How many IELTS bands are required for Canada PR?

 Canada has the most livable cities in the world, offering state-of-the-art facilities, multicultural communities, excellent healthcare services, and more. If you wish to live and work in Canada, apply for Canada PR visa from India and start a new chapter in your life. However, to ensure that you communicate in Canada easily, you are required to provide proof of language proficiency to get a PR Visa, whether it is English or French. To prove your English language skills, you must take the IELTS General Training test for Canada immigration. 

Best Pathways to Immigrate to Canada

The Express Entry program is the fastest immigration pathway to obtain a Canada PR visa, which has three federal immigration programs - 

• Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)

• Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)

• Canadian Experience Class (CEC)

It is important to score the minimum band in the IELTS exam to be eligible along with other eligibility factors for Canada PR under Express Entry like age, education, work experience, adaptability, and arranged employment. 

Minimum IELTS Score Required for Canada PR 

You must score a minimum of 6 bands overall in the IELTS exam or CLB (Canadian Language Benchmark) level 7 to be eligible for Canada’s permanent residence visa as a skilled immigrant. 

The Express Entry program has specific IELTS band requirements for each of its immigration programs.

1. Federal Skilled Worker Program 

Under this program, maximum points are given if you achieve CLB 10 or higher - 34 and 32 (if you are married).

CLB Level	Points per band	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
7	4	6.0-7.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
8	5	7.5	6.5	6.5	6.5
9	6	8.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
10 or higher	6	8.5-9.0	8.0-9.0	7.5-9.0	7.5-9.0

With English as your second official language, you can get maximum points if - 

CLB Level	Points per band	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
5 or higher	4	5.0-9.0	4.0-9.0	5.0-9.0	4.0-9.0

2. Federal Skilled Trades Program 

Here are the minimum IELTS per band scores for various CLB levels - 

CLB Level	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
4	4.5	3.5	4.0	4.0
5	5.0	4.0	5.0	5.0
6	5.5	5.0	5.5	5.5
7	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
8	7.5	6.5	6.5	6.5
9	8.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
10 or higher	8.5-9.0	8.0-9.0	7.5-9.0	7.5-9.0

3. Canadian Experience Class

If you have work experience in Canada under NOC Skill Level A, a minimum of CLB 7 is required. For NOC Skill B, you need a minimum CLB of 5. Following are the different CLB levels with their respective IELTS scores - 

NOC Skill level	CLB Level	Listening	Reading	Speaking	Writing
A	10 or higher	8.5-9.0	8.0-9.0	7.5-9.0	7.5-9.0
A	9	8.0	7.0	7.0	7.0
A	8	7.5	6.5	6.5	6.5
A	7	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
B	6	5.5	5.0	5.5	5.5
B	5	5.0	4.0	5.0	5.0

What if you get a low IELTS score? 

Don’t worry as IRCC (Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada) offers more than 80 immigration programs to help skilled immigrants move to Canada. Express Entry is one of these. But it requires high language skills to apply for a PR visa. There are many immigration programs with IELTS score requirements to apply. One of them is Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs). Some of the PNPs with minimum IELTS score requirements are - 

• Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP): 4.5

• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP): 4.5

• Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP): Score as low as 4.5

Furthermore, Quebec Skilled Worker Programs (QSWP) and Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP) are some other programs that require low IELTS scores for Canada PR. 

Nationwide Visas, one of the best Canada immigration consultants in Noida, have helped numerous individuals and their families successfully immigrate to Canada. Their team of skilled and knowledgeable immigration experts can carefully evaluate your situation and recommend the most appropriate approach to meet your specific needs. So what are you waiting for? Contact today!