The at CMEC disseminates information and acts as a national clearinghouse and referral service to support the recognition and portability of Canadian and international academic and occupational qualifications.
CICIC was established in 1990 to fulfill Canada’s obligations under the . The UNESCO recognition conventions promote international mobility by advocating wider recognition of higher education and professional qualifications.
As Canada's National Information Centre under UNESCO conventions to facilitate the mobility of talent, CICIC:
- provides to individuals and organizations on the recognition of academic and occupational credentials for working and studying in Canada and abroad;
- provides information on and to assist in the recognition of Canadian qualifications, in collaboration with provincial and territorial ministries of education;
- develops to improve consistency of and capacity for academic credential assessment in Canada;
- manages focusing on academic credential assessment and the teaching profession.
The CICIC Web site provides a wealth of information and resources, including:
- the , which provides detailed information about all educational institutions that are recognized, authorized, registered, or licensed by the competent authorities in Canada (at the elementary and secondary level, information is provided on school boards or their equivalents, as well as independent or private schools);
- the , which provides detailed information on the credential assessment process for over 500 occupations in Canada;
- the web tool, which allows visitors to find information relevant to their specific situation by answering a few questions;
- information on and in Canada or abroad, and on in Canada.