Educational Credential Assessment | Medical Council of Canada

Educational Credential Assessment overview

An Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) confirms that an international medical degree is comparable with a Canadian one. If you are applying for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) programs such as the Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Canadian Experience Class, you may need an ECA report to complete your Express Entry profile.

Although an ECA report may confirm comparability of a medical degree or diploma, it does not give you the ability to practise medicine in Canada. You will still need to meet other requirements, such as additional postgraduate training, before being awarded full licensure by provincial and territorial medical regulatory authorities.

Who can request an ECA report from the MCC?

The Medical Council of Canada (MCC) only issues ECAs for medical degrees/diplomas. If you require an ECA report for a specialty certificate, visit the IRCC website for more information. An ECA report can be requested from the MCC by an international medical graduate if they meet one of the following two requirement options:

Option one

Their final medical degree/diploma has been source verified by the MCC with a status of verification returned – passed

Option two

Their medical school transcript has already been source verified by the MCC with a status of verification returned – passed. And that transcript confirms that the degree was awarded and the date it was awarded. AND
Their final medical degree/diploma has been submitted for source verification and has a status of sent for verification or resent for verification

Learn about source verification requests

How do I request an ECA report?

Once the requirements above have been met, you can request an ECA report from the MCC.

Go to your physiciansapply.ca account.
Click Other service requests in the left panel.
Select Request Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) report from the centre panel.
Complete the payment of the ECA report fee.
Follow the prompts and instructions that appear on each screen.

What happens after I submit my request?

Your ECA report will be generated and an electronic copy (PDF) will be made available in your physiciansapply.ca account within 14 business days of submitting your request. You will receive a confirmation message in your physiciansapply.ca account when the report has been generated with more information about when the paper copy will be sent. Please allow up to 8 weeks for its delivery by regular mail, depending on your mailing address.

If you need additional copies of the report, the ECA report fee will be required for each additional copy.

How can I provide my ECA report to an organization?

Once your ECA report is in your physiciansapply.ca account, it will be accessible to IRCC. If you need to provide your ECA report to a different organization, you must use the File Transfer Service.

ECA report expiration

Your ECA report will be valid for immigration purposes for 5 years from the time it is issued. Please see the IRCC website for guidelines on how to submit an ECA report to an IRCC program. You can request a new ECA report, if needed, 4 years following your original report date.