Through their chosen exam, applicants must prove that they meet or exceed a minimum threshold in all four language abilities (listening, reading, speaking, writing). This threshold is set at Canadian Language benchmark (CLB) 7, which is defined as "adequate intermediate proficiency".
IELTS test results correspond to CLB scores as follows:
CLB Level 9 - IELTS Listening: 7.0 Reading: 8.0 Writing: 7.0 Speaking: 7.0
CLB Level 8 - IELTS Listening: 6.5 Reading: 7.5 Writing: 6.5 Speaking: 6.5
CLB Level 7 - IELTS Listening: 6.0 Reading: 6.0 Writing: 6.0 Speaking: 6.0
CLB Level 6 - IELTS Listening: 5.5 Reading: 5.5 Writing: 5.0 Speaking: 5.5
CLB Level 5 - IELTS Listening: 5.0 Reading: 5.0 Writing: 4.0 Speaking: 5.0
CLB Level 4 - IELTS Listening: 4.0 Reading: 4.5 Writing: 3.5 Speaking: 4.0