Language proficiency for Canadian immigration

By Catherine Sas, Q.C.
Special to The Post

As Immigration lawyers, we are frequently asked what is the most significant factor in being able to qualify for immigration to Canada. Clients generally assume that it is their education or work experience that is most relevant. A review of Canada’s immigration programs would suggest otherwise. Perhaps the most pivotal factor to qualify for immigration to Canada is language proficiency in English and/or French.

Individuals who are seeking to immigrate must meet the criteria of one of Canada’s economic immigration programs either as business immigrants, Express Entry applicants or as Provincial Nominees. Every single economic immigration category has a scoring factor for language proficiency. And the weighting for language proficiency tops the list of most of the scoring criteria for most application categories. Aspiring Canadian immigrants should not overlook the vital need to acquire strong language proficiency in one of Canada’s two official languages - English and French.

Assessing an immigrant applicant’s language proficiency has changed dramatically in recent years. An applicant’s ability to communicate in English or French used to be determined in a personal interview with a visa officer who assessed the person’s proficiency and made their own subjective conclusion. In recent years this has changed. Now Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) requires applicants to provide test results from an IRCC approved testing service: IELTS or CELPIP for English and TEF for French. All of these testing services have free webinars or tutorials and it is wise to make use of these tools to prepare before taking your test.

When meeting with international students, either overseas or in Canada, I frequently ask them about their living arrangements in Canada. Not surprisingly they often live with friends or relatives from their own country. When I ask them what language they communicate in when they are home from school, they virtually always say that they speak their native language. Our experience as immigration lawyers suggests that this is both a poor decision and a wasted opportunity to maximize the ability to qualify for immigration in the future.

Consider the following real-life example of a client of ours. This young man came to Canada as an international student to study for a four-year bachelor’s degree. After graduation, he obtained a three-year post-graduation work permit (PGWP). While attending school he lived in shared accommodation with several classmates from his home country. When not in class, he spoke his native language with his friends and roommates. After graduating and obtaining a PGWP, he started working at a company where his co-workers also spoke his native language. He came to see us when he only had six months remaining on his PGWP. He took several language tests and he could only achieve basic language proficiency scores which were not high enough for him to qualify for Canadian permanent residence. After nearly seven years of living in Canada, he had squandered his opportunity to integrate into the mainstream community and obtain the language proficiency that he required in order to immigrate permanently to Canada.

While education and work experience are key indicators of success in Canada’s immigration program, often the determining factor for successfully qualifying for Canadian immigration is language proficiency. Learning a language is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It takes considerable time, effort and practice. Aspiring immigrants to Canada should not underestimate the significance of language proficiency in fulfilling their dreams of being able to acquire permanent residence.

Free language test webinars or tutorials can be found here:

CELPIP Tutorial

https://www.celpip.ca/prepare-for-celpip/webinars-workshops/

IELTS Tutorial

https://takeielts.britishcouncil.org/take-ielts/prepare/free-webinars

TEF tutorial

https://www.lefrancaisdesaffaires.fr/tests-diplomes/se-preparer/tutoriels-tef/

Catherine Sas, Q.C. has over 30 years of legal experience. She provides a full range of immigration services and is a leading immigration practitioner (Lexpert, Who’s Who Legal, Best Lawyers in Canada). Go to canadian-visa-lawyer.com or email [email protected].