IRCC Will Start Accepting New PTE Core Test In Late 2023

On February 1, 2023 program delivery update for IRCC staff confirmed that PTE (Pearson Test of English) has been approved as English proficiency test.

On May 12, 2023 IRCC updated that Pearson Canada Inc. has changed the name of their English language test to PTE Core.

Pearson Canada Inc. is the designated language-testing organization that conducts PTE.

IRCC will start accepting PTE scores in late 2023 as per the update. There is still no definite date or month as of now.

This update is currently for Canada immigration meaning for all the Economic permanent residency (PR) programs.

Economic programs include all the Express Entry categories, Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs), Caregivers, Agri-Food Pilot, Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP), Economic Mobility Pathways Project(EMPP), Atlantic Immigration Program, Quebec Skilled Workers and Business.

PTE will join IELTS and CELPIP as third acceptable English language proficiency test.

In this article, we tried to answer general questions about PTE, CLB levels, and score equivalency with IELTS.

How does PTE test approval affect study permit applicants?

For SDS (Student Direct Stream) study permit applications, only IELTS (English) or TEF (French) are acceptable by IRCC. IELTS or TEF is mandatory requirement by IRCC for SDS.

For general study permit applications, language proficiency test is usually a requirement for getting enrolled in a DLI (college or university). PTE is already accepted by certain DLIs in Canada to enrol international students.

IRCC requires proof of enrolment in a DLI to accept non-SDS application and language test is a supporting document that must be submitted along with visa application.

Canadian Language Benchmark(CLB) For Immigration-All You Need To Know

What will be PTE score requirements for Canada Immigration?

English proficiency is measured as Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels for Canada immigration.

Below are IELTS General CLB levels for Canadian Immigration.

CLB Level	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
10	8.0	7.5	8.5	7.5
9	7.0	7.0	8.0	7.0
8	6.5	6.5	7.5	6.5
7	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
6	5.0	5.5	5.5	5.5
5	4.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
4	3.5	4.0	4.5	4.0

Below are possible PTE CLB levels score that we generated based on IELTS score comparison:

CLB Level	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
10	84	76	89	76
9	66	66	84	66
8	56	56	76	56
7	46	46	46	46
6	29	36	36	36
5	18-20	29	29	29
4	15-18	18-20	23	18-20

For Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), minimum language requirement is CLB level 7 in all 4 abilities.

Meaning each module of IELTS should have 6 bands to be eligible for FSWP. In regards to PTE, the possible score requirement could be 46 depending on score comparison.

For IELTS magic number of 8 triple 7 (8 in listening and 7 in rest of the modules), PTE equivalent score could be 84 in listening and 66 in rest of the abilities.

Similarly, for Express Entry Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), minimum language requirement is CLB level 5.

So, possible PTE equivalent score for CLB level 5 could be 18 in reading and 29 in rest of the modules.

PTE Score Requirement For Express Entry Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

CLB Level	Possible PTE Scores	IELTS Scores
CLB Level 7 for TEER 0 or TEER 1 jobs	46 in each module	6 in each module
CLB Level 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3 jobs	15-18 in reading and 29 each in rest of the modules	4 in reading and 5 each in rest of the modules

---