Preparing for a French test for Québec immigration

Which test for which goal

For permanent selection as a skilled worker, Québec accepts results from the TCF Québec, TCF Canada, TCF, DELF and DALF (France Éducation international) and from the TEFAQ, TEF Canada and TEF (CCI Paris Île-de-France). Only results issued by the test maker, for a test taken at a centre it has approved, are accepted. Some secondary school diplomas (such as the French baccalauréat) and, for Stream 3, some documents from a professional order can also be used. A French document is required even if French is your mother tongue.

To practise a regulated profession, a professional order may ask for a certificate of knowledge of French. That certificate requires passing the exam of the Office québécois de la langue française, and no other exam is accepted. The professional order you want to join tells you whether you need it. The exam is free, has four parts to pass in one session, lasts about three hours, and is held in Montréal and, twice a year, in Québec City.

This guide and its practice questions cover the TEF and TCF families, whose listening and reading parts are multiple choice.

Checked on Oct 28, 2026

Official sources: Québec.ca, knowledge of French (updated November 28, 2025); Québec.ca, exam of the Office québécois de la langue française for professional orders (updated January 28, 2026)

What each test looks like

TEF Canada: four compulsory parts, taken on the same day. Listening: 40 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes; each recording is played once, and you cannot go back to an earlier question. Reading: 40 multiple-choice questions in 1 hour; you can move freely between the questions. Writing: 1 hour, in two sections. Speaking: 15 minutes, in two sections.

TEFAQ (TEF Québec): the same four parts with the same timing, but each part can be taken on its own. For Québec immigration, you take one to four parts, depending on your program.

TCF Canada: four compulsory parts, 2 h 47 in all. Listening: 39 questions, 35 minutes. Reading: 39 questions, 60 minutes. Writing: three tasks, 60 minutes. Speaking: three tasks, 12 minutes, face to face with an examiner.

TCF Québec: you choose one, two, three or all four parts. Listening: 29 questions, 25 minutes. Reading: 29 questions, 45 minutes. Writing and speaking have the same number of tasks and the same time as in the TCF Canada. On a computer, listening and reading each add five trial questions that do not count toward the score.

In the TCF, listening and reading questions have four choices and one right answer, and they get harder as you go. Each listening recording is played only once.

Results: on the TEF, a right answer earns a point and a wrong or missing answer earns none; the certificate shows a score for each part on a scale up to 699, and results arrive in about two weeks. On the TCF, only right answers count and the score weighs each question’s difficulty; listening and reading get a score from 100 to 699 with a CEFR level, writing and speaking a mark out of 20 with a level, and results come, for example, within 10 working days for a computer test of the multiple-choice parts only; for a paper test, 15 working days after the papers reach France Éducation international.

Checked on Oct 27, 2026

Official sources: Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France), TEF Canada; Le français des affaires, TEF Canada, Take the test; Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France), TEF Québec (TEFAQ); Le français des affaires, preparing for the TEF listening test (December 11, 2023); Le français des affaires, preparing for the TEF reading test (December 11, 2023); Le français des affaires, TEF Canada: results; France Éducation international, TCF candidate manual (version Q, September 2026); France Éducation international, TCF Québec

The level each program asks for

Québec does not look for a pass mark. It converts the score of each part of a test into a level on its scale of 1 to 12 (the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français), and each program sets a minimum: a level for oral French and, for some programs, a level for written French. The minimums, as Québec.ca lists them, are in the table at the top of this page.

The tests score listening, speaking, reading and writing separately. To see which score gives which level, use Québec’s official conversion table (version of November 29, 2024).

Checked on Oct 28, 2026

Official sources: Québec.ca, Skilled Worker Selection Program, requirements (updated June 25, 2026); Québec.ca, knowledge of French (updated November 28, 2025); Québec.ca, conversion table between test scores and levels (version of November 29, 2024)

How long results last, and where to take a test

Québec accepts results that are two years old or less on the date you apply. The test makers give the same period: the TEF certificate is valid for two years from its date of issue, and the TCF certificate for two years.

Take the test at a centre the test maker has approved, since only those results are accepted. Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France) has a centre finder for the TEF Canada and the TEFAQ: choose the exam, the city or country, and a date. For the TCF, France Éducation international publishes the list of approved centres. Each centre gives its own session dates, place, registration steps and fee.

Checked on Oct 27, 2026

Official sources: Québec.ca, knowledge of French (updated November 28, 2025); Le français des affaires (CCI Paris Île-de-France), TEF Canada; France Éducation international, TCF candidate manual (version Q, September 2026); Le français des affaires, find an exam centre; France Éducation international, approved TCF centres (address given in the TCF candidate manual, version Q, September 2026)

Free French classes from the Government of Québec

The Government of Québec offers free French courses to everyone 16 and over who lives in Québec, is not subject to compulsory school attendance and wants to learn French, as well as to people planning to settle in Québec. Financial assistance is available to immigrants under certain conditions.

Full time: usually 10 weeks per session, 25 to 30 hours a week, Monday to Friday, in class anywhere in Québec or at a distance if needed; beginner and intermediate levels.

Part time: usually 10 or 11 weeks per session, 6, 9, 12, 16 or 20 hours a week with some exceptions, during the day or evening on weekdays or on weekends; beginner and intermediate levels.

Online: at your own pace, intermediate and advanced levels, for people living in Québec and for people living outside Canada. Specialized courses by field of work are given at a distance, usually six hours a week. From abroad, partner language schools also teach French, and their fees may be refunded when you arrive in Québec.

Checked on Oct 28, 2026

Official source: Québec.ca, Learn French (updated July 2, 2026)

The next questions

New practice questions are added in batches every few weeks, each one reviewed before it is published.

Québec’s requirements can change. Before you book a test, check the minimum for your program on Québec.ca, the official source.

Checked on Oct 28, 2026

Official source: Québec.ca, Skilled Worker Selection Program, requirements (updated June 25, 2026)