As of December 5th, new candidates to the Quebec Skilled Worker program who want to receive points for language for French and/or English, will have to submit test results along with their application.
For French, only the following tests are valid:
Test d'Évaluation de Français (TEF)
Test d'Évaluation de Français adapté au Québec (TEFAQ)
Test de connaissance du français (TCF) pour le Québec
Diplôme d'études en langue française (DELF)/ Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF)
For English, only the following test is valid:
International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
Only in the case of French can a spouse be awarded points, and in this case he/she must also take a French test from the establishments mentioned above, and submit results along with the principal applicant's results.
This change is not retroactive, so applications received at Quebec Immigration visa offices before December 5th (or postmarked before December 5th) do not need to submit language test scores - in these cases their language proficiency will continue to be evaluated at an interview. However, according to Robert Baril, Quebec Assistant Deputy Minister for Immigration, "[We] suggest that all candidates whose applications were received before December 5th to [also] submit test scores to confirm their language skills in French and English; this can help the candidate and accelerate the processing of their application."
These changes are universal, applying to all applicants, no matter whether they come from a French or English speaking country or not.
The government states that its aim is to standardize testing to make it more fair for all applicants - whereas previously tests were not required and it was left up to individual visa officers to evaluate each candidate at an interview.
The Quebec Skilled Worker program works on a points system, allocated according to training, age, language proficiency, work experience, family characteristics, and other criteria.
Canadavisa.com will continue to keep you up to date on changes to the Quebec Immigration program, and Campbell Cohen clients will similarly be personally notified of any changes that affect them on this matter, and advised accordingly.
