About BCCIE

BCCIE was established in 1990 as a non-profit society responsible for strengthening international education within the BC public post-secondary system. Supported by 20 years of dedicated effort from international education professionals, in January 2009 BCCIE updated its constitution and has greatly broadened its scope. Today, BCCIE facilitates a coherent international education strategy for all of BC.

BCCIE offers quality professional development events annually for international practitioners, networking events and forums, stakeholder newsletters, sector-wide advocacy and system-wide outreach and marketing opportunities.

BCCIE and the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education (Ministry) entered into an Administrative Agreement on July 9, 2009. BCCIE, as an independent society, will administer the EQA Designation on Government’s behalf.

About EQA

EQA is a quality assurance designation that identifies BC public and private post-secondary institutions that have met or exceeded provincial government recognized quality assurance standards and offer consumer protection.

EQA — BC’s Brand for Quality Education

EQA provides one standard provincial seal that can be recognized globally as symbol of quality.

The EQA seal allows students to easily identify which provincial institutions the government of BC recognizes as having met quality assurance standards and that offer consumer protection to learners.

EQA is a voluntary designation available to all BC public and private post-secondary institutions.

BC Leads the Way

• Canada’s first and only provincial brand of quality for post-secondary education (PSE)
• International leader in quality assurance as accessible to ALL provincial PSE institutions, inclusive of both private and public institutions
• Only province with a consolidated list of public and private PSE institutions branded with a provincial government seal

Role of Government and Role of BCCIE

The Ministry of Advanced Education (AVED) sets all EQA policies, including eligibility requirements for EQA.

The role of BCCIE is to administer the EQA program in accordance with Ministry policy, and to manage and promote the EQA brand to international learners around the world.