TCF Canada or TEF Canada: Which One Should You Choose from Cameroon?

To immigrate to Canada through Express Entry, you must prove your French with one of the two tests recognised by IRCC: the TCF Canada or the TEF Canada. Both open the same doors — language points, the French-language proficiency category in draws, the francophone bonus. That said, they are not alike. Here is how to choose, from Douala or Yaoundé.

What the two tests have in common

Four mandatory components for Express Entry: listening comprehension, reading comprehension, written expression, oral expression. Results are valid for two years and must still be valid on the day you submit your application. Scores are converted into CLB (Canadian Language Benchmark) levels, the only ones IRCC reads: CLB 7 in all four components for the French-language proficiency category, CLB 9 for the big points. And the same advice applies: prepare under real exam conditions, stopwatch in hand.

The TCF Canada, in brief

Designed by France Éducation international. Listening comprehension: 39 multiple-choice questions, each recording played only once, about 35 minutes. Reading comprehension: 39 questions, 60 minutes. Written expression: three tasks (message, narrative, argumentative text), 60 minutes. Oral expression: three tasks with an examiner, about 12 minutes. The comprehension components are marked out of 699, the expression components out of 20. In Cameroon, it is the most widely available test: it is offered in Douala and Yaoundé by the Institut français du Cameroun.

The TEF Canada, in brief

Designed by the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Paris Île-de-France. The same four-component logic, with slightly different formats: written expression has two tasks, oral expression has two sections, and the comprehension components include more questions. The TEF's own scoring is also converted into CLB levels. Sessions in Cameroon are less frequent than TCF sessions: check the dates with the accredited centres before making your choice.

How do you choose?

Choose the test you can sit the earliest, in the nearest city, with the best preparation available. At an equal level, both give you the same points: neither is "easier". What changes your result is the number of practice papers you complete under real exam conditions before the big day. If you are still hesitating: the TCF Canada has more sessions in Cameroon, more practice papers, and it is the one our trainers mark every week.

The choices that cost you dearly

Sitting a TCF "tout public" or a TCF pour le Québec instead of the TCF Canada: IRCC does not accept it for Express Entry. Sitting the test too early and letting it expire during the process. Sitting only the comprehension components: all four are required. And overlooking your spouse: their test, even with modest results, earns points for your application.

Prepare for the TCF Canada under real exam conditions, 8 practice papers included: /prepa-tcf.html — and see what your level would be worth: /admissibilite.html

One thing our trainers keep repeating

The Prépa TCF topics come up again at the exam: working through all of them, in full, maximises your chances of facing, on test day, a topic you have already practised.