This is the requirement most likely to sink an application, so it is worth checking properly before you commit.
The formal standard
NCLC 5 in speaking and listening, demonstrated through a recognised French language test. Reading and writing are not assessed at that threshold.
The candidate arranges and pays for the test. Accepted tests and validity periods are set by IRCC and change.
Why employers should verify independently
Refusals under C16 have risen on the language element. Officers ask for stronger evidence of genuine French use, following the 2023 expansion that brought a much larger applicant pool.
A candidate whose French does not hold up costs you months and a non-refundable fee.
What you can do before the test
Have a conversation in French. If nobody on your team speaks it, ask a French-speaking colleague, a local francophone association, or a francophone community organisation to sit in on a call.
Fifteen minutes tells you a great deal.
What to listen for
Can they follow instructions without repetition. Can they describe their previous work unprompted. Can they ask a question and understand the answer.
That is roughly what NCLC 5 represents in practice.
What is not evidence
A CV written in French. Nationality. Having studied French at school. Coming from a country where French is an official language — many people in those countries speak it as a second or third language with varying fluency.
Where sourcing helps
Publishing to genuinely French-speaking markets produces candidates who use French daily, rather than candidates who listed it as a skill.
FrancoBridge publishes to Morocco, Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Mauritius and francophone Canada.
Language requirements change. Verify on canada.ca. This is not immigration advice.