Who Needs to Undergo Language Testing

Most Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in National Occupation Classification (NOC) Skill Levels C and D occupations would need to undergo mandatory language testing. This is the situation as of July 01, 2012. These individuals would need to achieve a minimum standard of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 4 in each of the four abilities such as:

• Listening
• Speaking
• Reading and,
• Writing

Only after achieving this would these individuals receive a provincial nomination certificate.

Applicants would also need to include a copy of their language test results at the time of submitting their application for permanent residence to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

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Language Ability In Canada Immigration Applications

The Exceptions

Some applicants do not need to provide language test results with their applications for permanent residence. These individuals would include people who meet one of the following exceptions:

• Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D occupations who arrived in Canada on or before July 01, 2012 and who received nominations in a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) employer-driven stream prior to July 01, 2013 or,
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D occupations who applied for a provincial nomination certificate prior to July 01, 2012

All National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D Provincial Nominees would need to provide a copy of their language test results along with their applications for permanent residence. This is effective as of July 01, 2013.

The Procedures

Applications for permanent residence from Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D occupations would need to:

• Include a copy of valid language test results demonstrating that they meet the minimum language standards or,
• Meet one of the exceptions listed above

The Recognised Language Testing Agencies

The applicant’s language test results would need to be from one of the following testing agencies. Only then would the authorities consider it a valid test result. The agencies include:

• The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) [General Training stream]
• The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP-General) or,
• Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) [for testing 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). The new monthly nomination spreadsheet would contain a new column titled ‘Test Required?’, with effect from July 2012.

The Centralised Intake Office (CIO) would review each National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) application for completeness. During this review, they would use the ‘Test Required?’ column in the nomination spreadsheet for determining whether the applicant needs to include valid language test results along with the application.

The following list specifies the instances when an applicant would need to include a language assessment with their application. It also details the things that an applicant would need to do if it is required and not included.

• If a province or territory (PT) selects ‘Yes’ in the ‘Test Required?’ column:
  • The applicant would need to include a copy of the language test along with the application
  • The applicant would also need to submit all the other documents specified in the document checklist for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants
  • The authorities would only consider applications with both sets of documents as complete
• If a 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 deem the application as incomplete
  • The Centralised Intake Office (CIO) would need to return the entire application package to the applicant
• If a province or territory (PT) selects ‘No’ in the ‘Test Required?’ column:
  • This signifies that the province or territory (PT) has determined that the applicant meets one of the exceptions specified
  • The applicant would therefore, not need to include a copy of the language test results with their application for permanent residence

In some situations, officers might need to determine the equivalency between an applicant’s language test scores and Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels. For obtaining more details on this, they would need to review the Language test equivalency charts on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)