A New Online Service for Examining the Equivalency Between International and Canadian Academic Credentials
Posted: 12.07.2015
For Canada to have an adequate supply of talented workers, The Conference Board of Canada estimates that at least 300,000 individuals will have to immigrate into Canada annually after 2011. There is no doubt that many immigrants into Canada have good credentials: In 2006 66.3% had a post-secondary qualification, according to The Conference Board of Canada. Nevertheless, Canadian employers to date are not equipped to give proper value to international academic credentials and recognize them. An ongoing survey in 2008 by the Council for Access to the Profession of Engineering, for instance, indicates that 60% of their members are unemployed.
World Education Services (WES) has developed an online service that facilitates credential recognition. An employer, human resources professional or recruiter can instantly preview the Canadian equivalency of an international academic credential through the Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE). The POE database presently covers 91 countries, and more countries will continue to be added. For these countries, the equivalency for postsecondary credentials at almost every institution is available. You can view a short online demonstration of how POE is done at http://www.wes.org/ca/employers/prescreening.asp.
POE offers employers, human resources professionals and recruiters the advantage of immediately knowing whether an international academic credential meets the educational requirement of the job posting. This reduces uncertainty at the time of scheduling an interview. Since the POE database consists of recognized academic institutions around the world, another advantage to employers is the knowledge that a credential is from a recognized institution. Indeed, the advantage of POE to job applicants is knowledge of the value of their credentials and the ability to share this information when applying for a job.
The countries for which POE is available presently include: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Latvia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Both employers and job applicants should keep in mind that because POE information is not based on a review of the actual verified academic document, WES does not consider this an official evaluation. However, if an official evaluation is done by WES, the cost of POE is credited towards the cost of the official evaluation report. Complete information about WES evaluation and authentication of international academic credentials is available at http://www.wes.org/ca.
Andrew Czerwinski is the Manager of Employer Services at World Education Services (WES), which evaluates and authenticates academic credentials of newcomers to Canada. WES has been operating since 1974, and is the largest and one of the oldest credential evaluation services in North America. WES-Canada is recognized, and funded in part, by the Government of Ontario, and is a member of the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada (ACESC).
World Education Services (WES) has developed an online service that facilitates credential recognition. An employer, human resources professional or recruiter can instantly preview the Canadian equivalency of an international academic credential through the Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE). The POE database presently covers 91 countries, and more countries will continue to be added. For these countries, the equivalency for postsecondary credentials at almost every institution is available. You can view a short online demonstration of how POE is done at http://www.wes.org/ca/employers/prescreening.asp.
POE offers employers, human resources professionals and recruiters the advantage of immediately knowing whether an international academic credential meets the educational requirement of the job posting. This reduces uncertainty at the time of scheduling an interview. Since the POE database consists of recognized academic institutions around the world, another advantage to employers is the knowledge that a credential is from a recognized institution. Indeed, the advantage of POE to job applicants is knowledge of the value of their credentials and the ability to share this information when applying for a job.
The countries for which POE is available presently include: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Latvia, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
Both employers and job applicants should keep in mind that because POE information is not based on a review of the actual verified academic document, WES does not consider this an official evaluation. However, if an official evaluation is done by WES, the cost of POE is credited towards the cost of the official evaluation report. Complete information about WES evaluation and authentication of international academic credentials is available at http://www.wes.org/ca.
Andrew Czerwinski is the Manager of Employer Services at World Education Services (WES), which evaluates and authenticates academic credentials of newcomers to Canada. WES has been operating since 1974, and is the largest and one of the oldest credential evaluation services in North America. WES-Canada is recognized, and funded in part, by the Government of Ontario, and is a member of the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada (ACESC).
