Canadian Experience Class With French: Levels, CRS and Draws

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) accepts French for its language requirement. If your Canadian work experience is in a TEER 0 or 1 job, you need NCLC 7 in all four abilities. For a TEER 2 or 3 job, you need NCLC 5 in all four. TCF Canada and TEF Canada results count, and they must be less than 2 years old when you create your Express Entry profile and when you submit your PR application.

The minimum is the easy part. The real value of French for a CEC candidate is the CRS score: NCLC 7 in all four French skills plus CLB 5+ in English adds a 50-point bonus and up to 24 second-language points, and it opens French-language draws, which cut off between 382 and 435 points in 2026, while CEC draws stayed between 507 and 523. The worked examples below show what that gap means for real profiles.

CEC eligibility in one minute

From IRCC's CEC page (updated 16 October 2026), you need:

• 1 year of skilled Canadian work (1,560 hours, counted at 30 hours a week) in the 3 years before you apply, in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 jobs.
• Work done in Canada (Quebec counts) while authorized under temporary resident status. Paid work only.
• Time spent self-employed or studying full time while working doesn't count.
• Approved language test results meeting the minimum in all four abilities.
• A plan to live outside Quebec.

There's no education requirement for the CEC itself, although education still earns CRS points.

The language minimum by TEER

IRCC's Express Entry language page sets the CEC minimum by the TEER category of your Canadian experience, for your first official language:

Three things to know:

• French or English, your choice. You can meet the minimum in either language. Many CEC candidates meet it in English and use French purely for points.
• Each skill counts on its own. One skill below the minimum means you're not eligible, however high the others are.
• TEF candidates enter the ancien score. For Express Entry, IRCC uses only the "Équivalence ancien score" column (listening /360, reading /300, writing and speaking /450), never the /699 score.

Pick your lowest speaking or listening level and your lowest reading or writing level to see which CEC route and which other programs you meet:

To convert actual test scores, use the NCLC score converter: it reads both TCF Canada and TEF Canada results.

How French raises your CRS

French can enter your CRS in three ways. All three use the same TCF Canada or TEF Canada result.

1. As your first official language

If French is your stronger language, you can declare it as your first official language. It then scores up to 34 points per ability (32 with a spouse), and it decides your skill-transferability points with education and work experience.

First-language points are much larger than second-language points: moving one ability from NCLC 7 to NCLC 9 is worth 14 points as a first language (17 to 31 for a single candidate), against 3 as a second language. So if your French and English are close, run your profile both ways in the CRS calculator before you decide which test to retake.

2. As your second official language

If English is your first official language, each French ability earns second-language points, capped at 24 in total (22 with a spouse):

3. The French bonus

The CRS adds additional points for strong French:

• 25 points for NCLC 7+ in all four French abilities with CLB 4 or lower in English (or no English test).
• 50 points for NCLC 7+ in all four French abilities with CLB 5+ in all four English abilities.

The bonus is all-or-nothing at NCLC 7. An NCLC 6 in one skill gives you no bonus at all. Try your own combination:

For a full breakdown of these points, see how many CRS points French is worth.

French-language draws: the shortcut for CEC candidates

Express Entry runs two kinds of rounds that matter here:

• CEC rounds, open only to CEC-eligible candidates.
• French-language proficiency rounds, open to candidates eligible for any of the three Express Entry programs (CEC included) who have NCLC 7 or higher in all four French abilities.

From IRCC's official rounds data for 2026 (up to 16 October):

A CEC candidate with NCLC 7 French is in both pools. They can be invited by whichever round they clear first. The latest French round:

The most recent French round, on 16 October 2026, cut off at 435, the highest of the year. Cut-offs move with the pool, so treat past rounds as a guide, not a promise. Our guide to the French-language proficiency category covers how these rounds work, and the French draw tracker lists every round.

Worked examples

Illustrative profiles, calculated with the CRS grid on canada.ca under the rules in force until 2 November 2026. All three are single, with no provincial nomination.

Priya: TEER 2, a college diploma and English CLB 8

Priya is 27, holds a 2-year diploma from a Canadian college and has 1 year of Canadian work as a medical laboratory technologist (TEER 2). She has CLB 8 in all four English abilities, so she already meets the CEC minimum.

At 381, no CEC round in 2026 came close. At NCLC 7, her 443 is above every French-round cut-off of 2026, including the 435 of 16 October. For Priya, French is the difference between waiting and being invited.

Daniel: TEER 1, a master's degree and English CLB 9

Daniel is 31, holds a master's degree from a Canadian university (a 1-year program) and has 2 years of Canadian work as a software developer (TEER 1). With CLB 9 in English, his score is 476: good, but 31 to 47 points short of 2026's CEC cut-offs.

With NCLC 7 in all four French skills, he gains 12 second-language points and the 50-point bonus: 538. That's above every CEC cut-off of 2026 and every French cut-off. Two routes instead of none.

Mariam: francophone, TEER 0, no English test

Mariam is 30, has a bachelor's degree and 1 year of Canadian work as a restaurant manager (TEER 0). French is her first official language, at NCLC 7 in all four. She meets the TEER 0 minimum.

For a francophone, CLB 5 in English is worth 29 points. That's often the cheapest gain available, and our guide to TCF/TEF vs IELTS for Express Entry compares the tests involved.

Try your own profile. This compact calculator leaves out Canadian education points; the full CRS calculator includes everything.

What changes on 3 November 2026

IRCC announced on 16 October 2026 that from 3 November 2026, Canadian work experience and job offers will be scored through a new Labour Market Integration factor, worth up to 150 points (140 with a spouse):

• Work-length points for Canadian experience stay the same as today: 40, 53, 64, 72 and 80 points for 1 to 5+ years (35 to 70 with a spouse).
• High-wage points are added for at least 12 months of Canadian experience in eligible high-wage occupations: +70, +40 or +20, depending on the occupation's median wage.
• Job offers in high-wage occupations earn points again, without an LMIA. You get points for work experience or a job offer, not both.
• IRCC says profiles will be recalculated, which could take up to two weeks, and invitation rounds will pause meanwhile.

French points are not part of the change: the CRS criteria page, updated the same day, still lists the 25 or 50-point bonus and the second-language points. For CEC candidates, this means French keeps its value, but some competitors with high-wage experience will gain points, which may push CEC cut-offs up. Our news item on the 3 November 2026 CRS changes has the full tables, and the CRS score breakdown explains every line of the score.

Mistakes CEC candidates make with French

• Stopping at NCLC 6. Second-language points barely move until NCLC 7, where the bonus and French rounds start.
• Entering the TEF /699 scores. For Express Entry, use only the ancien column.
• Letting the result expire. It must be less than 2 years old at profile creation and at PR application. A result that's valid when you're invited can still expire before you submit.
• Testing English only "to be safe". If you're francophone, a CLB 5 English test is worth 29 points; if you're anglophone, NCLC 7 French is worth 62.
• Counting the wrong experience. Self-employment and work while studying full time don't count toward the CEC year.

Your plan

1. Check your TEER and your current minimum

   Confirm the TEER of your Canadian job, then check your levels with the language requirements checker.

2. Measure your French

   Take the free French level test, then a full timed TCF Canada mock test or TEF Canada mock test.

3. Set the target: NCLC 7 in all four

   Our NCLC 7 TCF Canada scores and NCLC 7 TEF Canada scores guides give the exact numbers. Train the weakest skill first.

4. Book, then update your profile

   Find a session on the test centres page. When your result arrives, add it to your profile and watch both CEC and French rounds.

For every French route in one place, see French for Express Entry. If you graduated in Canada and haven't applied for your work permit yet, our guide to the PGWP language requirement in French shows how to plan one test for both steps.