PGWP language requirement

Nearly every PGWP applicant now falls under this rule. You do not need language proof if you sent your PGWP application before November 1, 2024.

Flight school graduates qualify differently: they can use a Canadian commercial pilot licence, or an instructor rating together with a job offer as a flight instructor at a Canadian flight training centre. No language requirement applies to them.

CLB is short for Canadian Language Benchmarks, the scale Canada uses to measure English. For French, the matching scale is called NCLC. The score from your test gets converted into a level on that scale.

If you completed a bachelor's, master's, doctoral or another university program, you need English at CLB 7 or French at NCLC 7, according to IRCC. University certificates and diplomas count too, not just degrees.

You must reach that level in all 4 skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. Scoring well in one skill cannot cancel out a weaker result somewhere else.

Anyone graduating from a college, polytechnic or another non-university program needs English at CLB 5 or French at NCLC 5, under the same rules. College diplomas and certificates are covered by this.

Just like at the university level, CLB 5 has to be met in every one of the 4 skills. If a disability prevents you from completing a test section, IRCC has a language averaging tool you can use.

For IELTS, only the General Training test is accepted. Make sure you book General Training, because no other IELTS version is listed for the PGWP.

Here are the lowest IELTS General Training scores accepted at each level, from IRCC's score table.

Imagine a university graduate with reading, writing and listening at 6.0 or higher, while speaking comes in lower. That person falls short of CLB 7, since the speaking result sits below 6.0.

English options beyond IELTS include the CELPIP-General test and PTE Core. If you are proving French, IRCC takes the TEF Canada or the TCF Canada, as listed here.

For CELPIP-General, you need a score of at least 7 in each skill for CLB 7, or at least 5 in each skill for CLB 5.

Scores on the other tests follow their own scales. Below is the range that matches each level, taken from IRCC. The lowest number in a range still reaches that level.

Those TEF Canada figures apply to tests written after December 10, 2023. IRCC keeps a different table for TEF tests from before that date, so confirm when you took yours before you compare.

IRCC expects you to take the test in person, and your test results must be under 2 years old when you submit your application, as its documents page says. That means a test you wrote to get into school may be too old to use.

Language proof shows up as optional in the online document checklist. Even so, you have to include it whenever your program calls for it, which is true for most people.

When a disability keeps you from finishing one part of a test, IRCC provides a language averaging tool. The details are on IRCC's documents page.

You must apply for your PGWP within 180 days of the day your school confirms you finished your program. Booking the test well ahead gives you room for a retake if a single skill misses the mark.