Registration, certification and licensing: What do these mean?

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If you are a newcomer whose profession is regulated, you will need to know more about Qualifications Recognition in Manitoba. First off, regulated professions are those that have a direct effect on public health and safety. In order to practice a regulated profession, practitioners are required to have a licence or certification in Canada. To know if your profession is regulated, check the Government of Canada Job Bank (or go to the link to regulated professions in the next paragraph).

There are around 33 regulated professions under Manitoba’s Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act. There are also more than 55 designated trades but only nine require compulsory certification. Each has a regulatory body that conducts its own assessment. For a list of regulated professions and their links to their regulatory bodies, go to Regulated Professions and Trades or 5 steps to credentials assessment and licensing.

Aside from the professions and trades under Manitoba’s Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act, there are over 70 other regulated occupations in Manitoba. These are occupations like driving instructor, security guard, paramedic, lifeguard, and real estate agent.

There is no single standard procedure, cost or duration that applies to all regulated professions. Each regulatory body will have its own requirements and procedures. This is why immigrants are advised to conduct research about their particular profession prior to moving to Canada. For some regulated professions it pays to begin the registration procedure while at the applicant’s home country to shorten the process and lessen cost. Pre-arrival employment seminars, like Settlement Online Pre-Arrival (SOPA), assist pre-arrivals with their research and preparation for registration and employment in Manitoba.

Some terms:

Qualifications Recognition – the process of verifying that the education, training, skills, and practical work experience obtained in another country meet the required occupational standards set by regulators for entry into a regulated occupation in Canada. Successful qualifications recognition ends with registration with your respective regulatory body. You will also be issued a license or certificate.

Registration – the licensing or certification process whereby applicants acquire professional recognition and rights to title and/or practice from a state sanctioned regulatory body. In the Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act, it is defined as the entire process – all the activities required for the final outcome – from application assessment to recognition.

Certification – an official title that recognizes a person has a specialized set of skills, knowledge and abilities to practice in a certain occupation. In a regulated occupation, certification is granted by a regulatory body.

Licensing – “to accredit” or “certify”. A licence is a document used by some trades and professions to signify that the licence-holder meets competency and other requirements and is entitled to practice.

Credential Assessment – an evaluation of how qualifications (education, work experience or professional credentials) from other countries compare to Canadian qualifications.

Regulatory Body (professional associations) – an organization that sets the standards and practices of a regulated occupation. They are responsible for the issuing of a licence.

The Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act – this act ensures that regulated professions and individuals applying for registration by regulated professions are governed by registration practices that are transparent, objective, impartial and fair.

Links to more information on Qualifications Recognition:

Office of the Manitoba Fairness Commissioner – the office works cooperatively with regulators to ensure that their registration practices comply with The Fair Registration Practices in Regulated Professions Act.

Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials (CICIC) – is a unit of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. It provides information and referral services to individuals and organizations on the recognition of academic and occupational credentials for working and studying in Canada and abroad.

World Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) – designated by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to provide Education Credentials Assessments for degrees earned outside of Canada.

 
Sources: Immigrate Manitoba; Job Bank glossary. All accessed July 27, 2017.

Community Resources

Recognition Counts – SEED Winnipeg – This is a program that provides supports to skilled immigrants wishing to work in their fields of expertise in Manitoba. To know more education funding programs that can assist you, read Planning on going back to school? Here are resources to back you up.