TCF Canada Exam Explained: Format, Scores, Fees and Dates

The TCF Canada exam is one of only two French tests IRCC accepts for Express Entry, so if French is part of your plan for permanent residence, this test is probably on your list. Reading and listening are scored out of 699, writing and speaking out of 20, and IRCC turns each score into an NCLC level for your file.

For NCLC 7, the level most French-speaking Express Entry candidates aim for, you need at least 453 in reading, 458 in listening and 10 in both writing and speaking. Fees and refund policies are a different story: your test centre sets those, so they change from one centre to the next. At Alliance Française Toronto, the fee is CAD $390 as of October 2026.

The TCF Canada is the immigration version of the Test de connaissance du français (French knowledge test), owned by France Éducation International. IRCC treats it on equal footing with the TEF Canada, the only other French exam approved for Express Entry.

The TCF Canada tests French only. If you also claim English, that's a separate test with its own result.

You'll need a TCF Canada (or TEF Canada) result in one of two situations. Either French is your main official language in Express Entry, so your eligibility depends on it. Or English is your main language and you want French to add points to your profile.

Every TCF Canada has four compulsory sections: listening, reading, writing and speaking. The two comprehension sections are multiple choice and scored from 0 to 699. The two expression sections are marked out of 20.

Together, that adds up to about 2 hours and 47 minutes of testing, based on the section times Alliance Française Toronto lists in October 2026. Eat a proper meal and get a good night's sleep before the exam. It's a long sitting, and your brain will thank you in the writing section.

Listening: 39 questions in 35 minutes

That's under a minute per question. Points slip away when you hang on to one hard question while the next recording is already playing. Pick your best answer, let it go, and listen to the next one.

Numbers catch a lot of people here. Say soixante-dix, quatre-vingts and quatre-vingt-dix out loud at home until they come without thinking, because prices, dates and phone numbers turn up again and again in the recordings.

Reading: 39 questions in 60 minutes

You get about a minute and a half per question. That feels generous until you reach the longer texts near the end. What helps: read the question before the text, so you know what you're hunting for.

Writing: 3 tasks in 60 minutes

Three tasks share one hour. Decide your time split before you start, and save the last five minutes to reread for agreement and verb endings. Linking words like d'abord, cependant and donc, used on purpose, make your text easier to follow.

Speaking: about 12 minutes, 3 tasks

Twelve minutes goes by quickly. Long silences and memorized speeches both eat into it. Record yourself answering one speaking question a day, listen back, and fix the mistakes you keep repeating before you learn new words.

IRCC turns each TCF Canada section score into an NCLC level with its official test equivalency chart (opens in a new tab). NCLC (Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens) is the French side of the Canadian Language Benchmarks, so NCLC 7 in French matches CLB 7 in English.

IRCC sets specific cutoffs for every band, but levels 5, 7 and 10 are the main milestones for immigration. If your score lands in between, the official equivalency chart tells you your exact band.

Reading and listening don't share a cutoff. NCLC 7 starts at 453 in reading but 458 in listening, and it's easy to assume one number for both and then miss by five points without knowing why.

A worked example

Say you score 470 in reading, 440 in listening, 10 in writing and 11 in speaking. Reading, writing and speaking all land at NCLC 7. Listening at 440 sits above the NCLC 5 band and below the NCLC 7 band, so it counts as NCLC 6.

For a program that asks for NCLC 7 in all four abilities, your weakest ability decides. Here you're 18 listening points short, and your other three scores can't make up for it. Frustrating, yes, but it also tells you exactly where to put your next month of study.

For most candidates who use French as their main language, the answer is NCLC 7 in all four abilities: at least 453 in reading, 458 in listening and 10 in writing and speaking. Some programs accept less, and IRCC sets each minimum on its Express Entry language test page, current as of October 2026.

Meeting the minimum makes you eligible. Your place in the pool depends on your CRS score, and French helps there too: a French result at NCLC 7 or higher can add up to 50 extra CRS points, 25 or 50 depending on your English results.

If NCLC 7 is your target, read what CLB 7 in French means in real conversations before you set a test date. It helps to hear how someone at that level actually speaks, instead of only chasing a cutoff number.

These rules do get updated from time to time, so check IRCC's language test page again the week you create your profile.

The TCF Canada costs CAD $390 at Alliance Française Toronto as of October 2026. Each approved centre sets its own fee, so the price where you book may be higher or lower, and you pay it to the centre, not to IRCC.

The refund rules matter as much as the price. At the Toronto centre, you can't cancel or get a refund once you've registered, for any reason. You can move to another date for a $100 fee, up to 15 days before a computer-based session or 30 days before a paper-based one.

What a no-refund policy means for your booking

Say you book a computer-based session and realize 10 days before that you aren't ready. You're past the 15-day transfer window and refunds aren't possible, so you either sit the exam or lose the fee. The way to avoid that spot is simple: book once your mock scores already reach your target band.

Before you enter your payment details, check your test centre's website for the total fee in Canadian dollars, whether you'll type on a computer or write on paper, when results come out, and the deadline for moving your date if an emergency pops up.

Alliance Française Toronto runs the TCF Canada in person only, at its Toronto, North York, Mississauga and Oakville sites, and doesn't offer it online. You also register for the complete exam there, since single sections can't be booked. Dates and registration are on the Toronto centre's TCF Canada page (opens in a new tab).

Three different organizations shape your exam, and mixing them up leads to bad surprises. IRCC decides whether your score qualifies and how long it stays usable. France Éducation International builds the test itself, while your local centre handles the fees, refunds and how quickly your results arrive.

Be careful when someone online quotes a single price or policy for the whole country. Many popular pages even mix in fees from centres abroad. Double-check fees, refund rules and schedules on your own centre's website before you pay.

TCF Canada results arrive by email about 2 weeks after a computer-based session and about 4 weeks after a paper-based session at Alliance Française Toronto, as of October 2026. Once you have them, IRCC lets you use them only while they're less than 2 years old.

The 2-year rule applies twice. Your results must be less than 2 years old when you complete your Express Entry profile, and again when you submit your permanent residence application. IRCC states it plainly: if your results have expired when you apply, your application will be refused.

If a deadline is close, a computer-based session gets you results about 2 weeks sooner at that centre. Those two weeks can decide whether your profile goes in this month or next.

Plan backwards from the 2-year limit

Say your results are dated November 2026. They stop counting in November 2028. If an invitation reaches you in October 2028, you'd have only a few weeks of validity left to submit a complete application.

So write down the date on your results the day they arrive, and set a reminder for 3 months before the 2-year mark. If your profile could sit in the pool for a long time, put a second test in your budget before the first result expires.

Yes, you can take the TCF Canada as often as you like, but Alliance Française Toronto requires at least 20 days between two sessions. The same centre only sells the complete exam, so you sit all four sections again, even if only one was short.

A low score stings, but it's also the most useful information you'll get. It shows you exactly which ability is holding you back. Put most of your hours there, without letting the other three slide, or you might fix listening and lose a point in writing.

What to do after a low score

Start by looking at the ability with the lowest NCLC band. Closing a two-point gap in writing is very different from chasing 30 points in reading. Put most of your study hours into that weak skill, but keep one short session each week for the other three so you don't lose ground. Once you clear your target score on two timed practice exams in a row, you're ready to book again, at least 20 days after your last session.

For a week-by-week structure, use our TCF Canada study plan and strategy. Train with the real format and timing early, so the exam itself stops feeling strange long before test day.

Either one works for Express Entry: IRCC accepts both the TCF Canada and the TEF Canada and converts both to the same NCLC levels. The better choice is usually the exam with a centre near you and a session date that fits your plan.

The two exams score on different scales, so you can't compare a TCF Canada number with a TEF Canada number directly. If you're weighing TEF too, the TEF Canada score chart shows its own bands.

If you're stuck choosing between the two, keep it simple. Pick the exam that has open seats near you before your deadline, offers computer testing for faster results, and feels more natural when you take a timed practice test. The full side-by-side comparison is in TEF vs TCF: which French exam to choose.

From zero French, plan on 12 months to reach CLB 7 (NCLC 7): six months of foundations followed by six months of exam preparation. With a solid B1 already, six months of focused TEF/TCF preparation is a realistic target for NCLC 7.

These timelines assume 2 live classes a week of 90 minutes each, plus homework. Book your exam date near the end of that plan and work backwards from it, because having a real test date ahead of you makes it much easier to stick to your study schedule each week. Keep the 2-year validity in mind too, if your profile could wait in the pool for a while.

Learn French Canada prepares students across Canada for both the TCF Canada and the TEF Canada, in live online classes with native French teachers and 14 students at most per group. Since the school was founded in Vancouver in 2017, more than 4,500 students have studied with us.

Exam classes work on one ability at a time against the NCLC bands above, with timed mock exams scored by teachers who know the marking grid. Classes meet twice a week for 90 minutes and aren't recorded, so class time goes to speaking. Every plan includes a year of our online platform, with pre-recorded lessons by our teachers for the evenings you can't make class.

The right program depends on where you start. If you begin with zero French and need NCLC 7 for Express Entry, the 12-month TEF Beginner program takes you there in two halves: six months of foundations, then six months of TEF/TCF preparation. If you're already around B1, our exam preparation program targets CLB 5 in 3 months or CLB 7 in 6 months.