What does it mean to be credentialed?

Generally speaking, credentialing is the process of establishing the qualifications of a person or company by assessing their background and legitimacy. At WorkReady™, an individual is considered to be credentialed once they have successfully completed the registration and criminal checks required to become a member on this site.

What is a criminal check?

The process that verifies a person is who they claim to be by checking on their criminal record.

• In Canada, we provide a Premium National Criminal Record Check product, the most comprehensive criminal background check available in Canada. Many don’t know that the National Repository of Criminal Records (CPIC) is not kept in ‘real time’ and offence inclusion can be significantly delayed. Our Criminal Background Check includes a search of both CPIC and every local police station to ensure that an offense does not go unnoticed. Our Premium Criminal Record Check helps to bridge this gap and produces an additional hit 5% to 7% of the time.

• In the United States, we offer accurate and complete background checks at county, state, and federal levels along with one of the most robust multi-jurisdictional database searches in the industry. Our scope of research is customizable to fit our clients’ specific needs for criminal records, verifications, drug testing, and more.

What other services are provided and optional?

• Personal Credit Check/Reports (Optional): We conduct a Credit Report to reveal potential financial issues including inconsistent payment histories, collections, and bankruptcies as well as highlighting potential fraudulent activities including large amounts of monies owed to creditors.

• Corporate Credit Check/Reports (Optional): We can conduct a Credit Report to reveal potential financial issues including inconsistent payment histories, collections, and bankruptcies as well as highlighting potential fraudulent activities including large amounts of monies owed to creditors.

How does the WorkReady credentialing process work?

Once you created your profile on our site, you will be redirected to a secure external link to complete the criminal check. There are additional services available for your consideration, these are optional.

• Electronic Identity Verification

To verify your identity you will need to complete a form consisting of 4-6 questions. The link will re-direct you to the Electronic Identification Verification (EID) form via Equifax.




You will have one (1) opportunity to complete the EID within 30 minutes. If you do not complete the questionnaire within 30 minutes the questionnaire will be considered invalid and you will be required to restart the application at an additional cost.




Once you begin, do NOT close the window as you will lose your answers and you will be required to restart the application at an additional cost.




If you have completed the questionnaire, please do NOT attempt to start again as this may invalidate the previous questionnaire




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After completing the credentialing process, you will receive a confirmation email with a pass or fail results within 4 hours of initiating the credentialing process. A copy of your certification(s) will be sent to your mailing address for your records. Once you receive the positive results via email, you will be able to log back into your account and start searching and applying for jobs. Hiring employers will be able to see your profile, including all completed successful criminals checks and if available, credit checks.

Does the criminal or credit affect my credit score?: No. Criminal checks are not related to credit scores. Our optional services for personal and corporate credit checks are done with your best interest in mind, as such, our soft approach should not affect your existing score.

How long does the criminal background check take?

Our promise is to provide the report within 4 hours, however, our system on average is able to deliver the report in a matter of minutes.

• For Canada: criminal background checks can be done in as little as 10 minutes, and through our API connections, we have instant access to dozens of products including Provincial Driver Abstracts, Credit Checks and more.

• US: In addition to our multi-jurisdictional database, we offer some of the fastest turn-around times on criminal research, MVRs, and verifications in the industry. On average, our records are completed about 25% faster than the industry standard.

Is everything done online?

Yes, the full registration and criminal check is completed online.

How much does it cost?

To join the WorkReady community, the basic registration process and criminal check has a $50 fee. Additional accreditation checks as personal credit checks and corporate credit checks are available and optional, each of these has an associated fee. Your individual profile will display all the accreditations that have been completed for hiring managers to review.

What happens to my information?

Your privacy is of the utmost importance to us. We are compliant with all applicable privacy legislation for North America and around the world. Please read our Privacy Policy for details.

If I successfully complete the credentialing process, do I get a copy of my certificate?

Yes. Once you get the confirmation email with the positive results of your credentialing process, a physical copy of your certificate will be sent by mail to your address.

Does my certificate expire?

Global best practices recommend criminal checks to be updated every year. As such, to remain a member of our credentialed community, you will be asked to renew your criminal checks on an annual basis.

Officially, criminal checks have no period of validity; it is up to employers and organisations discretion to determine the period of time for which they will accept the documentation. A hiring manager could require you to complete a new background check as part of their screening process, in that case, you can request a new criminal check on your profile page.

What happens if I fail the background check? If the background check finds something of concern, you will be notified via email. Only successful registrations are able to create their profile and search for available jobs.

I have more questions, who can I contact? We are here to help you! The best way to get a timely response is to message us using the help box, a team of customer service agents will contact you shortly.

WorkReady™