Educational credential assessment explained
An assessment compares your Turkish degree to a Canadian one so that it can be scored. It is not a licence to work, not a diploma, and not the same thing as Québec’s own comparative evaluation — a distinction that costs applicants months.
Checked on 8 September 2026 Last updated 8 September 2026
In brief
- Certification level
- Sworn translation (Türkiye) + Certified translator (Québec)
- Estimated time
- Set by the assessing organisation; the university stage is usually the longest part
- Destination country
- Canada
Accepted under conditions
If you are claiming points for education obtained outside Canada, you need an assessment of that education. This page explains what it is for, and — more usefully — what it is not.
What it does
It states what your Turkish qualification is comparable to within the Canadian system, so that a points system can score it. That is its entire function.
What it is not
- Not a Canadian diploma. It does not convert your degree into one.
- Not a licence to practise. Regulated professions are governed by their own bodies, with their own requirements.
- Not Québec’s evaluation. Québec runs a separate comparative evaluation for its own purposes. Having one does not give you the other, and applicants regularly discover this after paying for the wrong one. See comparative evaluation.
- Not an immigration decision. It is one input among several.
Which organisation
Assessments are issued by designated organisations, and some professions have their own. Choosing the wrong one means starting again. Check the current list published by the programme itself before sending anything, and note that fees and turnaround differ between them.
The Turkish side of the file
Your university normally has to supply documents directly to the assessing body — hand-carried copies are frequently refused. This is the step that determines your timeline, not the translation. See how Turkish universities must send documents.
Translation
Assessment bodies set their own translation rules, generally requiring a word-for-word rendering with a translator’s declaration. Some accept translations produced abroad; others do not. Confirm before ordering. See translation requirements for credential assessment.
Validity
An assessment report is usually valid for a defined period. If your immigration process runs long, check that the report will still be valid at the moment it is assessed — not merely on the day you submit.
Start with the slowest link
In almost every one of these files, the slow part is the Turkish university: producing a complete transcript, and sending it in the required manner. Older degrees and restructured programmes take longer still. Begin there, before choosing an assessment body and long before thinking about translation.
Assessment and immigration are separate clocks
The assessment has its own processing time, and it runs before the immigration file rather than inside it. That is why an assessment started after an invitation to apply almost never finishes in time. If foreign education is part of your plan at all, treat the assessment as the first item on the list and not as a step you slot in later. The documents behind it — diploma and transcript — do not expire, so there is no cost to being early and a real cost to being late.
Frequently asked questions
If your route involves both stages, quite possibly. They serve different purposes and neither substitutes for the other.
No. Regulated professions require a decision from the relevant regulatory body, which is separate.
Where the body requires the university to send it directly, no intermediary can substitute. We can obtain and prepare documents, and arrange courier where that is permitted.
Its records will have been transferred to another institution, which becomes your contact. Ask in writing, quoting years of study and student number.