Transcripts and ECA: what it means for students
Transcripts and educational credential assessment. What it means, who decides it and where to check the official source.
Transcripts are your official academic records; an ECA is a report comparing your foreign credential with Canadian ones, if a school or authority asks for it.
In more detail
A transcript is an official record of the courses and results from a school you attended. Schools usually say whether they want copies, sealed originals or records sent directly by your previous institution.
An educational credential assessment is a report from an approved assessment organization that compares a credential earned outside Canada with Canadian credentials. Only some applications call for one.
Records from other countries can take time to obtain, so find out early which versions are needed. Ask the receiving school or authority, not a friend, about what they will accept.
Who decides
The receiving school or authority decides which records it needs.
Where to check
- Government of Canada
Check which organizations are designated to issue assessments.
What to ask a counsellor
- Which document versions does each of my target schools want, and who sends them?
- Does my application need an ECA, or only transcripts?
Questions about a term?
Bring it to a free counselling session. We explain how schools and programs work and help you prepare questions. We do not give immigration advice.
Independent advice
- Study Master Canada is an independent education counselling firm. We are an authorized agent of certain colleges and universities, directly and through recruitment partners, and the institutions compensate us. Our counselling is free to you.
- We help you choose a program and connect you with the college.
- We do not determine eligibility or funding, and we are not affiliated with any government.
- Regulated immigration work is done only by Visa Master Canada, a licensed RCIC partner, and only when you retain them directly.