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Everything you need to know about ECA for Canada Immigration

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    When people talk about going to Canada for study, work or business, they often come across the terms like transcripts, ECA, WES certificates, credential evaluation, IQAS, etc. These are a few of the many formalities required during Canadian immigration. In this article, we will understand what ECA is, why ECA for Canadian immigration is needed, what WES is, and what the role of the WES certificate is.

    ECA in Brief

    When it comes to hiring people, companies are very particular in evaluating the candidate's education. Education what we know is currently measured by the level of degree, diploma or certification. Every degree or diploma for different courses in different countries is different. For example, computer science engineering students in many countries are taught a ‘microprocessor’ subject while students in many countries might not be reading that. Similarly, many marketing schools teach books on Philip Kotler and many schools don’t. With such huge differences in course syllabus, structure and grading points, it becomes difficult to evaluate all the students from different countries on a similar scale. Therefore ECA comes into play. ECA acronym for educational credential assessment is a process that brings uniformity for the same courses from different countries. ECA for Canada will equate your MBA degree from Russia with your MBA degree from Canada. Therefore, ECA is a process that converts educational qualifications from one country as equivalent to educational standards from another country.

    Various ECA bodies

    Now, you must be thinking about how a degree from one country is made equivalent to a degree from another country. Well, there are different profit and non-profit organizations that do ECA. WES certificate is from WES, IQAS generates its report, then there are ECE, ICAS, JS&A, etc. So when you are looking for ECA for Canada, several ECA bodies will evaluate your educational credentials as per your requirement for any country you want. The top ECA evaluators for Canada are

    1.     World Education Service (WES)
    2.     International Credential Assessment Service (ICAS)
    3. Comparative Education Service (CES), University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies
    4.   International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS)
    5.   International Credential Evaluation Service, etc.

    You can choose any of them. Just make sure the organization you choose for your ECA for Canada are a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or American Council on Education (ACE) or any other such associations. Being a member of these kinds of associations ensures your ECA report such as an IQAS certificate or WES certificate is accepted at all institutions.

    WES and IQAS for Canada

    There are many bodies that do ECA for Canada and the USA as we saw above. And a huge portion of them are members of ECA bodies associations as well. This makes applicants confused about which ECA body to choose. WES certificate and IQAS ECA report are accepted widely by almost all the educational, government and licensing institutions in Canada and the USA. They are by far the most popular educational credential assessor among students and employees looking to get their ECA for Canada or the USA. They receive thousands of applications every month. Also, IQAS is the official government agency that does the evaluation, so having an IQAS certificate means a student can rest assured the certificate will be accepted at all places across Canada. Though the credibility of the WES certificate and IQAS certificate are the same, the pricing and processing time of the ECA report differs. WES processes ECA within 7-10 days whereas IQAS can take up to 60 days. The processing fees of IQAS are comparatively lower though. The students are therefore advised to choose the one matching their needs.

    Application Process and other important points

    By now we hope you understand what ECA is and also must have decided which agency to consider for your ECA for Canada. Now let’s see other important details that you must know. Firstly, the WES certificate or ECA report you will get will be valid for 5 years unlike your mark sheet in the domestic countries which is valid for a lifetime. Since syllabus and courses keep changing in the dynamic market, it becomes necessary to renew your ECA report or WES certificate. Secondly the application process. You can apply for ECA for Canada by applying online from the official website of your chosen credential evaluator. You need to upload the scanned and self-attested copies of the required documents on the portal, pay the processing fees and submit the application. That’s it. You will receive your ECA report at your mentioned address within the given time. Normally the processing fee is $200 + shipping, but we recommend checking the fees and documents required from the official website as it keeps on changing. For any other details, do contact Worldwide transcripts and we will help you with your ECA for Canada