Language requirements for Federal Skilled Trades Program
Recently the Government of Canada made some changes to the Express Entry System, now you can earn up to thirty (30) additional points for strong French language skills even though if your French is the second language.
If you score NCLC 7 or higher on all 4 French language skills, you can get 15 additional points if you score CLB 4 or lower in English or if you don’t take any English test. You can also get 30 additional points if you scored CLB 5 or higher on all 4 English Skills.
To be eligible for Express Entry then you must prove your French or English language ability
- Take an approved language test
- You must get the minimum results as required by your program
- You must include the results when you complete your Express Entry Profile
The language test results evaluate the following abilities
- Reading
- Writing
- Speaking
- Listening
To check your ability of French and English we use the following:
- The Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) for the language English
- The Niveaux de compétence Linguistique canadiens(NCLC) for the language French
Federal Skilled Worker Program:
| First Official Language | |
| Language | Minimum Level for all 4 abilities |
| English | CLB 7 |
| French | NCLC 7 |
Second official Language: Minimum level of CLB 5 or NCLC 5
Canadian Experience Class:
In Canadian Experience Class, the skills you need will depend on the group of your job is classified in under the National Occupational Classification System (NOC)
| Canadian Experience Class | ||
| NOC Skill Type or Level | Minimum Level for all 4 abilities in English | Minimum Level for all 4 abilities in French |
| NOC O or B | CLB 7 | NCLC 7 |
| NOC B | CLB 5 | NCLC 5 |
Federal Skilled Trades Program:
| Languages | Abilities | Minimum Level |
| English | Speaking and Listening | CLB 5 |
| English | Reading and Writing | CLB 4 |
| French | Speaking and Listening | NCLC 5 |
| French | Reading and Writing | NCLC 4 |
The validity of these Language Test Results:
These Language test results are valid up to 2 years or less than this when you plan to submit your application for permanent residence.
If you have been invited to apply for Permanent Residence (PR):
If you have been invited to apply for Permanent Residence then make sure your results are valid when you plan to apply
If you haven’t been invited to apply for Permanent Residence (PR):
If you haven’t been invited to apply for Permanent Residence then make sure that your results are valid for the rest of the time you will be in the pool. If your results will expire before you can apply, you must do the following:
- You must Be tested again or
- You must apply before your test results expire or
- You have to Decline the invitation and go back into the pool to be considered in the future
Note: If you apply for Permanent Residence with language test results that have expired then we will refuse or reject your application.
