Results of the Horizontal Audit on Credential Validation

Pursuant to the Public Service Employment Act, the Treasury Board of Canada, in its capacity as the public service employer, is responsible for establishing qualification standards in relation to education, occupational certification or other qualifications that it considers necessary or desirable, given the nature of the work to be performed. Managers who have been sub-delegated staffing authority must ensure that applicable qualification standards are met or exceeded when establishing the required credentials for the position being staffed.

The act further outlines that appointments to or within the public service are to be based on merit. Merit is met when the person to be appointed meets or exceeds the essential qualifications and any additional qualification that the deputy head may consider to be an asset.

While some credential assessment methods, such as direct validation with the issuing institution or association, provide a greater level of assurance, there is no requirement to seek such validation. In accordance with section 36 of the act, sub-delegated managers have the discretion to use any assessment method that they consider appropriate to determine whether a person meets the qualifications established for the position.

A 2010 Public Service Commission study identified practices within 4 organizations and across 6 high-risk occupational groups with respect to the assessment of educational credentials in external appointment processes. The study found that all 4 organizations had assessment practices in place, such as requesting the original degree or professional certification, attesting that the original was witnessed by an organizational representative, or verifying credentials directly with the relevant academic institution or professional association.

The federal public service recognizes both Canadian and foreign credentials. Treasury Board of Canada qualification standards stipulate that if candidates were educated outside of Canada, they must have their credentials assessed against Canadian educational standards and found to be comparable. This enables individuals to provide proof of Canadian equivalency for their credentials when applying for a job in the federal public service. Six members of the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada are authorized to conduct academic assessments of foreign credential equivalencies for the purpose of satisfying Treasury Board qualification standards for employment in the core public administration. See Annex C for a list of these recognized agencies in Canada.

Assessing and validating credentials with academic institutions and professional associations

To ensure the integrity of appointments to the federal public service as it relates to key credentials required to perform a job, the audit undertook the validation of the education and professional certifications of 278 appointees directly with the relevant academic institutions and professional associations.

As a result, the audit team was able to validate credentials for 269 appointments.

There remained 9 cases, however, where the audit team could not validate academic or professional credentials for one of the following reasons:

•  Public Service Commission audit authorities to inquire and collect information are limited to Canadian-based academic institutions (7 appointments)
•  information no longer retained by a professional association (1 appointment)
•  issuing academic institution no longer exists (1 appointment)

Although the audit team was unable to validate the credentials for these 9 appointments, it was satisfied that the academic and professional institutions were valid issuers of domestic and foreign credentials. This assurance was obtained by consulting publicly available lists of institutions and professional associations recognized within the relevant jurisdictions.

The audit team conducted interviews with representatives involved in credential assessment within their own organization (human resources, management and security). Along with the review of appointments, the interviews sought to provide further insight on credential validation practices.

Participating departments and agencies identified a number of common practices. These included:

• reviewing the applicant’s résumé to confirm the level of education
• requesting the original diploma, or a copy
• less frequently, requesting an official written confirmation or transcript from the academic institution or professional association

In some organizations, factors such as the level of education required, and the type of position being staffed, could influence the approach to assessing the education and/or professional certification. Organizations reported sometimes validating credentials directly with academic institutions or professional associations, particularly when in doubt regarding certain credentials.

The range and use of such practices were consistent with those the audit team observed in its review of appointments. The audit noted that more than one method was often used to assess the same credential, the most common being the review of the candidate’s résumé or application (83% of credentials reviewed), and requesting a copy of the diploma (71% of credentials reviewed).

In terms of roles and responsibilities, stakeholders most often identified the hiring manager as being responsible for assessing educational credentials, with the support of their human resources advisor.

A number of stakeholders interviewed expressed a desire for increased efficiency in the area of credential information management, as current practices were often viewed as burdensome, particularly from the candidate’s perspective. Indeed, although all departments and agencies indicated that proof of education/certification was kept on file, most organizations did require candidates to provide proof of credentials for all following appointments. This approach, although expedient from an organization’s perspective, transfers the burden onto candidates, who are often repeatedly asked to provide proof of credentials throughout their career, even within the same organization.

For foreign credentials, organizations indicated that they do request proof of Canadian equivalency. Nevertheless, the audit found that, for some appointments, equivalency either was not obtained, or was sought from an unrecognized authority.

Recommendation

The information gathered from organizational representatives, combined with the results of the appointment review, suggests a lack of awareness and understanding of the requirement to obtain Canadian equivalencies for foreign credentials. As indicated earlier in this report, the review of appointments concluded that a recognized proof of Canadian equivalency was not obtained in 12 out of the 24 appointments (50%) where it was required.

Moreover, there appears to be an assumption among some hiring managers that the equivalency assessment process systematically provides assurance that the diplomas and relevant documents are authentic. In fact, the assessment is centred on establishing whether the credentials are comparable to Canadian educational standards and not on whether the person claiming to have the said credentials has indeed earned them. This leads to the single recommendation stemming from this audit:

Recommendation: The Public Service Commission of Canada, in collaboration with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, should ensure awareness and understanding of the requirement related to the assessment of foreign credentials.

Conclusion

The objectives of the audit were:

1. to identify the prevalence of instances where credentials could not be validated with academic institutions or professional associations
2. to identify credential validation practices for appointments and determine whether additional guidance or support is needed when establishing an appropriate credential validation approach

The audit found that sub-delegated managers used a range of practices when assessing credentials of persons being appointed to positions that held potential implications for the health, safety or security of Canadians. Through direct validation with issuing academic institutions and professional associations, the audit confirmed the appointees’ credentials to be valid in all of the 269 appointments where it had the information needed to reach a conclusion.

Audit findings also revealed that the requirement to obtain proof of Canadian equivalency for foreign credentials is not well understood by candidates or by hiring managers, as a Canadian equivalency was not obtained in 12 out of 24 (50%) of the appointments for which it was required.

The Public Service Commission accepts the audit’s recommendation and will work with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to identify how best to enhance awareness and understanding around foreign credential assessment and equivalency among human resources advisors and hiring managers across the public service.

Annex A: List of departments and agencies included in the Horizontal Audit on Credential Validation

• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
• Canada Border Services Agency
• Canadian Space Agency
• Correctional Service Canada
• Employment and Social Development Canada
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Health Canada
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• National Defence (public service employees)
• Natural Resources Canada
• Public Health Agency of Canada
• Public Safety Canada
• Public Services and Procurement Canada
• Transport Canada