What does French for Canada PR really cost? Classes, tutors, exams and retakes, from zero to NCLC 7

Most articles quote the TEF or TCF Canada fee and stop there. That's the smallest line in the budget. The real cost of French for Canadian PR is getting to NCLC 7 in all four skills: hundreds of hours of learning, some of it paid, then one or two exam attempts, and sometimes travel to a centre in another city.

Below is every cost line, with real 2026 prices where centres publish them and honest ranges where they don't, then three complete budgets and what you get back in CRS points. Prices change and vary by city, so treat the ranges as a starting point and check your local centre.

~550–600 h

Zero to B2, one AF estimate

~₹26,000

One TEF or TCF Canada attempt in India

+62 CRS

NCLC 7 in all four, English-first applicant

Hours drive everything else. The Alliance Française di Trieste estimates about 200 hours to A2, 380 to B1 and 550–600 to B2, and research for the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks places NCLC 7 at B1+, so B2 is a safe target. Alliance Française de Leeds puts B2 at 560–650 hours, and our calculator below uses that range. Where you start changes the bill more than any choice of school. Enter your level and weekly hours:

Already at A2 or B1? Your budget could be half of the figures below. The detail by level is in how long it takes to reach CLB 7.

Classes: the Alliance Française route

Alliance Française centres publish their own course prices. As one real example, AF Chandigarh's June–September 2026 timetable lists a 130-hour A1 course at ₹24,504 including GST, books extra, and a 260-hour A1+A2 hyperintensive at ₹47,373. That's under ₹200 per class hour. At a similar rate, four levels to B2 would come to about ₹1 lakh in tuition, if higher levels are priced the same (ask your centre). In Canada and the US, group classes cost more per hour; check your local AF's course page for the current price and the number of hours per term.

Self-study: free to cheap, but not free of cost

You can get a long way for nothing: radio news, podcasts, YouTube, library grammar books and the official sample tests listed in our free practice tests guide. Our grammar PDF and CLB 7 study plan are free too. Our free French study route for PR puts these in order. The cost of self-study is time and blind spots: nobody tells you why your writing scores NCLC 6.

Tutors: buy feedback, not hours

Online tutoring marketplaces list French tutors from roughly US$10 an hour for conversation partners to US$25–40 or more for experienced exam-prep teachers, at the time of writing. You don't need a tutor for everything. The best value is a short block of sessions focused on writing correction and speaking practice, the two skills that are hardest to judge alone.

Fees change and each centre sets its own, so confirm on the centre's page before paying. The fees guide covers refunds and rescheduling. To total the fee with a possible retake, use the French exam budget calculator. One thing never to save on: booking a cheaper TCF Tout Public or TEF Québec by mistake. Only TEF Canada and TCF Canada count for Express Entry.

Each profile assumes a complete beginner aiming for B2-level practice scores (about 550–600 hours of learning in total). The money changes; the hours don't. Rough conversions at US$1 ≈ ₹85 ≈ CA$1.37.

How we built it: Indian class costs use AF Chandigarh's published 2026 rate (about ₹190 per class hour); Canadian classes use CA$15–30 per class hour; tutors are US$10–15 an hour (frugal), US$15–25 (balanced) and US$25–40 (fast-track). Travel isn't included. Your numbers will differ, so swap in your own local prices.

Count what NCLC 7 in all four French skills earns, using IRCC's CRS grid for a single applicant:

Then there's what points don't show: French-language proficiency draws, which IRCC opens only to candidates with NCLC 7 in all four abilities, and which have often cut off well below general draws (see French draw CRS cut-offs). For many candidates stuck in the 400s, that access matters more than the 62 points.

Rough cost per point: the balanced Indian budget of about ₹1.6 lakh for 62 points is roughly ₹2,600 per CRS point. Run your own numbers with the calculator below, and compare with the alternatives in French vs IELTS for CRS.

The return keeps growing past NCLC 7. NCLC 9–10 French and your CRS shows what the extra levels are worth.