TCF Canada and TEF Canada: Scores and NCLC Levels

Your TEF Canada certificate prints two different score figures for each paper. For an Express Entry profile, IRCC tells you to enter one of them and warns that entering the other may get your application refused. This page sets out which, along with the conversion tables for both tests, the levels Canada and Québec require, and where to sit each test.

What this page is, and is not. I am a French teacher. This page describes the tests, the scales and the published conversion tables, with a link to the government page behind each one. It does not tell you whether you are eligible, what your points will be, which test will maximise your score, whether to retake, or what to do about an application already in the system. Those are immigration questions and they depend on facts about you that only IRCC or the Québec ministry can assess. Take them to IRCC, to Québec, or to a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer. Where this page and a government page disagree, the government page is right.

Which tests Canada accepts

For federal permanent residence, IRCC designates exactly two French tests, and no others.

Test Full name Awarded by
TEF Canada Test d'évaluation de français CCI Paris Île-de-France
TCF Canada Test de connaissance du français France Éducation international

All four skills are required: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The TEF's grammar and structure module is not required for economic immigration. TCF Canada was designated with effect from 7 November 2018, which is why older pages list only the TEF.

Name precision matters here more than almost anywhere. TEF Canada is not the TEFAQ, not the full TEF and not the TEF IRN. TCF Canada is not TCF Québec and not TCF tout public. Only TEF Canada and TCF Canada are designated for federal permanent residence, and several of the others resemble them closely enough that a booking error is easy to make and hard to spot.

The column problem

A TEF Canada result arrives as an attestation de résultats. For each paper it carries a score out of 699 and, alongside it, an "Équivalence ancien score" figure on an older scale.

IRCC's Express Entry guidance is explicit about which to use. Its page says your language level will be based on the "Équivalence ancien score" column, that you should only enter the scores from that column, and that if you do not enter the correct scores it may refuse your application. Of the figures in the "Score / 699" column it says plainly: do not enter these results in your Express Entry profile, because they are not compatible with its system at this time. IRCC's internal manual adds that this applies regardless of the date the test was taken.

So the older scale is the operative one. Reading out of 300, writing out of 450, listening out of 360, speaking out of 450, which is the order the tables below use. The /699 figures are the awarding body's current scale and they are printed on your certificate, which is exactly why people enter them. Read IRCC's own page before you fill anything in, and if your situation is at all unusual, ask IRCC or a licensed adviser rather than any website.

TEF Canada: the conversion table

This is the table that corresponds to the "Équivalence ancien score" column, which is the one Express Entry uses. Checked against IRCC's equivalency charts and its Express Entry language test page in October 2026.

NCLC Reading, out of 300 Writing, out of 450 Listening, out of 360 Speaking, out of 450
10 263 to 300 393 to 450 316 to 360 393 to 450
9 248 to 262 371 to 392 298 to 315 371 to 392
8 233 to 247 349 to 370 280 to 297 349 to 370
7 207 to 232 310 to 348 249 to 279 310 to 348
6 181 to 206 271 to 309 217 to 248 271 to 309
5 151 to 180 226 to 270 181 to 216 226 to 270
4 121 to 150 181 to 225 145 to 180 181 to 225

IRCC's charts stop at NCLC 10. Ranges for NCLC 11 and 12 do circulate, but they appear nowhere in IRCC's charts, so a score above the NCLC 10 threshold does not buy a higher level for immigration purposes.

The /699 table, for reference only

This is the awarding body's current per-paper scale, for tests taken from 11 December 2023, as published in IRCC's equivalency charts. These are not the figures to enter in an Express Entry profile. It is here so that you can recognise the numbers on your own certificate.

NCLC, not for Express Entry Reading Writing Listening Speaking
10 546 to 699 558 to 699 546 to 699 556 to 699
9 503 to 545 512 to 557 503 to 545 518 to 555
8 462 to 502 472 to 511 462 to 502 494 to 517
7 434 to 461 428 to 471 434 to 461 456 to 493
6 393 to 433 379 to 427 393 to 433 422 to 455
5 352 to 392 330 to 378 352 to 392 387 to 421
4 306 to 351 268 to 329 306 to 351 328 to 386

Reading and listening share the same bands in this regime, which is why some published versions of the table show them merged into one row.

There is also a third, historical TEF regime, for tests taken between 1 October 2019 and 10 December 2023, which used a single band for all four skills. Any test from that window is already more than two years old, so it cannot support a new application, and the table is not reproduced here.

One episode worth knowing about. For tests taken between 11 December 2023 and 6 May 2024, the awarding body temporarily altered how NCLC levels were calculated, and IRCC says that change has since been reverted. IRCC states that affected candidates were emailed their corrected score by the CCI and need to update their Express Entry profile, and that failing to do so could cause a refusal based on incorrect language scores. Those tests are now over two years old, so this bites only on applications already in the system. IRCC publishes instructions on its Express Entry language test page: read them there, and take any question about your own file to IRCC or an adviser.

TCF Canada: the conversion table

The TCF uses a different kind of scale, so there is no honest way to combine the two tests into one chart. Reading and listening are scored up to 699. Writing and speaking are marked on a 4 to 20 scale. There is one table and no date regimes.

NCLC Reading, to 699 Writing, of 20 Listening, to 699 Speaking, of 20
10 549 to 699 16 to 20 549 to 699 16 to 20
9 524 to 548 14 to 15 523 to 548 14 to 15
8 499 to 523 12 to 13 503 to 522 12 to 13
7 453 to 498 10 to 11 458 to 502 10 to 11
6 406 to 452 7 to 9 398 to 457 7 to 9
5 375 to 405 6 369 to 397 6
4 342 to 374 4 to 5 331 to 368 4 to 5

Two things about this table surprise people, and both are what IRCC publishes. The reading and listening bands are not the same as each other: NCLC 8 reading runs 499 to 523 while listening runs 503 to 522, and NCLC 6 reading runs 406 to 452 while listening runs 398 to 457. And at NCLC 5 the writing and speaking value is a single mark, 6, not a range. Check your own figures against IRCC's chart rather than against any reproduction, including this one.

NCLC and CLB

The Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens is the French-language counterpart of the Canadian Language Benchmarks. Both are maintained by the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks as the French and English versions of one set of national standards, and IRCC applies the same level number to either language: a requirement is written as CLB 7 in English or NCLC 7 in French.

Note also that no mapping between the NCLC and the Common European Framework is published by either body, so far as I could establish, so any chart equating an NCLC level with a Framework level is someone's reconstruction. The one place IRCC does itself use Framework levels for these tests is the citizenship threshold, below.

IRCC also runs category-based selection rounds in Express Entry, and French-language proficiency is one of the published categories, requiring NCLC 7 in all four abilities. Whether a round of that kind is held, when, and what it would mean for anyone in particular is a matter for IRCC, and the details come with each round's own instructions.

How long results last

Two years, with a wrinkle that catches people.

  • Express Entry checks the two years twice. Results must be less than two years old when you complete your profile, and again when you submit the permanent residence application. IRCC says that applying with expired results means refusal. Since a profile can sit in the pool for months, that second checkpoint is the one that catches people.
  • Other federal permanent residence programmes that were checked apply the same two years, but measured once, at the date of application.
  • Citizenship does not require current results at all. IRCC's own guidance says to include a copy of your test results even if they are expired.

This is an immigration rule about how recent a result must be, which is a different thing from the certificate itself expiring. Provincial nominee programmes were not checked, so do not read "two years" as universal across every Canadian route.

Citizenship is a lower bar

Permanent residence and citizenship are commonly conflated, and the citizenship requirement is considerably lower.

Requirement What IRCC publishes
Level CLB or NCLC 4 or higher
Skills Speaking and listening only. Reading and writing are not assessed
Who Applicants aged 18 to 54 on the day they sign the application
In Framework terms For TEF Canada, B1 or higher in listening and speaking, for tests from 1 July 2012. For TCF Canada, B1 or higher
Validity Expired results are accepted

For TEF Canada the awarding body confirms that citizenship applications use the oral papers only, so listening and speaking. IRCC's page does not state which TCF Canada papers are needed, so check with IRCC rather than assuming it mirrors the TEF.

Evidence other than a test is also accepted, including a secondary or post-secondary diploma or transcript from a programme taught in English or French, where a single language course is not enough, and certain federal and provincial language programme certificates. And a citizenship officer additionally assesses how the applicant communicates at the interview, so the paperwork is not the whole of it.

The regulations describe the standard in plain terms that are more useful than a number: competence in basic communication, meaning taking part in short routine conversations about everyday topics, understanding simple instructions and directions, and using basic grammar and adequate vocabulary in speech.

Québec runs its own system

Québec selects its own economic immigrants and uses its own framework, so almost nothing above carries across. Three differences matter.

A different scale. Québec uses the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français, which has twelve levels in three stages: beginner 1 to 4, intermediate 5 to 8, advanced 9 to 12. Four competencies are assessed: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

A wider list of accepted tests. Eight are accepted, which is six more than the federal list: TCF Québec, TCF Canada, the TCF, the DALF, the DELF, the TEFAQ, TEF Canada and the TEF. Results are accepted only from France Éducation international or the CCI Paris Île-de-France, and the test must be taken at an approved centre. Note that Québec writes TEFAQ as the acronym for the test d'évaluation du français adapté pour le Québec, and does not use the name "TEF Québec" on these pages.

Published minimum levels, which differ by stream. Québec has one correspondence table, dated 29 November 2024, which maps every accepted test onto the twelve levels and does not vary by programme. It bands the levels in pairs, so it never distinguishes level 7 from level 8. What varies is the level each programme stream requires, and French is a selection condition rather than a points item in three of the four streams of the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés.

Programme and stream Principal applicant Accompanying spouse
PSTQ, highly qualified and specialised skills Oral level 7 or higher and written level 5 or higher Oral level 4 or higher
PSTQ, intermediate and manual skills Oral level 5 or higher Oral level 4 or higher
PSTQ, regulated professions, occupation in FEER 0, 1 or 2 Oral level 7 or higher and written level 5 or higher Oral level 4 or higher
PSTQ, regulated professions, occupation in FEER 3, 4 or 5 Oral level 5 or higher Oral level 4 or higher
PSTQ, exceptional talent No French condition stated No French condition stated
PEQ, Québec graduates Oral level 7 or higher and written level 5 or higher Oral level 4 or higher
PEQ, temporary foreign workers Oral level 7 or higher Oral level 4 or higher

In Québec's usage "oral" and "written" are each two skills, not one: the official self-assessment form splits oral competence into listening and speaking, and written competence into reading and writing. So a condition expressed as oral level 7 covers two papers.

Québec results must be two years old or less at the date you apply for permanent selection.

The expression of interest is filed free on Arrima, the ministry's own portal, and an invitation is needed before an application for permanent selection can be made. A test result is not required at the expression of interest stage.

One thing I will not do is work out from the table above which test sections you should book. Québec publishes required levels by stream but does not say which papers to sit, and because the TCF Québec is sold section by section the arithmetic is tempting and getting it wrong is expensive. Read the requirements for your own stream on Québec's pages, and put the question to the ministry or to an adviser.

Sitting these tests in Mauritius

The Institut français de Maurice in Rose Hill runs TCF Canada, TCF Québec, TCF IRN, TCF tout public, DELF and DALF. It lists no TEF of any kind, in either its English or its French pages.

No TEF centre in Mauritius appears on any official source I could reach, but the awarding body's own centre finder could not be retrieved, so that is a gap in what I could check rather than a finding. If you want to sit a TEF from Mauritius, ask the awarding body directly before concluding anything.

Test Fee Notes
TCF Canada, all four sections Rs 10,000 Paper based or computer based
TCF Québec, listening Rs 2,300 Computer based, sections chosen individually
TCF Québec, reading Rs 2,300 Computer based
TCF Québec, speaking Rs 2,600 Computer based
TCF Québec, writing Rs 2,600 Computer based
TCF IRN Rs 6,200 For French nationality and residency, not Canada
TCF tout public, three compulsory sections Rs 4,500 General level certification
TCF tout public, writing Rs 2,250 Optional extra paper
TCF tout public, speaking Rs 2,250 Optional extra paper

The centre states no date from which those fees apply, so confirm them when you book. It also publishes at least two TCF Canada sessions a month, except in August and December, which is more often than the London centre, whose published calendar runs to about twelve TCF Canada sessions across 2026 and 2027. Places are limited, registration closes once a session fills, and the centre states that cancellations and refunds are not possible after registration.

One thing to know before you plan around your schooling, and this part concerns Québec specifically. Québec's list of accepted proof other than a test is closed. The only school qualifications on it are the French baccalauréat, the Belgian CESS and a Swiss maturité from a French-speaking canton, and for the regulated professions stream it also accepts certain Québec professional-order documents. No Mauritian qualification appears, and Québec does not accept schooling conducted in French, or a post-secondary diploma taught in French, as proof of level in its own right. So for the Québec route a Mauritian candidate needs a test result or a DELF or DALF, with no shortcut from the school record. For the federal route the question does not arise, because only TEF Canada and TCF Canada are designated there. Beyond that, nothing specific to Mauritian candidates is published by Québec, by IRCC or by either awarding body.

If you grew up speaking French or Kreol Morisien, expect your profile to be uneven rather than uniformly high. In my experience the pattern is speech and listening well ahead of writing, sometimes by a wide margin. Both the federal and Québec routes score writing as its own paper, so a strong speaker's written mark is not lifted by the spoken one. Writing is also the skill that responds fastest to a few months of focused work, which makes it the sensible place to put preparation time.

Sitting them in the UK

From the UK you do have the choice, because the two tests run at different centres.

  • TCF Canada and TCF Québec at the Institut français du Royaume-Uni in London. TCF Canada is £260 and TCF Québec is £85 per skill, both stated by the centre as applying from 1 July 2026. TCF Canada there is paper based, with four compulsory components and results on the awarding body's platform 15 working days after the test. The centre publishes roughly twelve TCF Canada sessions across 2026 and 2027, each with a registration deadline about five to six weeks ahead.
  • TEF Canada at the Alliance Française de Manchester, £396, with the four compulsory papers sat on the same day and results emailed by the CCI about two to four weeks later. Manchester also offers the TEFAQ and the TEF IRN, each bookable separately.
  • The TEF at the Institut français d'Écosse in Edinburgh, which lists eTEF, eTEF Canada and eTEF Québec under its own product names, arranged on demand with three weeks' notice and with no sessions in July or August. Its fees are quoted per section in a way that does not make a total obvious, so ask the centre for one rather than doing the arithmetic.

The Alliance Française de Londres also publishes TEF fees, but its exams page carries a 2022 copyright and a session table ending in 2023, so treat anything on it as needing confirmation. Fees and sessions change; these were checked in October 2026.

What the papers actually ask for

Both tests have four papers, and the shapes differ.

Paper TEF Canada TCF Canada
Reading 40 questions, 60 min 39 questions, 60 min
Listening 40 questions, 40 min 39 questions, 35 min
Writing 2 tasks, 60 min 3 tasks, 60 min
Speaking 2 tasks, 15 min 3 tasks, 12 min

The TEF figures come from the awarding body's own handbook. The TCF figures are as published by its official test centres, three of which agree exactly and give a total of 2 hours 47 minutes; the awarding body's own page could not be reached directly, so confirm them with your centre.

Three observations from teaching towards these.

On the TEF, a wrong answer is not penalised. A correct answer scores one point, and a blank, an annulled answer and a wrong answer all score zero. There is therefore never a reason to leave an item unanswered on those papers, and candidates who run out of time regularly leave marks on the table.

Writing is where an uneven profile shows. Both tests require it and both mark it as its own paper, so fluency in speech does nothing for the written mark. If you are preparing on limited time and your speech is already strong, writing is where the time goes.

The speaking papers are short and structured. Twelve to fifteen minutes across two or three tasks leaves no room to warm up, and the tasks are set pieces rather than free conversation. Practising to the clock, in the actual task format, matters more here than general conversation practice, which is the opposite of what fluent speakers assume.

What circulates and is wrong

  • The /699 TEF table presented as what to enter in Express Entry. Most third-party converters and equivalency charts show it. IRCC says not to enter those figures and warns about refusal.
  • IRCC's own French-language version of the equivalency chart page is out of date. When checked in October 2026 it carried a generic TEF chart with 2014 captions and had no TEF Canada or TCF Canada section at all, while the English page had both. If you read French by preference, use the English page for the charts.
  • Generic "TEF" charts used in place of "TEF Canada" charts. They disagree at the top band, so a page that mixes them mis-states NCLC 10.
  • Undated conversion PDFs still hosted on test centre websites. One found on an official centre site dates from 2018 and still links to a government domain retired years ago. Its numbers happen to match the currently operative scale, which makes it more misleading rather than less.
  • NCLC 11 and 12 quoted as immigration levels. The awarding bodies distinguish them; IRCC's charts stop at 10.
  • "CIEP" as the TCF's awarding body. It was renamed France Éducation international.
  • "Language results never expire." True for citizenship, false for permanent residence.

Sources

Related pages: which French exam you actually need, TCF and TEF in the UK, and French language levels for French citizenship and residency, which covers France rather than Canada. You can also test your French level free.

Conversion tables, fees, session dates and required levels all change, and the TEF has had three scoring regimes since 2019, plus a temporary change that was later reverted. Everything here was checked in October 2026 against the sources above. Nothing on this page is immigration advice: where it and a government page differ, the government page governs, and anything about your own eligibility, points, documents or application belongs with IRCC, with the Québec ministry, or with a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer. The observations about preparing for the papers are my own, as a French teacher.