French Tests for Immigration to Quebec: TEF, TCF and DELF

If you are aiming for permanent residence through Quebec, your French will be assessed on paper. In the Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) as in the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI) sets a minimum level and asks you for a document to prove it. Your accompanying spouse must also show a level in spoken French.

Even if French is your mother tongue, you must submit a document. Your accent, your country of origin or your passport are not enough: what counts is a test, a diploma or another document accepted by the Ministry.

This test is used for Quebec selection, the step that leads to the Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ). For the federal step that follows, IRCC's page on the application for Quebec-selected skilled workers mentions no language test: it is Quebec that assesses your French. Later, if you apply for Canadian citizenship, you will be asked for language proof again, under different federal rules (section 4).

Good to know: the PSTQ does not require English. You can still claim it in your expression of interest, with IELTS test results.

MIFI accepts the tests and diplomas of only two French organizations. France Éducation international (FEI) runs the TCF and the DELF and DALF diplomas. The Paris Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP-IDF) runs the TEF. Only results issued by these two organizations are accepted.

Each test comes in several versions. The Quebec versions, the TCF Québec and the TEF Québec (TEFAQ), are designed for MIFI files and are modular: you choose the tests you need. The Canada versions, the TCF Canada and the TEF Canada, were designed for IRCC files, and MIFI accepts them too.

A complete test has four parts: listening comprehension, reading comprehension, written expression and oral expression. On the TCF Canada, the oral expression part is done face to face with an examiner.

MIFI does not think in test points but in levels of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français (Quebec scale of French proficiency levels), a scale from 1 to 12. To find out where you stand, the Ministry publishes correspondence tables, on its page on proving your knowledge of French, that link each score to a level of the Échelle québécoise and to a CEFR level.

Three things to know to read them correctly:

• The levels are grouped in pairs. For example, a TEF score of 400 to 499 corresponds to levels 7 and 8, that is, B2.
• Check each skill separately. Spoken French includes listening comprehension and oral production; written French includes reading comprehension and written production.
• Read the thresholds part by part. For the spouse in the PEQ, for example, the Ministry asks for 260 or more on both oral parts of the TEFAQ, that is, level 4. For the TEF Canada, whose scoring changed on December 11, 2023, the Ministry's pages do not all use the same scale: check the threshold on your program's page before you register.

On the TCF, the expression parts are marked out of 20, while comprehension is marked in points. Here is the table, in its November 29, 2024 version.

The minimum level depends on the program and, in the PSTQ, on the stream in which MIFI places your main occupation. The PSTQ requirements give the level for each stream; the PEQ page on French (in French only) does the same for its two streams. In stream 3, the regulated professions stream, everything depends on the TEER category of your occupation, that is, the second digit of its NOC code.

The requirements page gives no French level for stream 4, the exceptional talent stream.

For Canadian citizenship, the rules are federal and different. From 18 to 54 years of age, you must prove that you understand and speak French or English at level 4 or higher of the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB, or NCLC in French). With a TEF or TCF test, IRCC asks for a result at level B1 or higher in listening and speaking. The list of tests accepted for citizenship includes the TEF Canada, the TEFAQ, the TEF IRN, the TCF Canada and the TCF Québec, as well as the DELF B1 or higher and the DALF.

A test is not the only way in. Depending on the program, other documents can prove your French:

• PSTQ, all streams: certain foreign secondary diplomas, for spoken and written French. These are the French baccalauréats issued by France's Ministry of National Education, the Belgian CESS (certificat d'enseignement secondaire supérieur) of the French Community of Belgium, and the Swiss certificat de maturité from a French-speaking canton.
• PSTQ, stream 3 only: a regular permit from a Quebec professional order, valid or expired for two years or less (a temporary permit does not count), or proof that you passed the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) French exam for professional orders, two years old or less.
• PEQ, Quebec graduates stream: the final transcripts of a program completed in Quebec in French, with at least 75% of courses or credits in French, or at least three years of full-time secondary or post-secondary studies entirely in French, in Quebec or abroad. Professional order documents are also accepted.
• PEQ, temporary foreign workers stream: the three years of studies entirely in French, or professional order documents.
• Citizenship: proof from a language program taken in Quebec, either a MIFI report card (bulletin) showing level 4 or higher in listening and speaking, or a Quebec Ministry of Education record of learning (relevé des apprentissages) in francization at level 4 or higher. A secondary or post-secondary diploma obtained in French or English, in Canada or elsewhere, is also accepted.

MIFI may call you to an interview to check the French level you declared. So declare only what you can prove.

The date of your test matters as much as your score.

• In the PSTQ as in the PEQ, your results must be two years old or less on the day you submit your permanent selection application. What counts is not the date of the invitation, but the date you submit.
• TCF Canada and TEF results certificates are valid for two years from the date the results are issued.
• In the PSTQ, the results you use to fill in your expression of interest must also be two years old or less. An expression of interest stays valid for 12 months. If you are invited and accept, you then have 60 days to submit your application, or one year in stream 3 if you do not yet have the proof from your professional order.
• Time to get results: for the TEF, 1 to 10 business days after the test day; for the TCF Canada, within 15 business days after FEI receives the session material.
• To retake a test, you must wait at least 20 days between two sittings, for the TCF as for the TEF.

In practice: take your test early enough to include it in your expression of interest, but keep an eye on the date of your results certificate. If it risks being more than two years old when you submit your application, retake the test in time.

A few practical rules before you book:

• Take your test in a centre approved by the organization that provides it. You will find it on the map of TCF centres or in the search for approved TEF centres. A result obtained elsewhere is not accepted.
• Neither FEI nor CCIP-IDF sets a single price: each centre sets its own fee and dates. Ask the centre directly.
• For the PEQ, MIFI also accepts the electronic versions of the tests.
• For the TEF, the certificate is digital: it is placed in an online vault, with no paper version. For the TCF Canada, results arrive in the TCF-Candidat space. In every case, keep a complete scan of the certificate; for the DELF and DALF, scan the whole diploma.
• Note: for sessions from September 1, 2026, FEI is suspending requests to re-mark the TCF oral and written expression parts. Resumption is planned for fall 2027. So aim for a margin above the threshold rather than counting on a re-mark.

To prepare for free, Francisation Québec classes are a good starting point, and the guide Practicing French in Quebec suggests ways to progress between classes.

Follow these steps to prepare your proof of French. Check each box as you go: your progress is saved if you're signed in.

The most common questions about French tests for immigration.

These related guides may be useful:

• The PSTQ: Quebec's skilled worker selection program — the program where your French level counts both as a requirement and as a points criterion.
• The CSQ — Quebec Selection Certificate — the document Quebec selection allows you to obtain.
• Applying for permanent residence after the CSQ — the federal step that follows, with no new language test.
• Canadian Citizenship: Application, Test and Ceremony — when you will be asked for language proof again.

For official and up-to-date information:

• Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration (MIFI)
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

To reach the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration: 514-864-9191 (Montreal area) or 1-877-864-9191 (elsewhere in Quebec, toll-free).