Appendix D – The Language Requirements for Provincial Nominees

The Individuals Who Need to Undergo Language Testing

As of July 01, 2012, the authorities require that most Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in National Occupation Classification (NOC) Skill Levels C and D occupations undergo mandatory language testing. This would enable them to achieve a minimum standard of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4 in each of the four abilities of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Thereafter, these individuals would be able to obtain a provincial nomination certificate.

Applicants would also need to include copies of their language test results when they submit their applications for permanent residence to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

The Exceptions

Officers would need to note that applicants who meet one of the following exceptions would not need to provide language test results when they submit their applications for permanent residence.

• Temporary Foreign Workers in National Occupation Classification (NOC) C and D occupations who arrived in Canada on or before July 1, 2012 and who are nominated in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) employer-driven stream prior to July 1, 2013 or,
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in NOC C and D occupations who applied for a provincial nomination certificate before July 1, 2012

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Language Ability In Canada Immigration Applications

As of July 01, 2013, all National Occupation Classification (NOC) C and D nominees would need to provide copies of their language test results along with their applications for permanent residence.

The Procedures

Officers would need to note that applications for permanent residence from Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in National Occupation Classification (NOC) C and D occupations would need to:

• Provide copies of valid language test results demonstrating that they meet the minimum language standards or,
• Meet one of the exceptions specified above

The Recognised Language Testing Agencies

For the authorities to consider the applicant’s language test results as valid, the applicant would need to obtain language test results from one of the following testing agencies:

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (General Training stream)
• Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP-General) or
• Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) (to test proficiency in French)

The authorities have updated the monthly nomination spreadsheet submitted to the Centralised Intake Office (CIO) in Sydney, Nova Scotia by Provinces and Territories (PTs). Therefore, with effect from July 2012, these spreadsheets would contain a new column titled “Test Required?”

The Centralised Intake Office (CIO) would need to review each National Occupation Classification (NOC) C and D Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applications for completeness. During this, they would use the “Test Required?” column in the nomination spreadsheet for determining whether the applicants would need to include the valid language test results along with their applications.

To make it easier for officers to understand when applicants would need to include language assessments with their applications and to understand what the officers would need to do if the authorities require language assessments when the applicants have not included it, the officers would need to study the following points.

• If the Province or Territory (PT) selects ‘Yes’ in the ‘Test Required?’ field
  • The applicants would need to include copies of the language tests with their applications
  • They would also need to submit all the other documents listed in the document checklist for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants
  • Only then would the authorities consider this application as complete
• If the Province or Territory (PT) selects ‘Yes’ in the ‘Test Required?’ column but the application for permanent residence does not include a copy of valid language test results
  • The officers would consider such applications as being incomplete
  • The Centralised Intake Office (CIO) would need to return the entire application package to the applicant
• If the Province or Territory (PT) selects ‘No’ in the ‘Test Required?’ field
  • This implies that the Province or Territory (PT) has determined that the applicant meets one of the prescribed exceptions
  • As such, the applicant would not need to include a copy of the language test results with their application for permanent residence

Situations could arise where officers need to determine the equivalency between an applicant’s language test scores and the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels. For more details on this, the officers would need to review the Language test equivalency charts given on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).