PLA stands for Prior Learning Assessment. The PLA process evaluates academic credentials, language proficiency, clinical training and work experience. Trained assessors from the CSMLS are responsible for evaluating work experience and clinical training. Evaluation of language proficiency and foreign academic credentials are conducted by third-party agencies.

The CSMLS is also the single point of access for internationally educated medical laboratory technologists who are seeking Canadian certification.

The PLA process is intended for:

• those who have successfully completed an Educational Program that has not been EQualTM accredited; or
• successful completion of an Educational Program more than twelve (12) months prior to the Exam date, never having registered for an Exam; or
• Internationally Educated Medical Laboratory Technologists (IEMLT); or
• those currently working as non-CSMLS certified MLAs in Canada.

The PLA process is not available for internationally educated/trained MLAs.

There are two (2) ways to become eligible to write the Exam.

• By successfully completing an EQual™ Accredited Canadian medical laboratory educational program
• Obtaining equivalency to the national standard through the CSMLS PLA process.

Accreditation Canada (AC) is the accreditation agency used to assess Medical Laboratory Technology education program standards in Canada. When these programs have met the standards as set out by AC they are given EQual™ accreditation status.

These programs have had an independent, third-party assessment of their organization using standards built upon best practices and validated by similar organizations around the world.

Students who successfully complete a medical laboratory program listed on the Accreditation Canada website with “Accredited”, “Accredited with Condition”, or “Registered” status, will be eligible to challenge the associated Exam.

Any individual wanting to apply for certification from a non-accredited program is required to undergo the PLA process which compares their medical laboratory background to the CSMLS competency profiles. The PLA process reviews the applicant’s education, training and work experience to determine if they are equivalent to the national competency profile.

It is very important to clearly understand the PLA process prior to application. The CSMLS offers a number of resources that give applicants an opportunity to reflect on their previous professional experience and determine if a career as a medical laboratory professional is right for them based on Canadian requirements.

In this decision, potential PLA applicants should understand that typically, more than 80% of all applicants have gaps in their education that must be filled. For some applicants, this process can take several years to complete. Unfortunately, Learning Plan options are not available for medical laboratory assistants completing a PLA process.

Anyone that identifies significant gaps through the self-assessment stage should consider taking an EQual™ Accredited Canadian medical laboratory educational program or investigating an alternate career.

PLA fees can be found on our website under Pre-Assessment and Fees. You will also need to pay fees to other organizations, such as a credential evaluation service, a language proficiency test provider, your educational institutions (for transcripts), a notary public, and a translator (if your documents are not in English or French).

CSMLS does not offer reciprocity with any other country, or with any non- EQual™ Accredited Canadian university or college. Education and experience in another country does not automatically grant eligibility to the Exam.

CSMLS does NOT get involved in immigration issues for PLA clients. We provide all international clients with two copies of their Technical Report should a copy need to be submitted to immigration authorities or a provincial regulatory body.

No, CSMLS does not discriminate for any reason, including age, gender, race, ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation or marital status.

Any individual applying for certification from a non- EQual™ accredited program is required to undergo a PLA process to determine the comparability of their medical laboratory background to the CSMLS competency profiles. The PLA process reviews the applicant’s education, training and work experience to determine if they are equivalent to the national competency profile.

PLA applicants should understand that typically, more than 80% of all applicants have gaps in their education that must be filled. Medical laboratory technologists who are not immediately eligible to the Exam may have the option of completing a Learning Plan to gain eligibility; and is dependant on the outcome of their PLA assessment. For some applicants, this process can take several years to complete.

Learning Plan options are not available for medical laboratory assistants completing the PLA process.

PLAs are reviewed by trained assessors only. The administrative staff at CSMLS are not qualified to assess your documentation.

This is why it is very important to clearly understand the PLA process prior to application. CSMLS offers a number of resources that give applicants an opportunity to reflect on their previous professional experience and determine if a career as a medical laboratory professional is right for them based on Canadian requirements.

It is recommended that all the self-assessments offered are completed by anyone considering the PLA process to help determine if the PLA process is right for them.

CSMLS’ top priority is patient safety. All Canadian and international medical laboratory professionals must demonstrate that they are equivalent to the national competency profile in Canada before they can apply for certification. The competency profile is the standard for all medical laboratory professionals in Canada.

International medical laboratory professionals demonstrate their equivalency through the PLA process where education, training and work experience are assessed and compared to the national standard in Canada.

The CSMLS PLA process is available for the following designations:

• General Medical Laboratory Technologist (General MLT)

  Technologists must be competent in the following disciplines, as it relates to humans:

  • Clinical chemistry
  • Hematology
  • Clinical microbiology
  • Transfusion Science
  • Histotechnology
• Diagnostic Cytology Medical Laboratory Technologist

  Technologists must be competent in the following disciplines, as it relates to humans:

  • Gynecological Analysis,
  • Non-Gynecological Analysis, and
  • Histotechnology
• Clinical Genetics Medical Laboratory Technologist

  Technologists must be competent in the following disciplines, as it relates to humans:

  • Cytogenetics; and
  • Molecular Genetics
• Medical Laboratory Assistant (MLA)

  Medical laboratory assistants must be competent in each of the competency profile categories.

  The PLA process is not available for internationally educated/trained MLAs.

Depending on the designation that is being sought (General, Diagnostic Cytology, Clinical Genetics, or MLA), if you have little or no experience and education in one or more of the above disciplines (for example in clinical chemistry, clinical microbiology, hematology, histotechnology or transfusion science for the General MLT designation or if an MLA performs phlebotomy only), then you will not qualify for the CSMLS Exam through PLA.

The PLA process for MLAs is not available to international applicants.

We do not recommend applying for PLA without formal education in the required medical laboratory technologist disciplines. PLA applicants who do not have a combination of theoretical studies and clinical placements/internships or work experience in all disciplines are unlikely to meet Canadian standards. Gaps in education and training for the General MLT designation are only acceptable if the applicant has four (4) of the five (5) required disciplines, more than one gap renders an applicant ineligible.

In some cases, MLAs can apply even if they did not attend a formal educational program. PLA applicants without formal education need to have worked full-time for a minimum of 12 months, and provide official documentation from their employer indicating recent training and experience in all the relevant categories of the MLA competency profile.

When referring to the PLA process, recency means within the last five (5) years.

We do not recommend it. We do not offer certification in one discipline (or subject) area. Without education and experience in all the required disciplines, PLA applicants cannot meet Canadian standards.

Exception: PLA applicants for the General MLT PLA process require education and experience for only four (4) of the five (5) required disciplines, meaning they can have up to one “Gap” in the required disciplines.

The PLA handbook has all the information you need to apply for a PLA, including lists of required documents.

See the CSMLS website under the “Certification” tab, “Prior Learning Assessment”, “Preparing for PLA” for the PLA Information Handbook.

PLA applicants have 12 months from the date their application is processed to get all of the required documents to our office. If all documents have not been received within 12 months, PLA applicants will need to apply again and pay another fee.

A one-time extension can be requested if your application has not expired and is subject to approval.

No, we do not accept any documents at CSMLS unless you have applied and paid for a PLA.

Documents sent to the CSMLS from individuals who have not yet applied and paid for a PLA will be destroyed after six (6) months. We do not provide information about receipt or destruction of these documents.

Documents received at the CSMLS without identifiable measures (for example a client`s name or identification number) are stored for six (6) months and then destroyed.

We are not responsible for any costs associated with the receipt or destruction of documents.

PLA applicants will receive an email when documents are received on their behalf. File status updates can be requested by sending an email to pla@csmls.org. On your email include “Status Update Request”, your CSMLS ID number, and your full name in the subject line.

Documents received in a language other than French or English will have to be translated. When we receive documents that are not in French or English, we will send you a copy to get translated. Documents must be translated and submitted by a Canadian-certified translator. You may not submit the translated documents yourself, as they will not be accepted.

Documents translated by someone who is not Canadian certified will not be accepted.

Contact the CSMLS PLA Administrator for help. Send an email with the details and any correspondence that proves that your school’s/program’s refusal to pla@csmls.org your next steps.

A course outline is sometimes called a syllabus. This is used to evaluate your education thoroughly; the assessment team needs to see course outlines for the courses listed in your official transcripts.

Course outlines must include a detailed description of the content of each course relating to medical laboratory technology. Course outlines often include a course description, course schedule, learning outcomes, learning/assessment tasks, due dates for assessments, assessment criteria, assessment submission procedures, prescribed texts and recommended readings.

In the event a PLA client is unable to provide official documents as required in the CSMLS PLA policy, the CSMLS may allow the submission of alternate documents. Your situation will be assessed on a case by case basis. Contact pla@csmls.org for more information.

Currently, medical laboratory technology PLA clients do not have to take a language test if the language of instruction for their medical laboratory science education was in English or French. The credential evaluation report should contain this information and must be requested when applying to the credential evaluation agency.

Language testing is not a requirement for MLA PLA applicants.

We only accept the following English language proficiency tests:

• Michener English Language Assessment (MELA)
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
  • TOEFL iBT
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
  • IELTS – AC
  • IELTS – GT
• Canadian Test of English for Scholars and Trainees (CanTEST)

The testing facility must send test results directly to the CSMLS. We do not accept faxed or emailed results from applicants or the test provider.

Language proficiency evaluations will not be accepted if any test section has not been evaluated. PLA clients must meet the minimum requirements in each stage (listening, reading, writing and speaking).

Two or more test results cannot be combined to pass the requirements.

PLA applicants do not have to be a member of the CSMLS, however, members pay a discounted rate and receive other benefits as well. You can become a member at any time. See the CSMLS website under “Membership” for information on membership.

We encourage international applicants to apply for their PLA before they come to Canada.

We call the PLA report the “PLA Technical Report”. Once we receive all the required PLA documents, they go to a trained assessor for the assessment. This process can take up to six (6) weeks to complete.

Once complete, an email is sent to the PLA client and the report is then sent by regular post. A client can request and pay for courier services, as regular post is not tracked.

PLA clients can only write the Exam if they were deemed eligible to do so after their PLA assessment deems them Equivalent to the Canadian standard. Many individuals find the PLA process to be a long and challenging journey. It often requires a time commitment between one to three (1-3) years before successfully writing the Exam at significant expense to the client.

Over 80% of internationally educated applicants need to complete some form of upgrading of skills or education before they can write the Exam. This can be a costly and time-consuming process that can take several years to complete.

Learning Plan options are not available for medical laboratory assistants completing a PLA process.

If an applicant disagrees with their PLA assessment, they have the option to apply to provide supplemental documentation or for an appeal.

A Supplemental Documentation application with the appropriate fee must be received in the CSMLS office within ninety (90) days of the date on the PLA Technical Report. The application form must indicate which documents will be sent directly to the CSMLS. Only documents from employers or institutions that were included on your original PLA application will be accepted. A revised assessment report will be issued within forty-five (45) days of receiving of all the supplemental documents.

The Supplemental Documentation and/or the Appeal application forms can be found on our Post-Assessment webpage. Please read the PLA Handbook for more information on Supplemental Documentation and/or the PLA Appeal process.

No, the certification exams are NOT offered outside of Canada.

After a PLA client is declared Equivalent through the PLA process, they can come to Canada to write the Exam. International applicants are required to pay the non-resident exam fee and may need additional travel documents (for example a visa), for this purpose.

We suggest you use the competency profile as a guide when you are studying for the Exam. The competency profiles are available on the CSMLS website under “Certification”. The profiles include an Exam blueprint, these guidelines show how much each category is worth on the Exams). The Exams are competency-based, testing what you can do and how well you can use your knowledge, not just what you know.

We do not recommend using study guides prepared in the United States because they are not competency-based. Also, they do not reflect the subject areas in the Canadian competency profile or Canadian practice standards, such as the use of SI units (International System of units).

The CSMLS PLA requirement is that you must have education and clinical experience in at least four (4) of the five (5) disciplines as it relates to the General MLT designation and are required to have all disciplines in the Clinical Genetics or Diagnostic MLT designations. Simulated, in-class training is not sufficient to cover the required clinical experience.

If the client cannot complete their Learning Plan by the expiry date, they can apply for a PLA Learning Plan extension. The client must contact the CSMLS office before their Learning Plan expires at pla@csmls.org, to request an extension form. When the completed form is received with the applicable fees, the office will determine whether a deferral will be granted. Current and appropriate documented proof will be required.

If a General MLT PLA applicant has a Technical Report that indicates they need refresher coursework to write the Exam, they will be eligible to challenge the MLA certification exam.