What CELPIP costs in October 2026
CELPIP-General costs ₹15,500 in India and CAD 299 plus applicable taxes in Canada, per the official India test-date table and CELPIP's test overview page, both read on 21 October 2026. CELPIP-General LS, the two-skill test used for Canadian citizenship, costs ₹9,500 at the two Indian centres that list it and CAD 199 plus taxes in Canada. One fee buys one sitting of every component of that test. There is no separate Speaking booking and no single-skill retake, so a second attempt costs the full fee again. Older figures still circulate (CAD 280, CAD 290, CAD 295), and some of them sit on celpip.ca itself, so every number below names the page it came from. The amount that binds you is the one shown next to your session on the official date table, then on the payment screen.
- India: ₹15,500 for CELPIP-General at all 48 centres with dates; ₹9,500 for LS at Kochi and Panjim.
- Canada: CAD 299 plus applicable taxes; the date table already shows CAD 306 for sittings in January and February 2027.
- Philippines PHP 10,000. Nigeria NGN 229,000. Dubai AED 1,100 from November (AED 1,200 for the two October sittings).
- Cancel at least 7 days ahead for a 50 per cent refund. First transfer free, then CAD 50 or equivalent plus tax.
- In India you can pay by UPI, RuPay, net banking, wallets or EMI through CC Avenue.
| Where you sit | CELPIP-General | CELPIP-General LS | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | ₹15,500 per sitting, every centre | ₹9,500 (Kochi and Panjim only) | India date table, 1,794 sessions |
| Canada | CAD 299 plus applicable taxes at most sittings; CAD 306 on every January and February 2027 sitting and at a few centres before that | CAD 199 plus taxes at most sittings; CAD 206 on January and February 2027 sittings and a few earlier ones | Test overview page and Canada date table, 5,629 sessions |
| Philippines | PHP 10,000 | None listed | Philippines date table, 54 sessions |
| Nigeria | NGN 229,000 | None listed | Nigeria date table, 342 sessions |
| United Arab Emirates (Dubai) | AED 1,200 on 24 and 31 October, AED 1,100 from 7 November | None listed | UAE date table, 10 sessions |
| Mexico, Japan, Brazil | MXN 4,000, ¥28,000 and R$1,100, each plus tax, from 1 October 2024 | Not stated | Fee change notice of 28 June 2024; we did not re-check those tables this week |
The session counts are what each table listed on 21 October 2026, for sittings from Friday 23 October 2026 onwards. They change daily as seats fill and centres add dates. Start with CELPIP's official date finder or the India test-date page, and use our city-by-city guide to dates and centres to pick a place.
Why every site quotes a different fee
Search "celpip fee" and you get three or four answers. Part of the reason is that celpip.ca has not updated every page at the same time. These are the Canadian prices printed on CELPIP's own pages on 21 October 2026:
| celpip.ca page | General | LS | What to make of it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who accepts CELPIP: IRCC page | CAD 280 plus taxes | CAD 195 plus taxes | Stale. The page still carries template placeholder text. |
| Fee change notice, 28 June 2024 | CAD 290 plus tax from 1 October 2024 (CAD 280 before) | Not stated | The last formal notice. True in late 2024, not now. |
| CELPIP-General and CELPIP-General LS pages | CAD 290 plus taxes | CAD 195 plus taxes | Stale. |
| Guidebook for Test Takers, July 2026 (PDF) | CAD 295 plus taxes | CAD 199 plus taxes | Correct for mid 2026, overtaken since. |
| Test overview, Canadian residency and Canadian citizenship pages | CAD 299 plus taxes where applicable | CAD 199 plus taxes | Current. Matches most of the date table to December 2026. |
| Canada date table | CAD 299 at about 98 per cent of General sittings to December 2026 (a few centres already CAD 306, one CAD 295); CAD 306 in January and February 2027 | CAD 199 at most sittings; CAD 206 in January and February 2027 and at a few centres earlier | This is the price you are charged against. |
Our reading: CAD 299 is the live Canadian price. Every General sitting listed for January and February 2027 already shows CAD 306, and every LS sitting in those months shows CAD 206, so if you book a 2027 date in Canada expect the higher figure. We found no fee notice explaining it on 21 October 2026. The overview page says international pricing "will vary" and links to a page that returned "not found" the day we checked, so for India, the Philippines, Nigeria and the UAE the country date table is the only official price list we could find.
The rupee question: is it ₹15,500 or more?
CELPIP's India landing page and the India date table both show ₹15,500 and say nothing about tax. Some Indian coaching and college-listing sites quote a higher total that adds GST on top, and a few still show an older, lower figure. We could not confirm on any CELPIP page whether tax is added at checkout for Indian bookings. Plan for ₹15,500 as the base and read the total on the payment screen before you confirm. If the checkout figure differs from the table, the checkout figure is what you pay.
General or LS: do not pay for the wrong test
CELPIP sells two tests and they are not interchangeable. The wrong one is the most expensive mistake on this page, because neither fee is refunded once you have sat it.
| CELPIP-General | CELPIP-General LS | |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking | Listening and Speaking only |
| Time | Under 3 hours, one sitting (overview page) | About 70 minutes (overview page) |
| Used for | Express Entry, Provincial Nominee Programs, PGWP, professional designation, Australian visas | Canadian citizenship |
| India fee | ₹15,500 | ₹9,500, Kochi and Panjim only |
| Canada fee | CAD 299 plus taxes | CAD 199 plus taxes |
- Permanent residence. IRCC's Express Entry language-testing page (modified 16 October 2026) lists CELPIP-General. An LS result cannot be used for Express Entry, because it has no Reading or Writing score.
- Post-Graduation Work Permit. CELPIP's home page and FAQ say to choose "Canadian permanent residency (PR)" or "temporary residency (TR) (IRCC)" as the test purpose, and to register with your passport.
- Citizenship. IRCC's citizenship language page says applicants aged 18 to 54 must show CLB 4 or higher in speaking and listening. CELPIP describes LS as "officially designated for citizenship applications by IRCC". If you are a permanent resident in Brampton or Surrey applying for citizenship, LS is the cheaper test built for exactly that.
LS is mostly a Canadian test. The Canada table listed 332 LS sessions in 45 cities on 21 October 2026; the India table listed nine, five at Panjim and four at Kochi. The full timing breakdown is on our General vs LS format page.
How to register, step by step
Registration is online. CELPIP's contact page FAQ is blunt about the alternatives: there is no walk-in registration, and test centres "do not process any registration applications". The one exception it names is the Philippines, where you can register and pay in person at the Magsaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts. Paper forms by post are for minors registering in Canada.
- Choose the session first. Open the official date table for your country, filter by city and test type (General or LS), and note the date, start time and centre. "Register Now" takes you to the registration system at celpip-registration.paragontesting.ca. The older secure.celpip.ca address showed only a blank server test page when we tried it on 21 October 2026, so use the Sign In link on celpip.ca.
- Create your CELPIP Account. Enter your name, date of birth and passport details exactly as they appear on your passport. The contact FAQ says these must "match exactly" on test day, and changes need an email to CELPIP at least seven days before the test.
- Pick the test purpose. For Express Entry and PGWP, choose the IRCC permanent or temporary residence purpose.
- Choose the ID you will bring. In India, the Philippines and Nigeria the test-day page accepts a passport booklet or a refugee travel document, nothing else. The UAE adds the Emirates ID; Canada adds the PR card and some other documents. Do not send your passport away for a visa stamp before test day: CELPIP refuses entry without the registered document and gives no refund.
- Pay. In India, CC Avenue takes RuPay cards, UPI, net banking, wallets and EMI options from Indian banks. Elsewhere, Stripe takes Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, Diners Club, JCB, Apple Pay and Google Pay, among others. Full payment must be on one card. If your registration sits as "pending", the FAQ says to finish payment from the shopping cart within 24 hours.
- Check the confirmation email. It carries your registration number, your name, the centre address, date and time. Fix any spelling difference from your passport at once. Bring a printed or digital copy on test day.
Two deadlines matter. Registration for a sitting closes one business day before the test or when the sitting is full, whichever comes first, per the contact FAQ. Under-18s use the registration form for minors on the policies and forms page, which also holds the special accommodations form. The contact FAQ asks for at least two months' notice before the test date for an accommodations request.
Vouchers and agents in India
CELPIP's India page invites you to "purchase a voucher to get support with test scheduling and registration". Vouchers come from authorised providers only, and the official voucher providers page says "Only the organizations listed below are authorized providers". For India, on 21 October 2026, that list named ten:
- ApplyBoard
- iLogicTech
- Infinite Overseas
- Nationwide Visas
- OSS Education
- The English Advantage
- Sardar Patel B Ed College
- SattvaQ IT Solutions Pvt Ltd
- StormEdugo
- Swarrnim Startup & Innovation University
Several of these also run test centres that appear in the India date table. CELPIP does not publish voucher prices, so we cannot tell you whether one saves money. Three rules keep you safe. Check the seller's name against the official list before paying. Ask what the voucher costs compared with ₹15,500 booked directly, and what the difference buys. And keep your own CELPIP Account login: your scores, score report and any re-evaluation request all live there, not with the agent.
Cancel, transfer, retake: the money rules
These rules come from the policies and forms page and the contact page FAQ, read on 21 October 2026. Days are calendar days before your test date.
| Situation | Rule | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| You cancel 7 or more days before | Cancellation granted, from your CELPIP Account | 50 per cent refunded (₹7,750 back on ₹15,500; CAD 149.50 back on CAD 299) |
| You cancel less than 7 days before | Cancellation granted | No refund |
| You move to another date, 7 or more days before | Same test type only; date, time or centre can change | First transfer free; later ones CAD 50 or equivalent plus applicable taxes |
| You need to move inside 7 days | Contact customer service with documents (a doctor's note, evidence of bereavement) | At Paragon's discretion |
| You want someone else to take your seat | Not allowed: "Test registrations cannot be transferred to another person" | The fee is lost if you cancel inside 7 days |
| Wrong, expired or photocopied ID, or you arrive after check-in closes | Refused entry | No refund and no transfer |
| You want to sit again | No more than one session within five calendar days | The full fee again |
| CELPIP cancels the session | You are told by email | Refund on request, or the fee moves to another session |
The refund amounts in brackets are our arithmetic on the published 50 per cent rule. One warning about old text: the FAQ on the India country page still describes a nine-day window, a CAD 50 fee on every transfer and a rule that sessions must be 30 days apart. The policies page, which CELPIP calls the policy, says seven days, a free first transfer and five days between registrations, although a later paragraph on that same page still charges CAD 50 for any transfer. If you are close to a deadline, act as if the stricter version applies.
A worked budget for one sitting or two
TalkDrill worked example (ours, not a real candidate)
A software tester in Ludhiana needs CLB 9 in every skill for Express Entry. Ludhiana's own centre lists only Wednesday and Thursday sittings, so she books CELPIP-General at Patiala on a Saturday, for ₹15,500. A work trip forces a change, so she transfers once, 12 days before the test: free. Her scores are 10 in Listening, 9 in Reading, 9 in Writing and 8 in Speaking. She has two routes. She can request a re-evaluation of Speaking only, pay the fee shown in her account, and get that fee back if the level rises. Or she can book a second full sitting, at least five calendar days later, for another ₹15,500. Her worst case is ₹31,000 plus a re-evaluation fee and travel. Her best case is ₹15,500, if she had waited until her practice scores were stable at 9 before booking.
| Line in the budget | India | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| First sitting, CELPIP-General | ₹15,500 | CAD 299 plus tax |
| One date change, 7 or more days ahead | Free | Free |
| Second date change | CAD 50 or equivalent plus tax | CAD 50 plus tax |
| Re-evaluation of one component | Fee shown in your account; refunded if a Speaking or Writing level rises | Same |
| Second full sitting | ₹15,500 | CAD 299 plus tax (CAD 306 for January and February 2027 sittings) |
The cheapest CELPIP is the one you sit once. The re-evaluation rules, and when they are worth using, are on our results and re-evaluation page.
When to book: a practice-first timeline
CELPIP does not run fixed national test dates. Seats in India are open days ahead: when we read the India table on Wednesday 21 October 2026, the first sittings were on Friday 23 October, and CELPIP's India page says tests are "widely available across India within 2 weeks". That speed is a trap as much as a help. It tempts people to book before they are ready, and every sitting costs the full fee. Book against your practice evidence, not against a date.
- Know the target. Find the CLB your programme needs and what each CELPIP level means on our scoring and CLB chart. IRCC maps CELPIP level 7 to CLB 7, 8 to CLB 8, 9 to CLB 9, and 10 or above to CLB 10 or above.
- Diagnose Speaking. CELPIP's results page says each Speaking performance is rated by three to five trained raters on four criteria, so it rewards targeted practice more than any other component. Record all eight tasks once, timed, using our guide to Speaking tasks 1 to 8 and the overview in our CELPIP Speaking guide.
- Fix what your first language does to your English. Punjabi, Hindi and Gujarati speakers: start with our listenability fixes. Filipino and Nigerian candidates: our page on accent, pacing and task fulfilment.
- Practise daily. Work through the CELPIP Speaking practice bank, and speak the difficult-situation tasks aloud with an AI partner in TalkDrill role-play. The 30-day CLB 9 plan sets the order.
- Book when two full mocks, a week apart, both reach your target. Then pick a session at least eight days out, so the seven-day refund and transfer window still protects you.
One timing rule from IRCC matters before you pay. Express Entry results must be less than two years old when you complete your profile and again when you submit your permanent residence application. A test sat too early can expire before an invitation arrives. You can start daily Speaking practice on TalkDrill today, and the CELPIP hub links every other part of this guide.