TEF Canada or TCF Canada: scores to NCLC, results, and the re-mark you cannot get until 2027

Minimum scores IRCC lists per NCLC, in reading / writing / listening / speaking. For TEF Canada IRCC uses this chart for tests taken after 10 December 2023; an older chart with identical bands in every skill (for example 450–499 for NCLC 7) applies to tests from 1 October 2019 to 10 December 2023. TCF Canada scores reading and listening out of 699 and writing and speaking out of 20.

On TEF Canada, speaking needs the highest score at every level up to NCLC 9: NCLC 7 is 456 in speaking but 428 in writing and 434 in reading and listening. Since the December 2023 chart, the bands are no longer the same for every skill.

On TCF Canada, writing and speaking move in steps of one or two points out of 20. NCLC 7 is 10 or 11, NCLC 8 is 12 or 13, and everything from 16 to 20 is NCLC 10. A single point in speaking can be a whole NCLC level, which is why the re-marking pause below matters.

Our reading: both tests examine speaking face to face with an examiner, and it is the skill where one level is the smallest distance on either chart. That is where preparation with a live speaker pays most.

Four compulsory papers, 2 hours 47 minutes in all: listening, 39 multiple-choice questions in 35 minutes; reading, 39 questions in 60 minutes; writing, 3 tasks in 60 minutes; and speaking, face to face with an examiner, 3 tasks in 12 minutes including 2 minutes of preparation. The centre decides whether the test is on paper or computer, and sets the price.

Results reach your TCF-Candidat space within 15 working days of France Éducation international receiving the session material. The attestation is valid 2 years from the date the results are issued. You can sit TCF Canada as often as you like, with 20 days between sittings.

Re-marking is suspended. France Éducation international: from the TCF sessions of 1 September 2026, requests to re-mark the speaking and writing papers will no longer be accepted for about a year, while it improves its tools; it expects to restart in autumn 2027. If something goes wrong during the test, you must tell the centre the same day, as soon as the test ends.

For immigration, four compulsory papers; for citizenship, only two, listening and speaking. All papers must be taken on the same day for the attestation to be recognised by the Canadian authorities. Reading, listening and writing are on computer; speaking is face to face with an examiner.

Results arrive within 1 to 10 working days of the test, by email, as a digital attestation only; there is no paper copy. Results are valid two years, and the attestation is kept for 10 years. You can retake TEF Canada as often as you like, with a 20-day wait between sittings.

Express Entry: IRCC accepts TEF Canada and TCF Canada for French, and says results must be less than 2 years old when you complete your profile and when you submit your permanent residence application. The minimums are the same NCLC numbers as the CLB ones: NCLC 7 in all four skills for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and NCLC 7 or NCLC 5 for the Canadian Experience Class depending on the job.

Citizenship: IRCC accepts TEF Canada, TCF Canada and several other French results at B1 or higher in listening and speaking, and accepts them even if expired. The full list, including DELF and DALF, is in our guide to Canadian citizenship language proof. For English, see CELPIP, IELTS or PTE Core for Canada.