Temporary public policies: Temporary resident to permanent resident pathway – Language testing

How to prove your language ability

To qualify for the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway, you must prove your ability in English or French. For the French-speaking streams, you must prove your ability in French.

To do so, you must take an approved language test. The test shows your abilities in writing, reading, listening and speaking.

To measure your levels, we use the

• Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English
• Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for French

You must

• schedule your test and pay the fees
• have results that are less than 2 years old when you apply
• include the results of your test when you apply
  • if you don’t include them, we can’t approve your application
• meet the minimum language requirements of your stream when you apply
• upload a copy of your results to your application (we accept electronic results)

The minimum language requirements vary by stream. Make sure to check the language requirements for your stream.

Don’t ask for your language test results to be sent directly to us. Submit your test results with your application. Keep your original test results in a safe place.