Except physicians and pharmacists, an applicant can go with any of the below designated organizations.

·        CES: Comparative Education Service – University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies

·        ICAS: International Credential Assessment Service of Canada

·        WES: World Education Services

·        IQAS: International Qualifications Assessment Service

·        ICES: International Credential Evaluation Service – British Columbia Institute of Technology

 

For the specialists and family physicians (NOC 31100, 31101, or 31102), the only option is: Medical Council of Canada.

For the pharmacists (NOC 31120), the only option is: Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada.

 

Which one is best among WES/ ICES / CES / ICAS / IQAS?

As Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has authorized all the above equally and did not make any classification, so, I cannot do that either. However, I will try to give you some insights about all of them so that you can find the best / suitable one for you. Though all of them are abiding by some common rules as directed by IRCC, the evaluation standards and working procedures differ significantly.

I would request you to compare all the below parameters before you find your perfect ECA organization.

Ü  Processing fee: Some ECA organizations charge flat fee regardless of the number of degrees you want to assess, whereas some ECA organizations charge fee by per degree. So, it makes a significant difference when you want to assess multiple degrees. Please note, for Canada Immigration purpose you can go ahead with assessing your highest degree only. However, it’s wisely advised to assess all the graduate and post graduate degrees.

Ü  Processing time: While some ECA organizations take only a few weeks to complete the entire process, the others can take several months. Therefore, you need to be wise selecting your desired one considering the deadline / aimed time.

Ü  Evaluation standard:  For the same degree and result, you may obtain different equivalency out of different ECA organizations. Let’s say, you have a master’s degree in any particular discipline, you can obtain master’s equivalency from an ECA organization where others can award you the equivalency of 04 year bachelor’s degree for the same degree. Unfortunately, you cannot know this beforehand unless you submit the complete application (with payment).      

I don’t want to promote or discourage any of the ECA organizations specifically, but I personally observed WES is probably the best in terms of processing fee and processing time. However, if your educational organization is not a well reputed one, the chance is higher that you won’t obtain the same equivalency by WES as your original one and may receive the lower level of equivalency. ICES / CES / ICAS / IQAS work mostly the opposite of WES.

Good Luck !!   

 

Disclaimer: The above writing is not intended to be a source of legal advice. Please seek legal advice and use your own good judgement before choosing to act on any information provided above. If you choose to rely on this article, you do so entirely at your own accountability.

If you find any information is untrue or misleading or think you deserve the credit for the write-up, please reach out to me at: [email protected] and I will adjust as per your request when you are right.