Operational Bulletin 472-A – September 01, 2015

Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) Learners

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides information to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) staff about an update to the policy for the issuance of certificates for the following learners:

• Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) learners and,
• Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) Learners

Issue

The authorities has formulated and issued the National Language Placement and Progression Guidelines (NLPPG) in 2013. Thereafter, they had facilitated the current national implementation of the Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) and the Évaluation linguistique basée sur le portfolio (ELBP) approaches.

These steps are bringing greater levels of consistency to in-class language assessments. In addition, they are increasing the reliability of the:

• Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program results and,
• Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) program results

This is why the issuance of standard certificates takes on increased levels of significance for the Department. The Department typically accepts Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates as proof of language ability for citizenship purposes. Therefore, it makes sense that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) staff would need to inform the recipients of this updated guidance. This would help in ensuring that the Department adopts consistent practices for issuing certificates across the program.

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Language Ability In Canada Immigration Applications

Background

The authorities have mandated that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) staff would need to apply the following instructions when they issue Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates. These instructions would apply to all recipients of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) funding for the delivery of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) programs. These instructions are applicable with immediate effect.

• As a general rule, the staff would need to issue Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates to learners at the end of a term with “completed” levels against the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) scale.
  • It is worth noting that, in accordance with the specifications listed in the National Language Placement and Progression Guidelines (NLPPG), the authorities consider the completion of a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level, when the learners achieve and demonstrate the level of communicative ability associated with most or all of the descriptors for the benchmarks assigned by the authorities in each of the four skills
  • The level of communicative ability associated with most or all of the descriptors for the benchmarks assigned would traditionally range from 70 to 100 percent
• The officers would need to derive the designation of a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level from an evaluation of evidence collected throughout the term for assessing the learner’s progress on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) scale
• In some cases, the recipients of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) funding might be implementing the Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) and the Évaluation linguistique basée sur le portfolio (ELBP) approaches
  • In this scenario, the officers would need to issue the certificates at the time of issuance of the progress reports
• In certain cases, the officers might need to issue certificates upon the learner’s departure from class or upon the learner’s request
  • In this scenario, the officers could issue these certificates as long as the instructor has gathered sufficient evidence for determining the language proficiency of the learner
• The officers would need to avoid using the placement assessment results, and the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) levels addressed in the course as evidence for assigning the learner’s Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) results
  • For instance, the officers must not assume that a learner has completed the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 4 merely because the learner participated in a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) 4 course
  • Thus, the officers would need to review documented evidence that shows that the learner completed the level specified
• In some cases, the officers might find that the instructor did not assess one or more language skills because the learner’s Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) levels for the skills in question is beyond the range of the class or because the course does not address the skills
  • In this scenario, the officers would need to check that the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) results in the Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment system (iCARE) or the History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs), and on the certificate is one of the following:
    • “NA” in English (or “SO” in French), if the most recent Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level assigned for this skill is a placement assessment result
      • It is worth noting that “NA” and “SO” options are now available in History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs)
    • The most recent Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level assigned by an instructor for the skills in question.

The Recipient Requirements

The Next Steps

The program officers would need to review the provisions related to the issuance of Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates in their contribution agreements. Thereafter, they would need to amend these as appropriate to meet the requirements specified above. 

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)