Comparative evaluation of studies: the first step to take in Quebec

Immigration

Did you study outside Quebec? Before you rewrite your résumé, before your first job application, before you enrol at a cégep: apply for your comparative evaluation. It is the document that translates your diplomas into Quebec terms. And because processing can take up to six months, every month you wait to apply is a month lost.

What is a comparative evaluation?

The Comparative Evaluation for Studies Completed Outside Québec is issued by Quebec’s Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI). It compares your diplomas with benchmarks in the Quebec school system: it states, for example, that your training compares to a college diploma (DEC) or a bachelor’s degree.

It is not a diploma or an equivalency: it is an expert opinion, for information purposes. Since September 4, 2025, it no longer names the corresponding Quebec field of study.

Why it should come first

• Employers. A Quebec recruiter does not always know what a foreign licence, BTS or engineering degree is worth. The comparative evaluation tells them, on an official Government of Quebec document.
• Professional orders and regulated trades. They use it in their assessment, and a letter from them gets your file priority processing.
• Studies. Cégeps, universities and Services Québec training programs may ask for it at admission.
• Processing time. Up to six months without priority. Applying as soon as you arrive, or even before you leave, keeps it from holding up a job offer or an enrolment.
• Price. $141 in 2026, but MIFI fees are adjusted every January 1. Applying before the end of the year means paying the 2026 rate.

An honest caveat: MIFI says the comparative evaluation is not required to file an immigration application. It is a professional integration tool. But landing a job that matches your education is often what moves the rest of your journey forward, including toward permanent selection.

Do not confuse the two: for Express Entry, the federal program for settling outside Quebec, IRCC requires an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) from a designated organization such as WES. MIFI’s comparative evaluation does not replace it.

Cost, processing time and how to send it

• Fee: $141 CAD since January 1, 2026, paid when you apply, by credit card (signed form), postal money order, certified cheque or bank draft. No cash, no personal cheques.
• With priority processing: 60 working days, if your complete file includes a letter from an employer (hiring, promotion or contract renewal), from Services Québec or from a professional order.
• Without priority: six months at most, for 80% of applications.
• Sending: by mail, in a single envelope, to MIFI in Montreal. You can apply from Canada or from abroad.

The documents you need

• Form A-0361-FO, 2026-03 version (in French), filled out in block letters, dated and signed. An outdated version is returned unprocessed.
• You must declare all your schooling since elementary school, even the parts you do not want evaluated.
• One piece of ID: passport pages, birth certificate, or an IRCC document (PR card, confirmation of permanent residence, asylum claim).
• Completed post-secondary studies: your diplomas and detailed transcripts for every year, internships included.
• General secondary: the diploma only. Vocational secondary: diplomas and transcripts for every year.
• If your name has changed: marriage certificate, name change certificate or court judgment.

Never send originals unless asked. Academic documents are accepted, among other formats, in an envelope sealed by the institution, as a photocopy with a verifiable QR code, or as a copy certified by a recognized authority. Any document that is not in French or English must come with a translation by a recognized translator, including seals and stamps.

Mistakes that cost you months

• Using an old form downloaded years ago.
• Leaving out one year of transcripts, or sending the diploma without the transcripts.
• Attaching a translation that is not recognized, or leaving seals untranslated.
• A declined payment or an unaccepted payment method: the file comes back by mail.
• Asking for training that is not evaluated: less than one full-time year, incomplete post-secondary studies, attestations or internship certificates, training completed in Canada.

Once you get your result, you have 365 days to send new documents or dispute the result free of charge. After that, you have to start over and pay again.

How we help

MIFI says it plainly: you do not need a representative, and using a professional does not earn you priority. What we bring is a complete file the first time.

• We first check that your studies can be evaluated and what is missing.
• We give you a document list tailored to your background and the country where you studied.
• We check transcripts, copies and translations before anything is mailed.
• We fill out the current version of the form with you and prepare the payment.
• We follow the file until the answer arrives, and fit it into your plan: work, studies or Quebec selection.

On the same subject: Your first 90 days in Quebec · Certified translations: the rules · Getting a CSQ: the PSTQ and Arrima

This article provides general information and is not legal advice.