An overview of the Global Convention

The UNESCO Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education 2019 (Global Convention) was adopted during the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference in November 2019. This convention is now open for ratification by interested UNESCO Member States, and entered into force in March 2023.

The Global Convention was inspired by pre-existing regional conventions, such as the 1997 Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC) in the UNESCO Europe and North America region. Like its regional precursors, the Global Convention aims to support:

• the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), especially as it concerns the enhancement of the quality of higher education;
• growth in student mobility;
• the recognition of academic credentials as a global right;
• international consistency in recognition procedures; and
• increased international cooperation.

In Canada, federal, provincial, and territorial governments acknowledged that:

• UNESCO has already addressed many of the questions and challenges raised by governments in Canada, and suggested changes were accepted and included in the adopted version of the Global Convention;
• an instrument such as the Global Convention will:
• improve academic and professional mobility across the five UNESCO regions and enhance international cooperation in higher education. It will also demonstrate to the world the importance of fair recognition practices being applied by assessment services and competent recognition bodies in Canada;
• support economic growth by facilitating inbound and outbound migration flows in Canada. This includes attracting international students to our educational institutions and a skilled workforce to our labour markets; and
• demonstrate the excellence of Canada's education systems by ensuring that academic credentials issued by our educational institutions are recognized worldwide.
• given Canada's ratification of UNESCO's 1979 and 1997 recognition-related conventions, Canada already benefits from existing implementation structures established over the past four decades. The Global Convention would extend similar provisions to all the countries that ratify it.

CMEC continues to collaborate with all interested parties to finalize preparatory steps for a possible ratification of the Global Convention. In 2018, CMEC tasked CICIC with finalizing these preparatory steps with the provincial and territorial governments, in collaboration with assessment services and competent recognition bodies in Canada, as well as Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and UNESCO. The major next steps for Canada relate mainly to the domestic procedure and consist of:

• Step 4 – implementation: All provincial and territorial governments must confirm the implementation of the provisions of the 2019 Global Convention, and agree on the declaration that will accompany Canada's ratification instrument, in order to provide specifics about the convention's implementation in Canada. This step was completed in September 2024.
• Step 5 – ratification: All provincial and territorial governments must reach a consensus on the agreement to ratify the 2019 Global Convention. This step was completed in September 2024. In January 2025, GAC was notified of this outcome on the domestic process with provincial and territorial governments. GAC is now responsible for initiating the administrative procedure for having Canada ratify an international treaty. Once the administrative procedure is completed, Canada has to deposit the instrument of ratification—letter of accession, acceptance, or approval—with UNESCO, along with the declaration.