The sticker price of CELPIP is simple: $299 CAD plus tax for CELPIP-General in Canada as of 2026. The real cost of getting your target score is less simple, because it depends on tax, on how you handle a date change, and above all on whether you pass on the first attempt. This page covers all of it - with the caveat that fees change, so confirm the current number for your centre on celpip.ca before you pay.
The base fee, with tax
Tax follows the province of your test centre, which is why the same test costs noticeably different amounts across Canada:
| Test centre province | Sales tax | Approx. total |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta (GST only) | 5% | ~$314 |
| British Columbia | 5% GST | ~$314 |
| Ontario (HST) | 13% | ~$338 |
| Atlantic provinces (HST) | 15% | ~$344 |
CELPIP-General LS - the listening-and-speaking version accepted only for citizenship - is priced lower, and international sittings are priced in local currency by country. The version differences are covered in the booking guide.
Refunds and rescheduling: the 7-day rule
One threshold governs everything: seven or more days before your test date. On the right side of it you have options; inside it you have none.
| Action | 7+ days before | Under 7 days |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer date/centre | First transfer free; later ones ~$50 + tax | Not available |
| Cancel | 50% refund | No refund |
| No-show / late arrival | - | Full fee forfeited |
The practical reading: if anything might conflict with your date, decide eight days out, and prefer a transfer over a cancellation - a transfer preserves the full fee, a cancellation burns half of it. And treat the arrival rule as part of the price: check-in closes 15 minutes before the start, and arriving after that costs the entire fee.
The real cost driver: retakes
CELPIP has no partial retake - if you hit your target in three skills and miss by one level in the fourth, the whole test is booked again at full price. There is no official limit on attempts, so the worst-case budget is open-ended: two attempts in Ontario is already ~$676, three is over a thousand dollars. This is why the cheapest money you can spend on CELPIP is whatever tells you your level before you book: a full mock test scored on the CLB-aligned scale costs nothing here and answers exactly the question the $338 sitting would otherwise answer for you.
Budgeting the whole journey
- Test fee: $299 + tax per attempt, as of 2026.
- Preparation: free to modest - our practice bank, answer templates and guides are free; paid prep is optional, not required.
- Sending scores: nothing - IRCC verifies your result electronically from the report in your account.
- Validity window: results are valid for two years for immigration purposes. An expired result means paying again, so time the test against your application, not before it.
Compared with IELTS, the fees sit in the same range in Canada and change periodically on both sides; cost is rarely the right basis for choosing. Which format fits you better matters far more - that comparison is in CELPIP vs IELTS.