The TCF Canada (Test de Connaissance du Français) is a French language proficiency test, accredited by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), used to assess general French language skills for immigration and citizenship purposes.

The TEF Canada (Test d’Évaluation de Français pour le Canada) is a French language proficiency test recognized by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for immigration and citizenship applications, assessing both written and spoken French skills.

The first difference is the institutions that create and organize the test:

• The TEF is organized by the Chambre de Commerce Internationale de Paris, whose purpose is to promote and help develop the economical aspects of the francophone community in the world.
• The TCF is organized by the institution France Éducation International, the same group that creates and develops the DELF and DALF, and that is under the supervision of the Ministry of Education in France.

They evaluate almost the same competencies, except that the TEF for Canadian citizenship exam considers oral comprehension and oral expression as well.

In comparison, there are more questions in the TEF exam, but less subjects to discuss and write about during the oral and written comprehension, versus the TCF Canada.

Overall, they are both recognized for immigration purposes and evaluate the same type of competencies and its difficulty is subjective to the level of preparation of the candidate.

When it comes to choosing which exam to take, it might be a question of the type of immigration process that is being done and the availability of spots on test application sessions.

To immigrate to Canada, the minimum TCF (Test de Connaissance du Français) score required depends on the program and the job offer’s TEER category, with the minimum being CLB 4 for TEER 4 and 5 jobs and CLB 5 for TEER 0, 1, 2, and 3 jobs.

• Learn more about the IRCC language requirements : Click Here
• Learn more about TCF-Canada: Click Here

The TCF-Canada consists of four mandatory parts. It evaluates general French language proficiency in listening comprehension, reading comprehension, speaking, and writing divided in:

• Listening comprehension: 39 multiple choice questions.
• Reading comprehension: 39 multiple choice questions for the reading comprehension with only one correct answer possible.
• Oral expression: 3 speaking tasks, organized according to a progressively increasing level of difficulty.
• Written expression: 3 writing tasks, also with a progressively increasing level of difficulty.

The level of difficulty of the tasks correspond to the benchmarks specified by the European Framework for Language Learning, Teaching and Evaluation as well as the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB).

For French, the accepted tests include:

— TEF – Test d’évaluation de français

— TCF – Test de connaissance du français

— Other related tests may also be accepted.

For an immigration application to Canada, you must take 4 tests:

• Reading comprehension
• Listening comprehension
• Written expression
• Oral expression

For a Canadian Citizenship application, you must take 2 compulsory tests:

• Listening comprehension
• Oral expressions

The Cost for TEF and TCF Canada is $390 plus tax.

Yes, you can retake both the TCF (Test de Connaissance du Français) and TEF (Test d’Évaluation de Français) multiple times, but there’s a waiting period of 30 days between each attempt.