Language requirements

Applicants in certain immigration classes must submit a language test from a designated language testing organization to immigrate to Canada. There is also a language requirement for citizenship applications.

For temporary and permanent residence programs, language test results must not be more than 2 years old when IRCC receives the application. If a copy of a language test is required, electronic versions (PDFs, online scoring reports) are acceptable.

On this page

• Designated language testing organizations
• Language test equivalency charts
• Exemptions
• Integrity concerns
• Issuing certificates for Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) learners

Designated language testing organizations

The Minister designates organizations to assess language ability and approves the specific language test used. The following organizations and listed tests have been designated and approved:

Language test equivalency charts

Equivalencies between language test results and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) for English language tests and the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for French language tests are as follows:

Exemptions

Applicants in certain immigration classes must submit a language test from a designated language testing organization, and most applicants are required to provide a score for each of the 4 language skill areas, depending on the program. In some cases, due to a physical or mental disability, an applicant may be unable to be assessed in 1 or more language skill areas, even when reasonable accommodations are provided by the testing organization.

Under the public policy concerning economic class permanent residence applicants and Express Entry candidates whose language proficiency cannot be tested in all 4 language skill areas, due to a physical or mental disability, both the principal applicant and their accompanying spouse or common-law partner, where applicable, may be exempt from submitting language test results for up to 3 of the 4 language skill areas.

In these cases, IRCC will accept notionalized (averaged) scores calculated using the department’s language calculator tool. Officers must use the language calculator tool to verify that the language test scores and notionalized (averaged) results are entered correctly. The language test results, both those that could be completed and the notionalized (averaged) scores, must be considered in the same manner as any other language evaluation results for program eligibility and selection purposes.

Integrity concerns

If a photograph of the test taker is available in the verification portal, processing offices must cross-reference this image with the photograph submitted with the application to confirm that the test results belong to the applicant. Any discrepancies must be properly documented in GCMS.

Processing officers must review all relevant information under an applicant’s Unique Client Identifier (UCI) and GCMS case notes, and must conduct integrated searches in GCMS to determine whether an Info-Alert has been created.

Case notes and Info-Alerts may indicate that the department has received confirmation from a language testing organization that an applicant’s language test results are not genuine or were obtained fraudulently. Officers must perform this verification at all stages of application processing and prior to rendering a decision.

Once the processing officer has confirmed the language test results with the designated language testing organization that administered the test, and there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant has misrepresented the test results, or that the test results provided do not belong to the applicant, the application may be refused for misrepresentation, in accordance with procedural fairness requirements.

Please consult the operational manuals for more information on inadmissibility (PDF, 621 KB) and evaluating inadmissibility.

An interview alone cannot be used as a means of evaluating language proficiency, and an officer cannot change language points or make new language pass/fail assessments based on what they have discovered in an interview. However, if an applicant is interviewed for any other reason and significant discrepancies are evident between claimed and actual language proficiency, there may be an integrity issue. If the officer has concerns regarding the applicant’s language proficiency based on an interview, and there is sufficient evidence to conclude that the applicant has misrepresented the test results, the application may be refused for misrepresentation, in accordance with procedural fairness requirements.

If the officer has reason to suspect the integrity of the designated language test results, the officer must document and report their concerns to the Tips and Reports Management Unit (TRMU). The TRMU is responsible for reviewing information received from officers and for following up with designated language testing organizations when concerns suggest potential widespread or systemic abuse or fraud related to language testing.

Issuing certificates for Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) learners

Since February 11, 2017, recipients of IRCC funding for delivery of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada (CLIC) programs should have been applying, and should continue to apply, the following guidance when issuing LINC or CLIC certificates and when entering data in the Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment (iCARE) system or the History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs).

General guidelines

As a general rule, LINC or CLIC certificates should be issued to learners at the end of a reporting period, with completed levels against the CLB/NCLC scale. For recipients using the Portfolio-Based Language Assessment (PBLA) or the Évaluation linguistique basée sur le portfolio (ELBP) approaches, certificates should generally be issued at the same time as progress reports.

Less frequently, certificates may be issued when the learner leaves the class or upon their request, as long as the teacher has gathered sufficient evidence to determine the learner’s language proficiency. Further details on assigning CLB or NCLC levels can be found in the resources tab in the iCARE system under Language Training Definitions and Updates to the Language Modules in iCARE and HARTs.

Designation of a CLB or NCLC level

Note: As per the National Language Placement and Progression Guidelines (NLPPG), a CLB or NCLC level is considered completed when a learner has achieved and demonstrated the level of communicative ability associated with most or all (traditionally 70% to 100%) of the descriptors for the benchmarks assigned to each of the 4 skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. The designation of a CLB or NCLC level should derive from an evaluation of evidence collected throughout the term to determine the learner’s progress on the CLB or NCLC scale.

Neither placement assessment results nor the CLB or NCLC levels addressed in the course should be used as evidence for assigning the learner’s CLB or NCLC results (for example, a learner cannot be assumed to have completed CLB 4 because they participated in a CLB 4 course).

Recipient requirements

LINC and CLIC certificates should only be issued by recipients who deliver LINC or CLIC training that meets the following 7 criteria:

• preceded by a CLB- or NCLC-based placement assessment or an instructor-led in-class assessment
• aligned with the NLPPG
• based on the CLB or NCLC framework
• guided by LINC, CLIC, or provincial CLB- or NCLC-based curriculum guidelines
• led by a qualified teacher (that is, trained in Canada—or by a recognized foreign educational institution—to teach English or French as a second language)
• aligned with the PBLA approach (a task-based approach to language instruction and assessment integrated throughout the teaching and learning cycle)
• concluded with an evaluation of evidence collected throughout the term to determine the learner’s progress on the CLB or NCLC scale

Printing and distributing certificates

All certificates can be printed in black and white or in colour, on letter-sized white paper, and signed and dated manually or electronically by the recipient’s LINC or CLIC coordinator. The recipient organization name, as recognized by IRCC within the Grants and Contributions System’s Partner Portal, must appear on the certificate in the Training Provider section.

The signed certificate may be distributed to the client in person, by mail or electronically via email. Since the document is classified as Protected A, all efforts should be made to send the document as securely as possible, as it contains personal information.

If a client has lost their LINC or CLIC certificate and is requesting a new copy, and the recipient still has access to the client’s record, the recipient may reprint a certificate with the original issuance date and distribute it as above.

After certificate issuance

LINC and CLIC certificates submitted with citizenship applications are authenticated by IRCC through the iCARE system. Therefore, recipients must ensure that the clients’ language results are updated (or uploaded from HARTs to the iCARE system for Ontario recipients) when the certificate is issued or shortly thereafter. iCARE system users must have responded Yes to the question, Was a certificate issued to the client? HARTs users should note that information about certificate issuance is generated automatically by HARTs and uploaded to the iCARE system.

The Resources area of iCARE and HARTs will house the new certificates to ensure there is 1 central area (in Ontario) where IRCC can easily access and share updated versions. LINC and CLIC recipients located inside Ontario will continue to generate certificates from HARTs. Designated staff with access to iCARE and HARTs may download the template for internal use within their organizations.

Next steps

Officers should review the provision related to the issuance of LINC and CLIC certificates in their contribution agreements and amend them as appropriate to meet the above requirements.

Questions about LINC and CLIC certificates may be directed to the SRO Functional Guidance / Orientation fonctionnelle OER (IRCC) mailbox. Questions submitted to the SRO Functional Guidance mailbox should be submitted by a supervisor or manager. If submitted directly by the program officer (after speaking with their supervisor/manager), the latter should be CC’d.

Background information

The issuance of the NLPPG in 2013 and the current national implementation of the PBLA and ELBP approaches bring greater consistency to in-class language assessment and increase the reliability of LINC and CLIC program results.

The issuance of standard certificates takes on even greater importance as the department accepts LINC and CLIC certificates as proof of language ability for citizenship purposes. IRCC staff should inform recipients of this updated guidance to ensure that the department adopts consistent practices for issuing certificates across the program.