World Education Services Updates: Foreign Academic Credential Recognition in Canada TESL Ontario Conference November 13 & 15, 2008

2 OutlineOutline  Recognition  The Alliance  World Education Services  New - Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE)  Live Demo of POE  Other Online Research Tools  AICES (WES Database)  Selected Clients

3 Recognition Recognition  45% for employment  28% for continuing or higher education  17% for licensure with professional licensing associations  7% for immigration Top 12 countries of Education  India, Philippines, USA, UK, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran, Romania, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Ukraine and Russia

4 The Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada  Academic Credentials Assessment Service (ACAS) - Manitoba  International Credential Evaluation Service (ICES) - British Columbia  International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS) – Alberta, Saskatchewan and N.W.T.  Service des évaluations comparatives (SEC) - Quebec  World Education Services (WES) - Ontario

5 The Alliance …  Quality assurance alliance of five provincially mandated services  Conform to national quality assurance practices consistent with international guidelines - UNESCO  Working together to facilitate recognition of international academic credentials  The Alliance promotes the portability of assessments and qualifications in Canada and pan Canadian mobility  Developing pan Canadian Quality Assurance Standards  Members are publicly accountable

6 World Education Services (WES)  An international not-for-profit agency whose purpose is to evaluate international credentials in order to facilitate their use in academic and employment settings  The recognized service of the Ontario government, funded in part by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI)  Began in 1974; in Canada since 2000; in 2007, served about 8,000 applicants in Canada  Staff of 19 in Toronto office, 6 in Evaluation Dept.  Used by universities, colleges, professional licensing associations, employers, apprenticeship training programs and Canadian Visa Posts

7 New - Online Equivalency (POE) New - Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE)  Self-directed tool which provides instant Canadian academic equivalencies  For $20, preview Canadian equivalency for one credential – an additional 4 credentials can be reviewed for $10  Disclaimer, based on non verified documents

8 Preliminary Online Equivalency (POE) Suggested equivalency for post-secondary academic credentials from 90 source countries: 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, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

9 Preliminary Online Equivalency

10 POE … POE … For End-Users  Initial screening of job applicants, international students, applicants for licensure, or immigration  Provide immediate results while waiting for an official evaluation report from WES For Intermediaries  Facilitate presenting their clients qualifications to employers

11 Other Online Research Tools  World Education Profiles (WEP)  International Grade Conversions  WENR – World Education News and Reviews  Document clearing house (AccessWES) - images of the documents verified in the evaluation process are available

12 AICES (WES Database)  AICES (Automated International Credential Evaluation System)  Searchable database of all completed evaluations, documents received and a file management tool  Contains:  Key details (admission requirements, program length) for more than 18,900 credentials  Grade conversions for over 1,700 grading systems  Contact details and status of more than 40,000 institutions (including 8,300 universities) in 215 countries and jurisdictions  More than 5,000 program majors specific to the level of education  Thus far, evaluated over 48,417 credentials and established 173 possible Canadian equivalency outcomes, e.g. B.A. (3 years)

13 Selected Clients  Apotex  Dofasco  General Motors  HydroOne  IBM  KPMG  Magna International  Monster.ca  Mt. Sinai Hospital  RBC; CIBC  TD Financial Group  Athabasca University  College of Nurses of Ontario  College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario Therapists of Ontario  Graduate Rehabilitation Science Programs Science Programs  McMaster University  Ontario Medical Schools  Queens University  Seneca College  University of Ottawa  University of Toronto  University of Western Ontario

14 Questions and comments? Kevin Kamal ext