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 some countries, a program of teacher education is not separate from the academic qualifications. In Ontario, we would call the academic qualifications your bachelor's degree or, if applicable, your master's degree.
• Program of Teacher Education - Your program of teacher education needs to include the equivalent of a year of full-time study in a post-secondary education. It must include practice teaching and courses in foundations and teaching methods. Teacher education programs are not the same in every country. The Ontario College of Teachers will evaluate each applicant individually.
• Statement of Professional Standing - This states that you were authorized to teach in the jurisdiction where you obtained your program of teacher education and that your certificate to teach was never suspended or revoked.
• Proficiency in English or French - This is the test result from the accepted language tests.

Please see the information below for further details about these documents.

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

If you earned your undergraduate and graduate academic degrees outside Canada or the United States, arrange for a letter with the seal and signature of the registrar verifying:

• your name as it appears on your Ontario College of Teachers' Registration Guide for Teachers Trained Outside Ontario
• 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

If these degrees include credits transferred from another institution, arrange to have a transcript for these credits sent directly to the College from the institution where you completed those courses.

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 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 for your official teacher education academic record or transcripts. 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' Registration Guide for Teachers Trained Outside Ontario
• the number of weeks, grade levels, and subjects you taught in the supervised practicum and the number of the hours of study you completed for each course
• if your program focused on the secondary school level, the specific subjects for which you completed teaching methodology course work
• the language of instruction and the method of program delivery (for example, did you study face-to-face in a classroom or did complete your certificate through distance education such as Internet or correspondence)
• if you did not complete a practicum, please arrange to have a statement sent to the College outlining your teaching experience. Your program of teacher education must include a practicum or an equivalent of a practicum. If you have never taught in a classroom, either as part of your program of teacher education or after you graduated, you may need to take some upgrading courses. The College will determine what upgrading you need to be certified to teach in Ontario

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 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.

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 suspended, cancelled, or revoked.

You will 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.

Proficiency in English or French

You must be able to teach effectively in one of Ontario's official languages, English or French. If you did your teacher education program 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 education program satisfies language requirements:

If your teacher education program was taught in English and the country you received your degree from is on the list, you satisfy the requirement of language proficiency. However, If your teacher education program was completed in a country other than the ones listed, but was completed in English or French, the College requires a letter sent directly from the institution where the teacher education program was completed. The letter must state that the language of instruction for the whole teacher education program was in English or French.

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

• Complete one of the approved language proficiency tests and be sure to have the tests forwarded directly to the College. The test must be completed within two years before the date the College receives your application. The College accepts proof of proficiency from any of 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 Contacts and Resources section.

or

• If your primary or secondary and post-secondary education were in French or English but your teacher education program was in another language, please arrange to have letters sent to the College from the primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. The letters need to confirm that the language of instruction in the entire program was in English or French.

You will be marking students' assignments and developing their communication skills. It is essential that you have excellent communication skills in English or French.

The College may also arrange an interview with you to discuss your language proficiency requirements.