Graduates of Social Work Programs Outside Canada and the United States

CASW only evaluates social work international credentials and applies the CASWE Standards of Accreditation to determine if the international social work degrees are equivalent to an accredited Canadian social work degree. For more information on CASW assessments, please visit their website.

In contrast, World Education Services Canada (WES Canada) and International Credential Assessment Service (ICAS) evaluate all types of international academic qualifications, including certificates, diploma, degrees, regardless of the field of study. Both organizations confirm the authenticity of your credentials, verify the institution status and indicate the equivalent of the international credential in the Canadian educational system (i.e., diploma, baccalaureate, master’s degree, etc.). In other words, the evaluations reports indicate whether your international diploma or degree is considered equivalent to a Canadian diploma or degree. However, WES Canada and ICAS Canada do not evaluate the content or curriculum of your international program to determine equivalency to a Canadian BSW or MSW.

No, not for the “Social Work Graduate” application stream. If the CASW has determined that your international social work credentials are not equivalent to an accredited Canadian degree, if the College determines that your application is eligible for the equivalency stream, we would be able to use your third-party credential report. For more information on the equivalency stream, visit the No Social Work Degree or Non-Accredited Degree webpage.

Yes. If you have been educated outside Canada and the U.S. but not in social work or social service work:

• Have your academic credentials evaluated by WES Canada or ICAS Canada .
• Once the evaluation is completed, request that WES Canada or ICAS Canada send the evaluation report directly to the College.
• Contact your academic institution and get course descriptions for your academic programs.
• Have your official documents translated into either English or French before sending them to the credential assessment agency.
• Apply for a work or study permit to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

No. We advise you to upload all your supporting documents when you complete and submit your application in the portal.

To ensure fairness and equal treatment to all applicants, we process all applications in the order they are completed. We recommend applying for registration at least four to six weeks in advance of any potential job start dates.

If you have a job offer, we recommend that you communicate the College’s timelines to your potential employer.

Yes, you can resume your application. Log into your Online Portal account  and follow these steps to resume your application:

• Click on the “Apply” tab at the top of the screen and select “Register as a Social Worker”.
• Click on “Resume Application” button to continue where you left off.

Yes. You can update your personal or business information in the Online Portal at any time. You can also upload supporting documents under the “Documents” section of your open application.

You can make edits or changes if your application is in “Draft” or “Validated” status. If your application is in “Submitted” or “In process”, you can no longer edit it. At this stage, your application is read-only.

If you need to make any corrections to your application after it has been submitted, contact the College at registration@ocswssw.org.

To check if your application was successfully submitted, log into the Online Portal and navigate to the “My Applications” section under your profile name and look at the “Status reason” column. If the status reason is “Submitted”, your application has been successfully submitted. 

To check the status of your supporting documents, follow these steps:

• Log into the Online Portal and g navigate to the “Documents – Open Applications” section under the profile name.
• Check the document status under the “Status Reason” column:
  • New – document has not been received or it is pending staff review.
  • Approved – document has been reviewed by staff and found compliant.
  • Non-Compliant – document has been reviewed by staff and found non-compliant.

Please allow 5-10 business days for processing of documents after submission date before contacting the College for updates.

Yes, you can apply to the College if you are authorized under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to legally work or study in Canada. You must submit a copy of your valid work permit issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) with your application. Start the application process with the College after you have obtained the work or study permit from IRCC.

Your permit must state that you are allowed to work without restrictions. If your permit restricts you from working in health services, you will not meet the requirement to practise social work or social service work in Ontario.

Please review the registration fee chart for more information.

Only those with specific academic qualifications are eligible for registration with the College.  You must wait until post-convocation to order your transcript as it must show that the degree has been awarded and the date it was awarded.

For more information on transcript requirements for new graduates, visit the Transcript Requirements webpage.

If your payment was successful, you will receive an email notification. Additionally, once the payment has been successfully processed, your receipt will be available to download in the Online Portal.

If you answer “Yes” to one of the professional conduct questions, it doesn’t mean that you are ineligible for registration. The College will review each declaration or disclosure on a case-by-case basis. If additional information or documentation is required, the College will contact you in writing.

As of January 1, 2018, the Registration Regulation, Ontario Regulation 383/00, made under the Social Work and Social Service Work Act, 1998 was amended to revoke and replace clause (i) of paragraph 3 of subsection 5(2) with the following provision:

5(2) The following are registration requirements for a certificate of registration in any class:

…

1. The applicant’s past and present conduct must afford reasonable grounds for the belief that the applicant,
   1. (i) – does not have any physical or mental condition or disorder that could affect his or her ability to practise social work or social service work, as the case may be, in a safe manner.

This registration requirement is consistent with the registration requirements of many other regulatory bodies in the province.

No, this is not a new requirement. It is an improvement to wording that existed in the Registration Regulation prior to January 1, 2018. Since it began operations in 2000, the College has had the authority to request information from applicants in order to ensure they were “mentally competent to practise social work or social service work.”  The amendment to the Registration Regulation now puts the emphasis on the ability to practise social work or social service work in a safe manner.

Please provide as much information as is necessary to explain the ways in which your physical or mental condition or disorder could affect your ability to practise in a safe manner.  This may include a description of functional limitations and restrictions.  You may wish to include steps that you are taking to ensure you will be able to practise in a safe manner and/or accommodation you may require in order to practise in a safe manner.

It depends.  You may be asked to provide relevant supporting documentation.  Relevant supporting documentation depends on the nature of the physical or mental condition or disorder and its impact on your ability to practise in a safe manner.

Examples of potentially relevant supporting documentation may include: an opinion from your health care provider as to whether the condition or disorder will impact your ability to practise safely; letters of reference; clinical evaluations; and/or evidence of rehabilitation/recovery.

The College will review the information provided in the application and determine whether additional information is needed, whether the registration requirement is met and/or whether further steps are required. Applicants must provide the College with enough information to demonstrate that they can practise social work/social service work in a safe manner.

The College takes its responsibilities with respect to confidentiality of your personal information, including personal health information, very seriously. Among other things, the College adheres to strict confidentiality and record management practices with respect to the application process.

If you think that there is a possibility that your physical or mental condition or disorder could affect your ability to practise social work or social service work in a safe manner, it is preferable for you to answer “yes” to the question on the application form and provide the relevant information, so that the College may consider this.

In the event that the College later discovers that you answered “no” to the question on the application form when you did have a physical or mental condition or disorder that could affect your ability to practise social work and social service work, this may have serious consequences, similar to the consequences for misrepresenting information on your application.

If you answer “yes” to this question, you will be contacted by the College. You may be asked to provide more information and/or take steps that would allow you to meet the registration requirement.

If the College proposes to refuse your application, you will be provided with notice, written reasons, an opportunity to request a review and an opportunity to provide written submissions.

It only applies to registrants of the College if a registrant is applying to move into specific registration classes, e.g. into the inactive class, or into the general class from the inactive class.

The College no longer mails the certificate of registration. The wall certificate and wallet registration card are available for download under the profile name in the Online Portal under the “Registration History” section.

You will be able to generate and print your wall certificate if your certificate is not subject to Terms, Conditions or Limitations (TCL). If your certificate is subject to TCL, your certificate will be available for printing in the portal after your TCL have been removed by the College.

Your registration with the College can be confirmed on the College’s Online Register. The College’s Online Register is the most current source of information regarding a registrant’s status.

Not at this time. However, on September 10, 2021, College Council passed a motion to approve entry-to-practice exams for social work and social service work applicants to the College. The development and implementation of the exams will take several years, and it is anticipated that the exam requirement will not be fully implemented until 2027.

For more information on the implementation of entry-to-practice exams, visit the College’s webpage.

The College does not return any original documents submitted for the purposes of registration. However, at your written request, the College will provide a copy of submitted documents, unless the Registrar believes that to do so may jeopardize the safety of any person. The College can release a copy of your record to a third party if you provide your consent.

If you applied online, you may view your application submission. Navigate to “My Applications” section under the profile name and click on the green down arrow to view your submission.