Publish at June 11 2026 Updated June 11 2026
When you're planning to immigrate to France, especially to study or work, it's almost impossible not to have your diplomas recognized. In Canada, it's a matter of comparative evaluation. As for Cameroon, every year the Commission Nationale d'Évaluation des Formations Dispensées à l'Étranger publishes a list of names of people who have obtained equivalence.
Whether you've graduated from a prestigious university or not, your diploma may have to undergo equivalence in order to be recognized in a country other than the one that issued it. Between "application fees", recruitment controls, diplomatic battles and the fight against fraud, we wonder whether this practice really allows us to establish real equivalence? What is a diploma equivalence: recognition, comparison, translation, "validation"? Under what conditions does equivalence become a fair tool?
Although in France we prefer the term "comparability" to designate the process that enables a foreigner or someone who has completed a training course abroad to have their diploma validated in France, the fact remains that it is a form of recognition.
Comparability makes it possible to "establish the correspondence between a diploma or training followed abroad and a diploma, studies or training followed in France".
In Canada, more precisely in Quebec, we prefer "comparative evaluation" which, according to the application form for this service, is defined as "a document that indicates, in a general way, to which academic benchmarks (or main diplomas) and to which fields of training in Quebec your studies completed abroad can be compared".
In Cameroon, the term "equivalence" is used. A distinction must be made between equivalence, recognition or comparability, and validation of experience. Equivalences are produced by specialized departments. A commission set up by the Minister of Higher Education is responsible for this.
In France, this is the responsibility of the ENIC-NARIC center. One of its missions is "the evaluation of foreign diplomas and the issuing of attestations of comparability and attestations of recognition of studies/training".
In Quebec, this service is provided by the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration. It is therefore the administration, establishments, commissions, professional orders and other certifying bodies that are responsible for producing equivalences. Their decisions take into account the training, level of study, duration, skills acquired, teaching methods, legal framework and training objectives.
The aim of recognition is to find a match in the host system in terms of diplomas or training. To illustrate this, let's take the case of a doctoral degree obtained in a Cameroonian university and submitted for comparative evaluation in Canada and a comparability study in France.
A PhD in "Sciences du Langage, Littérature et cultures", Hispanic Studies option, from the University of Dschang would be considered in "the Quebec academic benchmark" as a doctorate in the field of "modern languages and literatures". In France, it will be marked "cadre national des certifications professionnelles" level (8) or "Cadre européen de certifications" (8), with the stipulation that the document will enable its holder to facilitate his or her dealings with the French administration. Ultimately, it is up to the authority or department for which the diploma is being submitted to assess the evaluation, taking into account the profile sought. In other words, this evaluation does not oblige any French entity to do anything.
In the Quebec document, again taking into account the diploma submitted, one of the remarks is as follows: "The studies carried out do not correspond to any Quebec university discipline in a specific field, hence the mention of the major field of study". In other words, the analysis was unable to find a direct equivalent in the Quebec system.
Generally speaking, access to employment is the main motivation. Equivalence can reduce bottlenecks or be a plus in the job market. It can also become a bottleneck insofar as even other education systems are considered to be less structured and therefore do not provide quality training.
Evaluation is sometimes carried out by people who are only familiar with the host snowmaking systems, not those of origin. In such cases, comparisons can be highly simplistic or over-estimated. Above all, it's a costly service that serves to replenish the coffers. In Canada, it costs around 80 Canadian dollars, in France 75 euros and in Cameroon 25,000 FCFA.
If we ignore the deadlines, the documents required and the sometimes cumbersome procedures, we can't afford to overlook the fact that administrative recognition is often at odds with professional or even social recognition. Shouldn't we rather prioritize the acquisition of skills or compliance with the curriculum than insist on this recognition, which after all may not have any added value for the holder? Can we really "equate" diplomas?
It's true that each country has its own reference framework for recognizing diplomas. But are skills really transferable? Context is an important factor to consider.
Differences between education systems (organization, content, requirements) can hamper the objectivity of recognition. Attestation can be an indicator, but its significance in the professional context can be enhanced. Like the diploma, which is evaluated, it remains a parchment and nothing more. A professional will still have to question theoretical levels, technicality, autonomy, practices and even professional cultures to be able to validate an attestation. After all, there is always a margin of error when it comes to interpreting files, uncertainties and borderline cases.
Other avenues, notably gateways, tests, internships and validation of prior learning, can lead to better use of equivalences.
In conclusion, based on the assessments of three countries, we cannot say whether one is more legitimate than the other. Each country has different frameworks and objectives, and consequently recognitions adapted to the context. However, the question remains: how do we balance safety and accessibility? Does administrative recognition do justice to skills?
Illustration: Shutterstock - 2525266761
References
ENIC-NARIC Centre France, https://www.france-education-international.fr/expertises/enic-naric
Ministère de l'immigration, "Préparer votre demande d'évaluation comparative", https://www.quebec.ca/immigration/travailler-quebec/faire-reconnaitre-competences-acquises-etranger/obtenir-evaluation-comparative/preparer-demande
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