives these core points for education.

Education also combines with other factors under skill transferability, capped at 100 points in total. A post-secondary credential with CLB 7 or more in all four first-language abilities, one or more under 9, adds up to 25 points; with CLB 9 or more in all four, up to 50. With one year of Canadian work experience it adds up to 25, and with two or more years up to 50. IRCC removed job offer points on 25 March 2025, so education is one of the few levers left to a candidate abroad. For Federal Skilled Worker eligibility, education is worth up to 25 of the 100 selection-factor points, and you need 67.

More than one credential, expiry, and the order of operations

IRCC's Help Centre, last modified 1 September 2026, sets two conditions for full points on multiple credentials: at least one must be for a program of three or more years, and you need a valid ECA for each credential. The order you completed them does not change the points. Both assessed, a three-year degree and a one-year diploma move a single candidate from 120 to 128. If your post-secondary credential is found not equal to a completed Canadian one, IRCC notes you could get your secondary credential assessed instead.

Validity is strict at both ends. IRCC states the report must be less than five years old when you complete your profile and when you submit your application for permanent residence, and that it accepts reports for five years from the date issued. The Help Centre confirms you may reuse an existing report, provided it is still valid and is an ECA for immigration purposes.

From abroad, the order is: request the transcripts, file the ECA application and book the language test in parallel, then build the profile once the report is in hand. IRCC requires its reference number in the profile.

Can I upload my degree and transcript myself instead of asking my university?

You upload copies for the application, but the designated organizations require the official academic record to come from the institution, in a sealed envelope or from an institutional email address. Only IQAS says you may post the institution's sealed envelope yourself, and only unopened.

My university has closed or merged. What happens?

Ask the successor institution or the ministry of education which body now holds the records and can issue them officially, and check your organization's country requirements, which sometimes name that body. If no one can, raise it with the organization before you pay.

Which organization should I choose?

Any of the five general organizations produces a report IRCC accepts. The practical difference is their document requirements for your country of study. Physicians, pharmacists and architects must use their professional body instead.

Does an ECA mean I can work in my profession in Canada?

No. IRCC's Help Centre states that an ECA does not mean your professional credentials are automatically recognized, and that you must still go through licensing with the regulator in your province or territory.

My ECA is four and a half years old. Can I still use it?

Only if it is still under five years old both when you submit the profile and when you submit the permanent residence application. If it will expire in between, order a new one first.

If you are unsure which credential to assess, or how to handle an institution that will not send records, have it looked at before you order.Book a consultation

Keep reading

Express Entry

Proof of funds for Express Entry when your money is held abroad

September 21, 2026 · 9 min read

Express Entry

Building an Express Entry profile when you have never been to Canada

September 19, 2026 · 9 min read

Study & work

From a work permit to permanent residence: the routes that actually exist

September 19, 2026 · 9 min read