Ask anyone waiting on an Express Entry draw in Toronto what they would change about their profile, and most will say the same thing: more points. Fewer of them know that the single largest block of points still available to most candidates does not come from another year of work or a second degree. It comes from French.
Since 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has run category-based draws that invite candidates with strong French ahead of the general pool, often at scores well below the all-program cut-off. On top of that, a candidate who reaches level 7 of the Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens, NCLC 7, in all four French skills earns 25 additional Comprehensive Ranking System points, and 50 if they also hold CLB 5 or better in English. For a candidate sitting at 470 and watching the cut-off hover above 500, that is the difference between waiting and being invited.
The catch is that NCLC 7 is not conversational French. It is roughly the low end of the European B2 level: the ability to argue a point in writing, follow a fast radio segment, and hold a fifteen-minute spoken exchange on an unfamiliar topic. It’s achievable, but it takes sustained practice.
What the level actually takes
Toronto French Academy, a French-language school that has taught more than 1,200 students since 2018 through its French classes in Toronto and Brampton and live online across Canada, sees the same pattern every intake. Candidates who arrive with a solid B1 typically need three to six months of structured preparation to clear NCLC 7. Those starting from zero should plan on ten to fourteen months. What often surprises people is the weekly commitment: regular live classes and daily self-study. Two hours a week, as you might spend on a hobby course, won’t get you there on those timelines.
The school’s program lead, Simer Dua, sees a recurring problem: candidates miss one skill, usually writing or speaking, by a single level because they prepared for French in general instead of the exam they were taking. The two exams IRCC accepts, TEF Canada and TCF Canada, are scored on different scales, timed differently, and reward different habits. If you haven’t practised a timed writing task in your exam’s format, knowing more vocabulary will only take you so far.
Two exams, one target
IRCC treats the two tests equally, so the choice comes down to the format that suits you and the dates available. TEF Canada runs about two hours fifty-five minutes with two longer writing tasks and a fifteen-minute speaking section. TCF Canada is slightly shorter, with three brief writing tasks and a twelve-minute speaking section, and many candidates find its graded difficulty gentler. Both tests are taken in person at approved centres, including several in the Greater Toronto Area, and cost around four hundred dollars a sitting. Results arrive in two to three weeks and stay valid for two years. They must still be valid when you submit your permanent residence application.
The school’s advice is to pick the exam first and build the study plan backward from its format. Its public guide to reaching CLB 7 in TEF Canada walks through the target score for each module, a 12-month study plan and the booking process, and its TCF Canada preparation course, in Toronto, Brampton and online, is built the same way around the TCF format.
Why a classroom still wins
Apps can help with vocabulary, but writing and speaking are harder to work on alone. You need someone who can spot repeated mistakes, correct them in French, and explain what the examiner expects. Toronto French Academy runs small live groups of six to eight students and one-on-one tutoring with certified instructors. Its evening and weekend cohorts are built around people who work full time, with mock exams under real timing before anyone books a real sitting. It has a 4.8-star Google rating across more than three hundred reviews, most of them from Express Entry candidates who came for the points and left with the language.
For newcomers weighing the cost, the school suggests one comparison. Reaching NCLC 7 costs months of evenings and a few thousand dollars in tuition and exam fees. For a candidate who could have been invited in a French category draw, another year in the pool means another year of waiting.
If you’re considering this route, you can read how French points work for Express Entry and how to get CLB 7 in TEF Canada on the academy’s site, then book a demo class to find out where you stand.
Toronto French Academy, 499 Main St S, Brampton, and live online across Canada.
frenchforpr.com, +1 437-665-3304.
