“Équivalence” vs “reconnaissance”

These two words are used loosely in conversation and precisely in administration, and the gap between the two usages costs people years. They name separate procedures with separate authorities and separate outcomes.

Équivalence: a comparison

An équivalence, or in Québec an évaluation comparative des études effectuées hors Québec, answers one question: what does this foreign qualification most resemble in the local education system? The result is an opinion — a document saying your degree compares to a stated local level.

It is useful for immigration points, for employers who cannot read a foreign transcript, and sometimes as an entry condition for further study. It is not a decision about what you may do for a living. The Québec procedure, and the documents it demands, are described in comparative evaluation of studies.

Reconnaissance: the right to practise

Reconnaissance — professional recognition — is granted by the body that regulates the profession. In Québec that is the relevant professional order; in Switzerland a federal or cantonal authority depending on the field; in Belgium the language community for education-related matters. That body runs its own file, applies its own rules, and can require examinations, supervised practice or a language test regardless of what the comparative evaluation said.

Its translation requirements are usually stricter than an immigration file’s, and documents may have to arrive directly from the issuing university. What a professional order is and how it operates is covered in “ordre professionnel” explained.

What neither one means

• A comparative evaluation is not a licence. It creates no entitlement to work in a regulated profession, and orders are not bound by it.
• Recognition is not automatic between countries. Recognition obtained in France does not carry into Québec, and the reverse is equally true.
• Neither is university admission. A university deciding whether to admit you is making an academic decision of its own, on its own criteria.
• Neither converts your grades. Marks are reported as awarded; interpreting them belongs to the evaluating body, not to your translator — see grades are transferred, not converted.

Which one do you need?

If your profession is regulated in the destination — health care, engineering, law, teaching, accountancy and others — start with the professional body, because its requirements are the binding ones and are usually the longest to satisfy. If it is not regulated, a comparative evaluation plus a credible translation is generally all anyone will ask for.