Canadian citizenship test failure rate increases in longer stay immigrants

A Canadian government report has revealed that, the longer immigrants wait before taking the citizenship test, the more likely they are to fail.

According to the report, commissioned by the Immigration Authority, those taking the test within five years of arrival in the country show consistent pass scores. Their counterparts who have been in Canada for a longer period are far more likely to fail the mandatory knowledge test.

The study’s results are likely to embarrass the present government, as in February this year it passed a series of adjustments to citizen requirements. The most sweeping change was the extending of the mandatory residence time before taking the test to four out of six years from three out of four.

Steven Meurens, a Vancouver immigration lawyer, received the report via an Access to Information request. He notes that the results are interesting, as they raise the question of what makes applicants more Canadian – the number of years they have spent in the country or the results of a one-off test.

The formerly confidential report, complied by use of immigration databases, revealed that in 2012, pass rates dropped alarmingly from their 2011 totals. In 2012, the Canadian government raised the pass level from 60 to 75 per cent and introduced a different set of questions.

Meurens believes that immigrants who rush to take the test as quickly as possible have stronger motivations than those who put it off until a later date. Other recent changes to the test include an upgraded language proficiency requirement for migrants between the ages of 18 and 54, .along with proof of academic study completion in French or English.