Comparative evaluation of studies
The province's comparative evaluation says what your Turkish studies broadly correspond to in the Québec system. It is an opinion, not a recognition, and it does not give the right to practise a regulated occupation. This page covers the documents, the dispatch rules and the form-version trap.
Checked on 8 September 2026 Last updated 9 September 2026
In brief
- Certification level
- Certified translator (Québec) + Apostille
- Estimated time
- Obtaining the transcript and its dispatch from the university is the slow step
- Destination country
- Québec
Accepted under conditions
The comparative evaluation of studies is a service of the Québec ministry responsible for immigration. It takes your foreign qualifications and states what they broadly correspond to in the Québec education system. Read that sentence again, because almost every misunderstanding about this document comes from expecting more of it.
An opinion, not a recognition
The evaluation is expressly a comparative opinion. It does not grant a diploma, does not oblige anyone to accept your qualification, and does not create a right. Employers may find it useful, admissions offices may consider it, and regulatory bodies form their own view regardless of it. The distinction between comparing a qualification and recognising it is the subject of the equivalence page, and it is worth reading before you decide whether you need this document at all.
What it does not do
- It does not give the right to practise a regulated occupation. That decision belongs to the professional order governing the occupation — see the professional orders page — and the order runs its own file with its own documents.
- It does not replace an admission decision. A university admits on its own criteria and may want the transcript directly from the issuing institution.
- It is not the federal credential assessment. That is a separate procedure, run by separate organisations, and used for a different purpose. The credential assessment page sets out the difference.
- It does not convert your grades. Nor does your translator: grades are transferred, not converted.
The documents it asks for
Expect to produce, for each qualification you want evaluated: the diploma, the full transcript covering every year of the programme, and identity and civil status documents establishing who you are. Where your name has changed since the diploma was issued, a document connecting the two names is needed as well. Secondary-level and vocational qualifications have their own document requirements, and a partially completed programme is documented differently from a completed one.
Take the exact list from the ministry's own current publication for your qualification type. Lists differ by level and country, and a list copied from a forum is a list from someone else's file.
How the documents must reach the service
This is where Turkish applicants most often lose a cycle. The requirement is frequently not simply a copy but a document whose route can be traced: sent by the issuing institution itself, or produced as a certified copy, or accompanied by the seal that proves it left the university intact. A transcript that has passed through the applicant's hands does not carry that proof. How to obtain a sealed transcript in Türkiye explains what to ask the university for, and the wording that gets it.
The form version trap
The application form is versioned, and files submitted on a superseded version are returned without being processed — with the time already spent gone. Download the form on the day you complete it, from the ministry's own site, and never from a saved copy or a link shared in a group. The form version page explains how outdated forms circulate and how to check what you are holding.
Translation
The documents are read by a provincial service, under the standard described on the Québec translation rule page, and these files are typically read closely: the transcript is the whole point of the exercise, so every course title, credit value, grade and scale legend has to be there. The grading scale printed on the reverse of a Turkish transcript is one of the most consequential pages in the set, and it is one of the most frequently dropped.
What we do from Türkiye
We obtain diplomas and transcripts from Turkish universities under a power of attorney, in the form the receiving body asks for, including sealed dispatch where that is required; we arrange the apostille where one is needed, through the authority competent for the document; and we courier the originals with a complete colour scan of every side, reverse pages included. Whether an apostille is required for this particular file is a question to put to the ministry in writing before ordering one — see the apostille page.
Frequently asked questions
Not in every route, and not always at the stage people assume. It is often requested in provincial selection files and is useful when dealing with employers, but it is a separate application with its own timetable. Check whether your route actually asks for it before ordering documents for it.
No. If the occupation is regulated, the right to practise is decided by the professional order governing it, which conducts its own examination of your qualifications and may require additional training, examinations or a period of supervised practice.
Records normally pass to a successor institution or to the relevant higher education authority, and the document then comes out under that body's name. It takes longer than a routine request, so start it early rather than at the point of submission.
The document reflects the education system as compared at the time it was issued, and bodies relying on it sometimes prefer a recent one. If yours is several years old and a receiving body has not commented, ask whether it will be accepted before you build a file around it.