Licences expire. Certificates don't.
A certificate proves someone qualified once. Credential verification confirms with the issuing body that the credential is real, that it belongs to your candidate, and that it is active right now.
Pay per check. No subscription. Add it to any check or run it on its own.
- Confirmed with the issuerNot a scan of a document
- Status as of todayActive, expired, or restricted
- Canada and internationalWherever the body is based
- Add to any checkNo minimum, no contract
Which check do you actually need
These two get mixed up constantly, and ordering the wrong one wastes a week.
Education verification
Confirms a degree or diploma from a school. Once someone earned a degree in 2014, they have it forever, and the answer never changes.
Credential verification
Confirms a licence, certification, or professional designation from the body that issues it. It can lapse, be suspended, be restricted, or be revoked, and the answer today may not be the answer next year.
Order it when
The role legally cannot be performed without a current licence.
For regulated roles this is the one that carries the risk.
Five things, every time
The institution is real
The issuing body is confirmed to exist and to be what it claims to be, not a lookalike name or a certificate mill.
The credential is real
The certification or licence number is confirmed against the issuer's own records.
It belongs to your candidate
Identity is matched to the record, so you are not looking at a real licence held by someone with a similar name.
The date is confirmed
When it was issued, so you can see it lines up with the work history you were told about.
It is active today
Current standing as of the date of the check, including any conditions or restrictions attached to it.
Straight to the source
Where the issuing body publishes a verification database, the credential is checked directly against it and the result comes back quickly.
Where it does not, a person contacts the issuing body and verifies it by hand. That takes longer and it is the only way to get a real answer, so it is what happens.
Either way the report records what was done. The date, who did it, which method was used, which source was checked, and what came back. If a hiring decision is ever questioned, the audit trail is in the file rather than in someone's memory.
The gap between the certificate and the truth
A certificate in a candidate's file tells you a credential was issued at some point. It does not tell you any of the following.
Most of these look identical to a valid credential when you are holding a PDF.
What we get asked for
Any credential issued by a body that can be contacted or that maintains a register. In practice that means:
If a role cannot legally be performed without it, it is worth verifying rather than accepting a photo of the card.
Foreign credentials
A credential issued abroad is verified with the body that issued it, in the country that issued it. There is no separate international product and no separate process to request. You supply the details, and the issuing body is contacted wherever it is based.
Where screening quietly fails
A Canadian database has no record of a designation issued overseas, so a database-only check returns nothing and the gap goes unnoticed. Contacting the issuer is the only way to close it.
Three steps
Add the check
Run credential verification on its own or alongside any other check, such as a criminal record check. No setup fee, no minimum, no contract.
The candidate supplies the details
They receive a secure link, give consent, and enter the credential details. Supporting documentation is requested if the issuing body needs it.
The result arrives
Verified, with the institution, certification, date, and current status in the report, plus the notes recording how it was confirmed.
Questions
Which check, and what it tells you
What is the difference between credential verification and education verification?
Does this tell me if a licence is still valid?
Is a professional association membership a credential?
Do you contact the candidate's employer?
Coverage and results
Can you verify credentials issued outside Canada?
Can you verify a credential that is expired?
How long does it take?
Running the check
What do I need to start?
What if the candidate does not have their certificate?
Check the licence, not the laminate.
Pay per check, no subscription, no minimum. Add credential verification to any check or run it on its own.