About the test

The test is administered remotely over the internet using the Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) video conferencing platform and lasts 20 to 40 minutes (including pre-test instructions). The test will be administered with the camera on, which means that you and the assessor will use the video function in MS Teams throughout the test.

You don’t need to be in a government office to take this test. You should, however, arrange to be alone in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for the duration of the test. You cannot take the test in a cubicle or open workspace.

• Your assessor will guide you throughout the test.
• No special preparation is required.
• Answer the questions to the best of your ability.
• Your assessor will ask you questions designed to allow you to demonstrate your level of proficiency.
• The test gets increasingly difficult:
• it starts with simple questions about your work or other familiar activities; your answers allow the assessor to determine whether you demonstrate A-level skills
• the test then progresses to questions designed to allow you to demonstrate B-level and then C-level skills, as defined by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Qualification Standards in Relation to Official Languages
• The assessor uses your responses to assess your ability to communicate clearly in your second official language.
• They will determine which questions to ask and when they have enough information to evaluate your performance.
• As a result, they may redirect you before you feel that you’ve said all you can on a particular topic.
• Things that won’t affect your rating:
• losing your train of thought when speaking; if this happens, let the assessor know and they’ll help you get back on track
• not knowing the answer to a question, or feeling that a topic is sensitive for personal or confidential reasons; if this is the case, let the assessor know, and they’ll move on to another topic or question
• taking a brief pause to think about what you’d like to say before answering questions (this should not interrupt the flow of communication)
• making mistakes
• don’t be overly worried about making mistakes
• if you can’t think of a word, use a simple substitute to explain the meaning
• if you’re aware that you’re making mistakes and would feel better if you corrected them, go ahead and do so, but remember that frequent corrections may disrupt the flow of communication

• Please ensure you have the equipment or materials you need (for example, a pen or pencil and notepad) to take notes during the test as a memory aid or to organize your thoughts.
• Your notes should be limited to jotting down ideas or key words to ensure the flow of communication is not disrupted.
• Since the test content is protected, you must destroy your notes after the test.

As a test taker, you play a crucial role in protecting the integrity of the test. Before taking the test, you must read, understand and accept the terms of use.

To learn more about how the Public Service Commission ensures its testing is reliable, valid and fair, visit the Test integrity web page.

The criteria for oral proficiency are defined by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Qualification Standards in Relation to Official Languages.

Your final result is a global evaluation of your performance on language tasks in a variety of work-related contexts, with the appropriate level of accuracy. The level you receive is based on your sustained performance throughout the test. Based on that performance, you can get:

• level A, B or C
• an X (your performance does not meet the minimum requirements for level A)
• an E (your performance indicates that you can be expected to maintain proficiency at the C level indefinitely, and you’ll receive an indefinite exemption from further testing).

The test centre will send your result to you and the contact person in the department or agency that requested your test within 5 business days of your test date. If you don’t receive your result when expected, please follow up with the contact person.

Your test result is:

• valid only if the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) is fully satisfied that you have complied with test conditions (please consult the terms of use)
• valid for 5 years, provided the 30-day retest period has been respected
• valid for an indefinite period, if you remain in the same position, provided that the linguistic profile of the position is not raised above your skill level while you’re in this position
• portable: you can use it when applying to other bilingual positions across the federal public service

If you take the test, and the result is valid, your new result will replace any previous oral test results recorded by the PSC.

The manager may request that you be reassessed at any time before or after making an appointment if there are concerns about your proficiency level, or to respect departmental policies on updating expired test results.

Feedback report

When your official result is sent out, a feedback report will follow and will be sent directly to you. The report is general in nature and indicates your overall performance; it is not a diagnostic tool.

Feedback session 

Feedback sessions offer test-takers more information about their most recent Oral Language Assessment performance. The sessions last approximately 1 hour on the MS Teams platform and are delivered by a quality assurance consultant after review of the linguistic performance. This service is available for test-takers who meet both these conditions:

1. have taken the Oral Language Assessment at least twice without having obtained the desired result, and
2. have taken the most recent test within 8 weeks of the request for feedback

It is strongly recommended that test-takers be accompanied by a pedagogical advisor or teacher who can interpret the feedback delivered by the quality assurance consultant. 

As this service is available on a cost-recovery basis, those requesting this service must have their manager’s approval. Consult the price list for more information. Requests for services will be accepted only from federal departments and agencies. Due to limited capacity, we may prioritize or restrict the number of requests that we accept. For more information, or to request a feedback session, send an email to cfp.tco-cq-qc-top.psc@cfp-psc.gc.ca.