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

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides information to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) 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 had 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 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff 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

With effect from February 11, 2017, all recipients of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) funding for the delivery of the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) programs will need to apply the following guidance when they:

• Issue Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates and,
• Enter data in the Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment (iCARE) system or the History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs)

• 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 of listening, speaking, reading and writing
  • 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 that are not as frequent, 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
• In some cases, the officers might find that the instructor did not assess one or more language skills because the instructor did not gather sufficient evidence that could reliably have helped the instructor determine the learner’s proficiency levels
  • 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:
    • “Insufficient Evidence” (“I/E”) (in English) or “Preuves insuffisantes” (“P/I”) (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
    • 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
• Situations could arise where the learner has outliers in the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) language assessment results i.e. 4-4-7-4
  • In this scenario, the teacher will need to assign the learner’s level at only 4-4-4-4, even though the learner’s placement result was higher in one area than what the course addressed
  • However, if a learner’s skill level is significantly lower than what the course addresses i.e. 4-4-1-4, the teacher will need to assign ‘NA’ for that lower level i.e. 4-4-NA-4

The Recipient Requirements

• Only recipients who deliver Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) training that meets the following seven criteria have the authority to issue Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates:
  • A Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) based placement assessment or an instructor-led in-class assessment would need to precede the training
  • The training must be aligned to the National Language Placement and Progression Guidelines (NLPPG)
  • The training would need to remain based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) framework
  • The training would need to adhere to the curriculum guidelines as prescribed by the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC), or the provincial Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) based curriculum guidelines
  • A qualified instructor would need to lead the training
    • This denotes that the instructor would need to have taken training in Canada – or in a recognised foreign educational institution – for teaching English or French as a second language
  • The training would need to remain aligned with the Portfolio Based Language Assessment (PBLA) approach, which is basically a task-based approach to language instruction and assessment integrated throughout the teaching / learning cycle and,
  • The training would need to conclude with an evaluation of evidence collected throughout the term for determining the learner’s progress in accordance with the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) or the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) scale
• The recipients would need to print all certificates in black on white paper, letter size and signed manually or electronically by the recipient’s Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) coordinator
• Situations could arise where clients have lost their Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) or Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates
  • In this scenario, the clients will have to request for new copies
  • In case the recipient still has access to the client’s record, the recipient has the ability to reprint certificates with the original issuance date
• The Case Processing Centre in Sydney (CPC-S) would need to authenticate Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) certificates submitted with citizenship applications through the Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment system (iCARE)
  • Thereafter, the recipients would need to ensure that they update the clients’ language results upon certificate issuance or shortly after certificate issuance
  • In addition, the recipients would need to check that the clients have responded with a ‘Yes’ to the question “Was a certificate issued to the client?” in Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment system (iCARE)
  • History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs) users will need to remember that History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs) automatically generates information about certificate issuance, which it thereafter uploads into Immigration Contribution Agreement Reporting Environment system (iCARE)
• Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) recipients situated in Ontario will need to continue generating certificates from History of Assessments, Referrals and Training system (HARTs)
• The recipients might come across cases where some Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) recipients reside outside Ontario
  • These recipients will continue to have access to private groups on Tutela.ca
  • As such, they would be able to download their certificates from this site
  • It is worth highlighting that the authorities would only give access to Tutela users who indicate that they are language administrators for a given Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) and Cours de Langue pour les Immigrants au Canada (CLIC) recipient

The Next Steps

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) 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: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)