From the outset, I share all the concerns expressed about the use of tests developed in France to assess the level of French proficiency of potential immigrants. Sociolinguistic and sociocultural elements often very “Franco-French”, limited presence of Quebecois elements, relevance of certain topics of conversation in relation to Quebec sociocultural realities, etc. In short, the idea of developing and a “Quebec” test and then using it comes naturally to mind and the question is legitimate: why are we still, in 2023, using two tests made in France (TEFaQ and TCFQ)? The answer is, unfortunately, flatly financial. Contrary to what one might think, developing such a test, meeting requirements commensurate with the challenges faced by immigrants, is very long and expensive. We are talking here about several years of work by a team of about ten people and a total budget of several million in order to finance the development and the very numerous validation tests necessary for the production of a operational test, including computer developments, recording of audio messages by professionals, etc. Since Quebec is a small market compared to France and the rest of the Francophonie, would such a test be economically viable there? It’s far from obvious…
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