Documents that Institutions Must Submit to the Ontario College of Teachers for You

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You will have to contact various institutions and ask them to submit certain documents directly to the College on your behalf. All documents must be originals, not copies.

The documents that must be submitted for you are:

• Academic Qualifications - In Ontario, we would call the academic qualifications your bachelor's degree and your master's degree, if you have one. In some countries, your program of teacher education is not separate from your other academic studies.
• Program of Teacher Education - Teacher education programs usually include courses in foundations and teaching methods, as well as a practise teaching component. However, they are not the same in every country. The Ontario College of Teachers will evaluate each applicant's teacher education individually.
• Statement of Professional Standing - This document is provided by a licencing authority and establishes that you were authorized to teach in the jurisdiction where you completed your program of teacher education and that your certificate to teach was never suspended or revoked. You need to arrange to have a statement of professional standing sent directly to the College by each jurisdiction in which you have been certified to teach.
• Proficiency in English or French - This is your test result from an accepted language test.

Please see the information below for more information about these documents.

For information about obtaining documents from a specific country, visit the College's website. If specific information about your home country is not listed and you have already begun the application process with the College, contact the College to find out how to proceed.

Please note: If any of the above documents is in a language other than English or French, request that the documents be sent directly to the College in their original language. After the College receives the document(s), it will send them on to you. You must then take them to an accredited translator for translation. Once you have the translation, send the translation, a covering letter from the translator with contact information, and the original copy of the document back to the College.

An accredited translator is one that the College finds acceptable according to the Translation Policy.

Academic Qualifications

Ask the institution where you obtained your degree to forward directly to the College your official post-secondary degree transcripts. If your degree includes credits transferred from another institution, you must arrange to have a transcript for these credits also sent directly to the College from the institution where you completed those courses. The transcripts must include the name of the institution with the institution's seal and signature of the registrar and must include:

• your name as it appears in your Registration Guide for Teachers Educated Outside Ontario
• the hours of study for each course according to each term or year of study
• the name of your degree and the date on which it was granted

If your transcripts do not contain the title of the credential you were awarded and /or the date you received it, you may be asked to provide a photocopy of the degree/diploma scroll or certificate you received when you successfully completed your degree.

In addition to the official transcript(s), ask the educational institution to send a letter directly to the College with the institution's seal and the signature of the registrar verifying:

• your name as it appears on your Ontario College of Teachers registration form
• the hours of study for each course according to each term or year of study
• the name of the degree and the date on which it was granted

The College recognizes that some jurisdictions issue academic records once only. If this is your case, bring your original academic record to the College in person or send it by mail for verification. The College will return your original academic record to you.

However, you must still arrange for a letter to be sent to the College that verifies the granting of the degree or diploma, the course content and hours of study for each course and the year you received the degree.

Some examples of the names of educational records from other countries include:

• Poland - indeks
• India - mark sheets (for each year)
• Germany - scheine
• France - relevé de notes
• North America - transcripts

The Ontario College of Teachers website has more information about academic records, statements of professional standing and teaching certificates from different countries.

Program of Teacher Education

Ask the institution where you received your teacher education to send your official academic record or transcripts directly to the College. These must have the institution's seal and signature of the registrar. Transcripts should include the hours completed in each course.

In addition to the academic record, ask the institution to send to the College directly an official letter with the seal and signature of the registrar verifying:

• the dates you attended and completed the program and confirmation that degrees, diplomas, or certificates were granted
• your name as it appears on your Ontario College of Teachers' application
• the number of hours, days or weeks, grade levels, and subjects you taught in your supervised practicum
• the number of hours of study you completed for each course according to each term or year of study including the number of days completed in the practicum component of your teacher education program
• course descriptions for each course within your teacher education program

• if your program focused on the secondary school level, the specific subjects for which you completed teaching methodology course work
• the language of instruction of your teacher education program
• the method of program delivery (for example, did you study face-to-face in a classroom or did you complete your certificate through distance education such as Internet or correspondence)

If your transcripts do not contain the title of the credential you were awarded and/or the date you received it, you may be asked to provide a photocopy of the degree/diploma scroll or certificate you received when you successfully completed your degree.

The College recognizes that some jurisdictions issue academic records once only. If this is your case, bring your original academic record and your diploma/degree document to the College in person or send it by mail for verification. The College will return your original academic record to you.

However, you must still arrange for a letter to be sent to the College from the educational institution that verifies the granting of the degree or diploma, the course content and hours of study for each course, and the year you received the degree.

The letter from the institution must be current and provide details about the subjects covered in the teacher education program and ages of students you are eligible to teach.

If you did not complete any practice teaching as part of your teacher education program, please arrange to have official confirmation of at least one year of successful teaching work experience sent directly to the College.

Statement of Professional Standing

A statement of professional standing is a letter from a licensing institution, such as an education ministry, that says you were authorized to teach and that your certificate of authorization has never been suspended, cancelled, or revoked.

You need to arrange to have this statement sent directly to the College by each jurisdiction in which you have been certified to teach. The statement cannot be older than one year from the date the College receives it. This requirement applies even if you never actually taught in those jurisdictions.

Alternatives to Documentary Requirements in Exceptional Circumstances Beyond the Applicant's Control

If you have difficulty obtaining any of your required documents, you may be able to obtain assistance by contacting the College directly. It is also possible to submit alternative documents to complete your application in exceptional cases where documents cannot be obtained for reasons beyond your control. For more details, please visit the College's website.

Proficiency in English or French

You must be able to teach effectively in one of Ontario's official languages, English or French. If your teacher education program was taught entirely in English or French in any of the countries listed below, you have satisfied the language requirement and do not need to provide proof of language proficiency.

Countries whose teacher education programs satisfy the language requirements:

If your teacher education program was completed in a country other than the ones listed above, you must provide proof of your proficiency in English or French in one of the following ways:

• If your teacher education program was taught entirely in English or French, you can ask the head of the educational instruction you attended to send a letter directly to the College. The letter should confirm that when you attended the program, the language of instruction for the whole program was either English or French.
• If your primary or your secondary and post-secondary education was in French or English, but your teacher education program was in another language, you can arrange to have letters sent to the College from your primary or secondary school, and your post-secondary institution. The letters should confirm that the language of instruction for the entire program was either English or French.

• You can complete a language proficiency test and ask the testing agency to send the results of your test directly to College. You must do the test within two years before the date the College receives your application. The Ontario College of Teachers accepts proof of proficiency from the following tests:

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) [academic test only]
• TOEFL iBT
• Test pour étudiants et stagiaires au Canada (TEStCan)

You are responsible for the cost of the language proficiency test. Prices may vary. For more information on language proficiency and classes, see the Language Classes and Testing section.

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (academic test only)

You need to achieve an overall score of at least 7, with a score of at least 6.5 in reading and listening and a score of at least 7 in writing and speaking.