You can move to Canada as a social worker, and you will find the title itself protected: Job Bank, the federal jobs site, says use of the titles Social Worker and Registered Social Worker is regulated in all provinces. Two authorities decide your move. Whether you may live in Canada, for instance as a permanent resident (PR, with the right to stay in Canada permanently), is decided by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the federal immigration department. A provincial body, often a college of social workers, decides whether you may practise, and Job Bank says registration with one is mandatory to practise in most provinces, among them Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. In Ontario the two steps even depend on each other, as a section below explains.

Getting licensed as a social worker in Canada

Job Bank says a bachelor's degree in social work is required in most provinces and in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, while Alberta accepts a bachelor's degree or a diploma in social work. Supervised practical experience is usually required, and some provinces may set written and oral exams. The bigger difference is who checks a degree earned abroad:

• Ontario: the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers asks for an evaluation report from the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW), a national association rather than a regulator, showing your degree is equivalent to at least a Bachelor of Social Work from an accredited Canadian program. CASW sends the report straight to the college.
• Alberta: the Alberta College of Social Workers (ACSW) also requires the CASW assessment, and internationally educated applicants must pass the licensing exam of the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) within one year of being told to take it, with at most three attempts.
• British Columbia: the BC College of Social Workers wants a basic report from an approved credential evaluation service, such as World Education Services, a portfolio showing substantive study in social welfare, social policy, social work ethics, practice and theory, human behaviour and development, and research methods, and at least 700 hours of social work experience. Once it approves the file, you write the ASWB exam.

English rules vary too. Ontario's college accepts tests including IELTS General, CELPIP General and PTE Core, at 7 in each skill (for PTE Core, level 7 on the Canadian Language Benchmarks), taken within two years before you apply; all three also appear on IRCC's Express Entry list. BC's college exempts some applicants, such as those who studied social work in English in a country where English is the main language, and otherwise accepts results from a single test sitting only.

Immigration routes for social workers

Express Entry is IRCC's online system for the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. Candidates get a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, and IRCC invites those ranked highest to apply for PR, as our Express Entry guide explains.

Some rounds invite only people in a category of jobs, and social workers are on IRCC's list for its healthcare and social services rounds. What that changes: in those rounds your score is compared only with other candidates who fit the category. To fit, you need at least 12 months of full-time work in one listed job within the past three years, or the same amount part-time, in Canada or abroad, and you must be eligible for an Express Entry program. Our guide to category rounds has more.

Provinces and territories choose some immigrants as well, nominating them under their own requirements; see our provincial nominee guide. Routes that list social workers include:

• Saskatchewan: the Health Talent Pathway lists social workers and needs, among other things, a permanent, full-time health-sector job offer in the province; Saskatchewan notes that social workers may also apply under its Employment Offer and Existing Skilled Workers sub-categories.
• British Columbia: social workers are on the BC Provincial Nominee Program's Health Authority-eligible list and its health care list for targeted invitations, and the Health Authority stream needs a full-time job offer with no end date from a B.C. health authority.
• Alberta: the Dedicated Health Care Pathway names clinical social workers, a narrower group, as the next section explains.

Can every social worker use Alberta's health care pathway?

No. Alberta's pathway names clinical social workers, with ACSW as their regulator, not social workers in general. Clinical social worker is an advanced designation that ACSW grants through its clinical practice enhancement. To apply, you need, among other things, a Master of Social Work from an accredited program ACSW recognizes, at least three years of clinical experience after it, good standing as a registered social worker in Alberta, and at least two years on ACSW's general register or a similar register elsewhere. The route includes at least 100 hours of clinical supervision. If you already hold a registered or licensed clinical social worker credential from a Canadian province or a US state, held for at least two years and with the clinical licensing exam passed, you can ask to transfer it instead. For the pathway's non-Express Entry option, Alberta asks clinical social workers for language evidence at Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 in every skill: the language exam taken for licensure, or an official test the Alberta program accepts.

Can you register in Ontario before you have immigration papers?

No. Ontario's college registers only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and people authorized under Canada's immigration law, who must send a copy of a valid work or study permit, and it strongly advises starting the application after IRCC has issued that permit. The permit must also allow you to work without restrictions: one that bars you from working in health services does not meet the requirement. The college also asks for a police check: a vulnerable sector check from your local police if you live in Canada, or a certified criminal record check from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) if you live abroad. What you can arrange first is the CASW evaluation, which the college lists as a step before you start its application.

A common mistake social workers make

Ordering a general credential report for immigration and expecting a social work college to accept it. IRCC says an educational credential assessment (ECA) for Express Entry may help in a job search but does not promise a licence in a regulated job. Ontario's college goes further: for its Social Work Graduate stream, it will not take a report from World Education Services or ICAS in place of the CASW evaluation, because those services confirm a degree's level but not its social work content. Alberta also asks for the CASW assessment, while British Columbia wants a general evaluator's report plus its own portfolio. Check what your regulator names before paying for any assessment.

First steps

1. Find the regulator for the province you want in Job Bank's list.
2. Order the degree assessment it names: a CASW evaluation for Ontario or Alberta, or a report from an approved service for BC.
3. Check your regulator's English rules, and compare its tests with IRCC's list before booking one.
4. Count your social work months in the past three years against IRCC's 12-month rule.
5. If you want to work for a health employer, read Saskatchewan's Health Talent Pathway or BC's Health Authority stream.