For many newcomers, the hardest part of settling in Canada isn't the language — it's getting a foreign education recognized. This lesson gives you the vocabulary for that process, because credential recognition comes up constantly both in Canadian life and in exam material: TCF synthesis texts and TEF opinion tasks often touch on immigration and integration, and credential recognition is a recurring thread in that theme.
| a degree equivalency (Canada) | une équivalence de diplôme |
Start with the core process. An équivalence de diplôme is what you request when a foreign degree needs to be matched to its Canadian counterpart, and la reconnaissance des acquis covers the wider process of getting your existing skills and experience formally credited — sometimes through an ordre professionnel, the regulatory body that licenses professions like nursing, engineering, and teaching. An évaluation comparative des études is the specific report that compares a foreign diploma against Canadian standards, and when the two don't line up exactly, a passerelle — a bridge program — lets you close the gap without repeating your whole education. Along the way, you may also need to valider ses acquis: prove, through testing or a portfolio, that you already know what a program would otherwise teach you.
The rest of the lesson is everyday education vocabulary for enrollment and for Canadian institutions specifically: Quebec's cégep system and its attestation d'études collégiales (AEC), tuition, scholarships, transcripts, and the academic advisors and placement tests you'll meet along the way. Watch for baccalauréat: in Canada it's a full bachelor's degree, but in France the same word names a secondary-school diploma. This course always teaches the Canadian sense.
