I have a GNVQ Advanced level qualification, equivalent to two A-levels, in Leisure and Tourism which I received after two years' study at college in the UK.

Can anyone please tell me what level of education this might be equivalent to in Canada?

Many thanks.

Hi Danny

Your GCSE's (which I am assuming you have), and your Advanced GNVQ is probably equivalent to the High School Diploma in Canada.



Poppit

We had an appointment with a couple of counsellors at a college and uni about my daughter in BC and they both said that the High School Diploma is roughly equivalent to 5 GCSEs grades A-C including maths and English, that full A levels might, or might not, give her first year credits on a degree course (depends on the institution and the A level subjects in relation to the course she wishes to take). Vocational qualifications seems to be a bit of grey area though as some people have posted on here that theirs have not been recognised as not Canadian, others have said they were fine.

The Education system in Canada is provincial. This means that a qualification that may be recognised in one province may not be recognised in another.

For example in Quebec, qualifications obtained in Ontario are often treated in the same way as qualifications obtained in another country and often fully qualified people may have to go back to school before they can work in their profession.

When it comes to university, most have heard of GCSEs and A Levels they probably have not heard of NVQs or GNVQs. Whether or not they are accepted would be a matter of luck.

Each province has an organisation that can assess foreign qualifications which basically states what your level of education is in relation to the reference province. Sometimes the report stated that there is no equivilant qualification .

In my industry NVQ's and GNVQ'S arent worth the paper they are written on here.

Not really accurate. Grade 12 high school wherever you take it is recognized across Canada. Any trade qualification that has Red Seal endorsement is interprovincialy recognised, many diplomas, professional qualifications, a degree wherever granted in Canada (often the US and sometimes overseas) is recognised, some international recognition exists as well.

It is very common for Canadians to pick up from one province and move to another for work without any problems. More qualifications in Canada are recognised between provinces than are not.

I live in Quebec and someone who has a grade 12 high school diploma would be required to do an extra year on their their degree program. The system in Quebec has more in common with the UK system with their high school diploma being equivilent to GCSEs and the CGEP system being equivalent to A levels.

The requirements of each high school diploma are decided on a provincal rather than national basis. If you apply to a university they will specify their requirements on a provincial basis.

Each province have professional organisations who determine their requirements and you have to make sure that you meet these requirements when you move to a new province. For example in Quebec there is a French Language requirement and also often other compulsory modules which must be passed before you receive recognition. It is not an automatic process.

I agree that there is a great deal of standardisation internationally when it comes to degrees and some other qualifications, but this does not change the nature of the system.

There are many other things in Canada that are dealt with on the provincial level for example the health system is provincial and though there is much in common between the different provincial health systems, this does not change the underlying nature of the system

..Also in relation to red seal you are correct that it is a qualification that is recognised interprovincially (Note they did not say nationally). In order for this to be done, they had to have an agreement with each individual province.

Why was this necessary if the sytem was not provincial? And why does each province have their own organisation for administering it.

There are other interprovincial agreements in place, but these agreements are only necessary because of the nature of these systems...Provincial rather than national.

Quebec may consider itself different, the other provinces don't treat it like that, so stating 'in Canada' is not accurate. Differences may exist between Quebec and the other provinces.

A truck driver, accountant, lawyer, pilot, other aviation occupations such as AME & ATC, medical profession, anyone covered by Red Seal endorsement, university degree, all are recognized in other provinces.

One novelty with Quebec is ATC and pilots speak French as the primary language, if you don't speak French ATC translate it, so if there is an emergency, one hopes they speak really fast. In France the primary language in aviation is English.

Because Red Seal is not a certification, each province has their own certification and Red Seal was created to get away from the need for trades people to re certify every time the moved provinces. The standards were examined and brought into alignment to enable skills to be transferable.

Many qualifications obtained in Canada are not treated like foreign qualifications as you suggested, other than perhaps in Quebec. That is where what you said was misleading.

My intention was not to mislead anyone. Just because things are dealt with in the same way in most of the provinces does not change the underlying nature of the system.

I believe understanding this nature is likely to avoid being mislead as you will check rather than just assuming it will be the same.

You are right that 9 out of 10 times it will probably be the same.

Quebec is part of Canada and the fact that it can have an education system so different from the rest of Canada supports my argument.

Other provinces could do the same as Quebec if they wished because the system is provincial.

Your argument is that because most provinces decide to do something the same way then the system is a national system this is not true. There are many countries who just copied their education system from the UK. They even bought over teaches from the UK to teach in their schools for a few years, this did not make them part of the british education system, just lacking imagination.

Take the IB program for example. I believe the IB program that we have in Canada is the same one that they use in the US, many schools that offer this program in Canada get their acreditations through an organisation in the US (I believe they are based in New York). We cannot use this to argue that Canada is part of the US.

I know may people who have moved to Quebec with the mistaken belief that their new diploma gained in another part of Canada would be valid, they complain about how unfair it is but this does not change anything.

I agree that sometimes Quebec goes a bit out of it's way to prove it's difference from the rest of Canada. This independant spirit is one of the things I like about Quebec.

In Quebec there are two very different education systems one in English and one in French and there are often fundamental differences between the two systems.

Did not think it was, I was just clarifying somewhat.

There was an argument?

But they don't, there is a desire to make education and qualifications more universally accepted across the country. Having served on industry ITA/Red Seal committees, aside from it being a frustrating process, there is a constant move to bring provincial standards more into line with each other. Even Quebec is starting to come into this.

I have no objections to the vast majority of what you have said just the phrases "Not really accurate" and the word "misleading".

My discription of the Canadian system is accurate and based on fact.

Though a grade 12 high school Diploma is recognised across Canada, and across the World (You can enter a UK university with it) there is no National Curiculum in Canada which means that there are many differences between what must be studied in the different provinces to receive it.

There is no Federal department of Education. The Provincial Ministers of Education do meet together regularly to deal with issues of common concern and to help bring the different systems more into line.

I agree that the lack of standardisation across the country can be fustrating sometimes, hence my warning of the potential for problems.

You are correct that many people do move between provinces without any issues, this is true of international moves as well. When I moved to Canada I had no issues in having my qualifications recognised, but those with non standard qualifications may not find it so easy.