The credential named on that profession's line in USMCA Appendix 2 — a specific degree, a licence, or a diploma combined with stated experience. A different or higher qualification does not automatically substitute.
Read the line, then read the certificate
Hypothetical example: Applicants routinely assume that more education is always better, and for this requirement that assumption misleads. The Appendix sets a standard per profession, and the question is conformity rather than seniority. An agronomist whose degree is in a related science may need an equivalency assessment showing that the credential corresponds to what the line requires, and obtaining that assessment takes real time.
Where the line permits experience in combination with a diploma, the experience itself has to be documented — dated employment records, descriptions of the work performed, confirmation from employers — rather than summarised in a résumé. The practical method for a Cavan Monaghan applicant is to place the Appendix text and the certificate side by side and mark the difference. If there is no difference, the requirement is met and the file can move on.
If there is one, that difference is now the project.