Proof of qualification is going digital. Trust hasn't caught up.
When an employer needs to confirm a certificate is real today, someone checks it by hand, or phones the school that issued it.
A paper certificate or a PDF can be altered, with no fast way to tell a real one from a forgery. A verifiable credential fails verification the moment it is tampered with.
Proof earned with one provider, in one province, too often has to be re-proven in the next. Canada has committed to reducing exactly this friction at provincial lines.
Three roles, one trusted connection.
A verifiable credential is the digital version of a certificate, with one difference: it is signed so it cannot be faked, and anyone with a legitimate reason can confirm it is real in seconds.
Grants the credential and decides what to issue, to whom, and on what terms. For a safety certificate, that is the certifying body, and it stays that way.
Keeps the credential in a free wallet on their own phone, unlocked with the same Face ID they already use for banking. They control when it is shared, and with whom.
An employer, a site supervisor, a regulator, anyone with a legitimate need gets a yes or no in seconds, without calling the issuer.
Like a passport, but the holder decides what the officer sees, one thing proven, without revealing everything else.
Credentials live in a free wallet on the holder's phone, unlocked with the same Face ID or fingerprint they already use for banking. The biometric never leaves the phone; the network never sees it. Built and hosted 100% in Canada.
VERIFIABLE CREDENTIALS
PAN-CANADIAN TRUST FRAMEWORK
DIGITAL GOVERNANCE STANDARDS
DIACC PCTF CERTIFIEDTrust is the product, so trust is governed independently.
The issuers govern the standard. An independent not-for-profit owns and enforces it. A partnership corporation operates the network under contract. Three tiers, one accountability chain, designed so the network outlives any single vendor.
Regulators, professional bodies, industry associations, and commercial training providers across Canada who issue credentials through the network.
- Owns the open standards
- Enforces the protocol
- Sets accreditation criteria
- Runs the trust registry
Builds and runs the wallet, the issuer tooling, and the verification rails under contract to the Authority, with reviews and termination rights held by the standard-holder.
The network survives the operator, by design. No single vendor can capture it, because the standard, the registry, and the accreditation criteria are held by an independent body accountable to the issuers themselves.
The first movers set the standard.
A group of respected credentialing authorities has convened to explore shaping the Authority and its standards. Nothing is settled yet, these are the kinds of organizations that would form the foundation of an independent governance body, and they chose to be part of the conversation early. Joining early means helping write the rules, not inheriting them.
The standard is ready. The rooms that matter already know this work.
Invited to speak in the Senate during the Canada–EU discussion on interoperable credentials. Engaged with DIACC and the Digital Governance Standards Institute. In conversation with ministers of labour, federally and provincially.
The wallet is designed to work alongside the foundational digital-identity wallets provinces are developing, not in competition with them.
Readiness intelligence tells Alberta who is ready. The trust network makes that proof portable. Together they cover both halves of the mandate: build the workforce, and let its credentials travel.
Credentials are going digital either way. The only question is who makes sure it’s done right.