National information centres have been set up in all 55 signatory states, in accordance with legal obligations under the Lisbon Recognition Convention.

These are usually organizations affiliated with/mandated by the respective competent authorities to answer public inquiries and provide information on:

• mobility opportunities for study or work purposes;
• education systems, recognized educational institutions, and academic programs;
• assessment and recognition of international academic credentials to study or work.

A Code of Good Practice in the Provision of Information on Recognition was adopted in 2004, as well as Guidelines for National Online Information Systems; in 2019, to guide their mandate and establish best practices. As a whole, individual national information centres collaborate on an ongoing basis through ENIC-NARIC. For more information, consult the ENIC-NARIC Web site.

CICIC is Canada's national information centre and fulfills Canada's obligations with respect to the convention. As such, CICIC is Canada's representative to ENIC-NARIC and held the presidency or vice-presidency of ENIC from 2004 to 2008 and from 2013 to 2014. For more information, consult CICIC's About us section.

Are there any national information centres outside of ENIC?

National information centres within the European and North American region are well established, and their contact information is found on the ENIC-NARIC Web site.

In other UNESCO regions, some countries have also set up their own national information centres to provide similar services. For more information, consult CICIC's Directory of Offshore Schools and International Education Resources* and/or ENIC-NARIC's UNESCO Regions section.

*If you are unable to locate a particular national information centre in CICIC's Directory of International Education Resources, it is possible that none exists for that specific country.