Searching for "TEF Canada fee" turns up a dozen numbers and no authority behind any of them. There is a reason, and Le français des affaires states it plainly: it does not set a retail price at all. This page explains who does, what that means for your budget, how a booking is actually made, what you must bring, and how the result reaches you afterwards. Once the date is fixed, the Myndaq TEF and TCF Canada course covers the four abilities you will be marked on.
The short version
- Nobody publishes one price for TEF Canada. The provider's own words: "Registration fees are set by the test center. Prices may vary from one center to another and according to the number of tests."
- You book with a centre, not with the test owner. Le français des affaires lists 500 official test centres in over 110 countries and takes no bookings itself.
- Bring your ID and your invitation. At a TEF Canada sitting "the supervisor checks your ID and your invitation", and nothing but your identity document may stay on the table.
- Results are digital and quick. A TEF Canada certificate arrives by email as a link to an online digital safe, within 1 to 10 business days.
- A TEF Canada certificate is valid for two years from the date it is issued - and IRCC separately requires your result to be under two years old at two different points in an Express Entry application.
- TCF Canada's fees, turnaround and validity are not stated here. France Éducation international publishes them and its site was unreachable on our verification date, so this page repeats no figure it could not read at source.
Why there is no single fee
Le français des affaires does not run its own exam rooms. It accredits local centres, and the price you pay is the local centre's.
TEF Canada. The registration page states that fees are set by the test centre and vary between centres and according to the number of tests. That second clause is the one budgets miss: the immigration package is four tests, while a citizenship candidate sitting only listening and speaking has a different bill.
TCF Canada. The same shape of arrangement is widely reported - approved centres, local rates - but France Éducation international's pages were unreachable when this article was verified, so nothing about who sets the TCF fee, or what it is, is asserted here. Your approved centre is the one to ask, and it is the only source that can quote you a figure anyway.
So the only honest answer to "what does it cost" is the one Le français des affaires gives outright: ask the centre. When you ask, get five things in writing.
- The total, and the currency it is charged in.
- Exactly which tests that total covers.
- Whether any local tax or service charge sits on top.
- The payment method and the date the payment must clear.
- The centre's own closing date for the session you want.
Beware bundled quotes. A centre that also sells preparation courses may quote one figure for tuition plus exam; ask for the exam entry on its own line.
Who can register
Le français des affaires sets a simple bar for TEF Canada: "You must be at least 16 years old. No diploma is required to sit the exam." There is no prerequisite level, no required certificate below it and no order you have to work through.
How to book TEF Canada
- Find an approved centre. Use the centre finder on the Le français des affaires site; there are 500 of them across more than 110 countries.
- Choose the right TEF. TEF Canada is the version Le français des affaires publishes for people who "wish to apply for immigration or citizenship in Canada". Other TEF versions answer other procedures, so make sure the centre books you under the TEF Canada name.
- Register through that centre, on its dates and by its process. The provider's own advice is to "anticipate your registration as soon as possible."
- Confirm the same-day arrangement. For a certificate the Canadian authorities will recognise, the four immigration tests have to be taken on one day, so make sure that is what the centre has booked you into.
If you cannot attend
Registration for TEF Canada is final and non-refundable. Where an absence is justified by a documented major reason - illness, a professional obligation, a death in the family - the provider allows a rescheduled session at no additional cost. An unjustified absence is simply lost.
How to book TCF Canada
TCF Canada is also delivered through a network of approved centres rather than by the test owner directly, so the booking conversation is with a centre. We could not reach France Éducation international's pages on the verification date to set out its published procedure, and rather than paraphrase a process from second-hand sites, this page points you at the source: france-education-international.fr for the official procedure, and your nearest approved centre for dates and price.
Whatever the centre offers, confirm the version by name. TCF Canada is the one built for Canadian procedures, and the other TCF versions are not interchangeable with it.
What to bring on the day
Identity is checked at the door, and the requirement is narrower than candidates expect.
- TEF Canada - "the supervisor checks your ID and your invitation" before the tests begin, and personal belongings may not sit on the table during the tests "with the exception of your ID".
- TCF Canada - bring valid photo identity as your centre instructs. France Éducation international's own ID rules were unreachable when this article was verified, so ask your centre exactly which document it will accept, and whether an original is required.
Two practical consequences. First, register under the name printed on the document you will actually carry, because a mismatch is discovered at the worst possible moment. Second, check the expiry date on that document against your exam date, not against today.
If you need an adjustment for a disability or a medical condition, raise it with the centre when you register rather than on the day.
How your result reaches you
TEF Canada
No paper certificate is issued. You receive an email with a link to an online digital safe, and Le français des affaires states that results are sent "within 1 to 10 business days from the day you take your test." Its overview page puts the same window more loosely as approximately two weeks; plan against the longer figure.
The certificate carries your score in each test, your level on the Council of Europe's CEFR scale and the corresponding Canadian Language Benchmarks level. Le français des affaires stores it for ten years, so download and keep your own copy for anything beyond that.
The certificate number has two parts: the form number before the hyphen and the NIP after it. Both are needed when you enter the result for IRCC.
If something went wrong during your test - an anomaly or a serious malfunction - you may appeal within a maximum of 30 days from the date the results certificate is issued. That window is for exam conditions, not for disagreeing with a mark.
TCF Canada
The turnaround is France Éducation international's to publish and its pages were unreachable when this article was verified, so no figure is given here. What IRCC's own equivalency table shows is the shape of the result: listening and reading come back as numbers running up to 699, while writing and speaking come back as marks out of 20. Ask your centre when the attestation will be issued before you plan a deadline around it.
How long the result lasts
Le français des affaires is explicit: "Your results certificate is valid for 2 years (from the date of issue)." For TCF Canada we could not read the owner's own validity statement on the verification date, so check it with France Éducation international or your centre rather than assuming the two tests match.
IRCC words its rule from the other end. For Express Entry, your test results must be less than 2 years old both when you complete your profile and when you submit your permanent residence application. A result that has aged past that at either checkpoint does not meet the requirement.
Those are two checkpoints, not one, and they can be many months apart. A certificate that is comfortably valid on the day you create a profile can be out of date by the time an invitation arrives, so count forward from the issue date before you decide your test is "done".
Quick answers
How much does TEF Canada cost?
There is no published national price. The test centre sets the fee, and it varies by centre and by how many tests you sit. Ask your centre for the total in writing.
How much does TCF Canada cost?
There is no figure here, deliberately. France Éducation international's pages were unreachable when this article was verified, and the prices circulating on third-party sites vary widely and trace back to no test owner. The approved centre you register with is the only source that can quote your actual total.
Can I get a refund if I cannot sit the test?
TEF Canada registration is final and non-refundable, but a documented major reason such as illness, a professional obligation or a family death can get you a rescheduled session at no extra cost. An unjustified absence is not refunded.
What identity document do I need?
For TEF Canada, the supervisor checks your ID and your invitation before the tests begin, and your identity document is the only thing allowed to stay on the table. For TCF Canada, ask your centre which document it accepts - we could not read the owner's own rule at source.
How fast do results come out?
Le français des affaires sends TEF Canada results within 1 to 10 business days, as a link to an online digital safe; its overview page describes the same window as roughly two weeks. For TCF Canada, ask your centre - the owner's published turnaround could not be read at source.
Do I need a qualification to register?
Not for TEF Canada: "You must be at least 16 years old. No diploma is required to sit the exam."
