Maple News reports that the official websites for IELTS and CELPIP, Canada’s two authorized language test providers for immigration applicants, are now fully operational after both experienced significant outages. The disruptions came in the wake of a government announcement on April 15 introducing six new limited-time permanent residency (PR) programs, which immediately triggered a flood of test booking attempts.
Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino revealed that up to 90,000 temporary residents—essential workers, recent international graduates, and French-speaking individuals—will be eligible to apply for PR under these new pathways starting May 6, with the deadline or cap closing on November 5, whichever comes first. Since language test results are a core requirement for economic immigration programs, the announcement led to an overwhelming surge in demand for test appointments.
To apply, candidates must complete a General Training version of the IELTS or CELPIP test. The required Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score is 4 for worker streams and 5 for student streams. Due to the pandemic, however, testing centres are operating at reduced capacity across Canada, limiting the number of available test slots during these critical weeks.
Although the online systems are back, test availability remains very low. The limited supply of slots has created uncertainty about whether the testing providers can scale up fast enough before or shortly after the May 6 launch. Both IELTS and CELPIP say they are actively working on solutions.
Betty Chan, Vice President of Operations at Paragon, the company that manages CELPIP, told Maple News via a written statement, “We expect to expand our operations in the coming weeks to meet this new demand… In the meantime, test takers can rest assured that we are continuing to reliably deliver tests at our centres across Canada and internationally.”
The six new PR pathways are specifically tailored for temporary foreign workers in 40 healthcare fields and 95 critical roles in other essential sectors, as well as recent international graduates of Canadian institutions. Eligibility is restricted to candidates currently residing in Canada, excluding Quebec, which manages its own immigration programs.
With demand running high and a finite number of spots available, applicants are urged to secure test schedules immediately and ensure all other documentation is ready in advance. This temporary policy shift could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for candidates who meet all criteria but were previously left out of Canada’s economic immigration frameworks.
Maple News will continue to monitor updates from IELTS, CELPIP, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) as the May 6 deadline approaches.