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.

Language tests you can take

You can take any of these approved language tests:

English

• Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP)
  • You must take the CELPIP-General Test.
  • We don’t accept the CELPIP General-LS Test.
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
  • You must take the IELTS General Training option.
  • We don’t accept the IELTS Academic option.

French

• Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) Canada
  • You must submit results from the following TEF Canada tests:
    • Compréhension écrite
    • Compréhension orale
    • Expression écrite
    • Expression orale
• We’ll accept TEF results if you wrote your test before March 1, 2020. If you wrote the test on or after March 1, 2020, you need to provide TEF Canada test results.
• Test de connaissance du français (TCF) Canada
  • You must submit results from the following TCF Canada tests:
    • Compréhension écrite
    • Compréhension orale
    • Expression écrite
    • Expression orale

How to find your language level based on your test results

Use your test results to find your CLB or NCLC level in the tables below.