Scores and levels
CRS language points, from CLB level to score
Enter your levels in each skill, for one or two official languages: the tool adds up the language points exactly as the Comprehensive Ranking System counts them.
Language-related CRS points
81
| First official language | 68 |
| Second official language | 0 |
| French bonus | 0 |
| Transferability: education + language | 13 |
| Transferability: foreign work + language | 0 |
Transferability also counts combinations without language (education or foreign work with Canadian experience): they are not included here.
In the Comprehensive Ranking System, language points are counted skill by skill, in up to two official languages and for your spouse. In your first official language, each of the four skills earns 6 points at CLB 4 or 5, 9 at 6, 17 at 7, 23 at 8, 31 at 9 and 34 at 10 or more for a single candidate, up to 136 in total; with an accompanying spouse the scale is slightly lower, up to 128. The second official language adds 1 point per skill at CLB 5 or 6, 3 at 7 or 8 and 6 at 9 or more, capped at 24 (22 with a spouse). A spouse's own test adds up to 20. Language also drives transferability points combined with education or foreign work, up to 50 per combination, and NCLC 7 in all four French skills opens an additional bonus of 25 or 50 points. The tool above adds all of it from your levels.
First-language points by level
Single
124
| With a spouse coming | 116 |
| One level more everywhere | +12 |
Charts, converters and questions by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How charts and questions are built
Where language sits in the 1,200 points
The IRCC criteria divide the score into four sections: core human capital factors (up to 500 points for a single candidate, 460 with a spouse), spouse factors (up to 40), skill transferability (up to 100) and additional points (up to 600), for a maximum of 1,200. Language appears in all four.
Points per skill, by level
| CLB / NCLC | First language, single | First language, with spouse | Second language | Spouse’s language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10+ | 34 | 32 | 6 | 5 |
| 9 | 31 | 29 | 6 | 5 |
| 8 | 23 | 22 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | 17 | 16 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
Multiply by four for a candidate with the same level everywhere. A single candidate at CLB 9 in all four skills of the first language has 124 points; at CLB 7, 68. The difference, 56 points, comes from language alone, before any transferability.
The second official language
Points start at CLB 5. Below that, a second-language test earns nothing in the core section. At the top, 6 per skill would give 24, but the total is capped at 24 for a single candidate and 22 with a spouse. For a French speaker whose second language is English, a modest English result therefore pays little here; its real value is elsewhere, in the French bonus explained on the French bonus page.
Transferability: language combined with something else
Language multiplies the value of education and foreign work experience. The two thresholds are CLB 7 or more in all four first-language skills with at least one under 9, and CLB 9 or more in all four.
| Combination | CLB 7+, one skill under 9 | CLB 9+ in all four |
|---|---|---|
| Post-secondary credential, one year or more | 13 | 25 |
| Two or more post-secondary credentials, master’s or doctorate | 25 | 50 |
| Foreign work experience, one or two years | 13 | 25 |
| Foreign work experience, three years or more | 25 | 50 |
Reaching CLB 9 in all four skills can therefore double these amounts. For a candidate with two or more post-secondary credentials and three years of work abroad, moving from CLB 8 to CLB 9 everywhere raises transferability from 50 to 100 points, before the first-language points themselves go up.
The French bonus in additional points
In the additional section, NCLC 7 or more in all four French skills adds 25 points when English is CLB 4 or lower or untested, and 50 points when English is CLB 5 or more in all four. It comes on top of everything above.
Using the calculator well
Enter the levels as IRCC will read them: one level per skill, from a test report under 2 years old. If you hold a TEF Canada report, the TEF Canada score page explains which column to use; for a TCF Canada report, see the TCF Canada score page. The tool covers language only: age, education and work experience are left out, so the figure is part of your score, not all of it.