How to be designated as a language testing organization for citizenship and immigration

Are you part of an organization that does formal English or French language testing? We could approve your test to be used to evaluate the skill level and validate potential immigrants’ language abilities.

Why do we ask for proof of language skills?

People have to meet minimum language levels in one of Canada’s official languages (English or French) for the program or immigration stream they apply to. This includes:

• most economic immigration programs or
• Canadian citizenship

For most immigration purposes, applicants must provide language test results no matter their mother tongue or the official language in their home country:

• from an approved test
• taken through an independent language testing organization we have designated.

Applicants may also submit the test results when applying for Canadian citizenship.

What is a designated organization?

“Designated” means we accept the results of an organization’s test as proof of language ability, because the organization and their test meet all our criteria. For example:

• the test must conform with levels 4 through 10 of the
  • Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLBs) for English or
  • Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) for French
• security requirements are met for
  • carrying out the test
  • test logistics
  • marking tests and issuing results
• the test is offered in all parts of Canada

What your organization needs to do

We accept submissions on an ongoing basis. Any independent agency or organization in Canada or abroad can apply to be designated.

You should contact us if you:

• have a French or English language test offered to the public
• are developing one
• want more details on the designation process
• want a copy of the submission package

We could assess your organization based on a language test that you already offer or may offer to the public in the future.

When you return the submission package, you must show that both your organization and the language test meet all the criteria to be designated.