Maple News reports that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is developing a dedicated field on the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) portal to submit language test results, as part of a broader push to modernize its online services and reduce applicant confusion.
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s office told Global News that the change is part of wider IT improvements at the department and acknowledged that the current application portal has caused confusion for some international graduates.
IRCC first introduced a language test requirement for PGWP applications in 2024, but the agency said the necessary portal update could not be completed at the time due to system limitations.
Since November 1, 2024, PGWP applicants must submit language test results from an officially designated test in either English or French. The results are valid for two years from the testing date.
The lack of a clear language-test field led many applicants to believe the test was not required, resulting in submissions that omitted language results and, in some cases, rejection for missing documents. IRCC reported that between November 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025, the department received more than 302,000 PGWP applications, with 945 refusals attributed to language-related reasons.
There is currently no announced rollout date for the new field. Until IRCC completes the update, international students should continue to follow the agency’s existing guidelines for submitting language test results with their PGWP applications.
This modernization effort reflects a broader objective to streamline the application process for international graduates and reduce processing delays, a topic Maple News will continue to monitor as IRCC advances its IT improvements.