TCF Canada: Format, Scores, Booking and Free Practice

TCF Canada is made by France Éducation international. It measures four skills. Each skill gets its own score, and IRCC converts each score to NCLC (Niveau de compétence linguistique canadien), the French name for CLB.

IRCC accepts TCF Canada results for Express Entry (including the French-language category), citizenship applications and several provincial nominee programs. Results are generally valid for two years: how long TEF and TCF results are valid.

Four compulsory tests, all on the same day:

Reading and listening are multiple choice, with four options and one correct answer. The questions go from easier to harder, from A1 up to C2, so one test covers every level.

Full details: TCF Canada exam format, the writing guide and the speaking guide.

Reading and listening are scored from 100 to 699. Writing and speaking are scored out of 20. IRCC converts each skill to NCLC with this table:

Have your scores? Enter them in the free TEF & TCF to NCLC calculator to see each skill's NCLC level. Worked examples are in TCF Canada scores to NCLC.

IRCC gives additional CRS points for French when a candidate has NCLC 7 or higher in all four skills: 25 points with CLB 4 or lower in English (or no English test), or 50 points with CLB 5 or higher in all four English skills. NCLC 7 in all four is also the bar for French-language category draws.

More detail: how many CRS points French is worth and every Express Entry French draw.

CRS rules change. Confirm current figures on IRCC's website before making immigration decisions. Frenchly is independent practice software. It is not affiliated with IRCC or France Éducation international.

There is no central booking site. You register with a test centre approved to run the TCF Canada, and each centre sets its own dates, fee, deadlines and refund rules.

Registration windows open roughly every quarter, and busy centres can sell out weeks ahead; check your centre's page for its next window.

Step-by-step help and a fee comparison: how to book the TCF Canada. Centres by city: Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa.

IRCC accepts both tests and converts both to the same NCLC scale, so neither gives more points. They differ in format:

• TCF Canada: 39 reading and 39 listening questions that get harder as you go; three writing tasks, including a two-document comparison; 12 minutes of speaking in three tasks.
• TEF Canada: 40 reading and 40 listening questions; two writing sections (continue an article, then argue a point of view); 15 minutes of speaking in two sections.
• Test-centre availability near you often matters more than format.

1. 1Free TCF Canada practice test: sample reading and listening questions with answers and explanations, plus writing and speaking tasks. No sign-up.
2. 2Try a 25-minute diagnostic (free trial): a short timed check that gives an estimate of where each skill stands today.
3. 3Writing model answers for all three tasks.

Frenchly is AI French practice built around the official TCF Canada format. Here is what it does, and what it does not do:

• Five full TCF Canada mock exams, timed like the real test, plus section practice for each skill.
• Sophie, your AI tutor, gives feedback on your grammar, vocabulary, clarity and structure in writing and speaking tasks.
• After a mock you see an NCLC estimate for each skill. It is an estimate, not an official result.
• Speaking is scored from a transcript of what you said, so Frenchly does not score pronunciation.

Try Frenchly free for 14 days.