If Canadian immigration or citizenship is the reason you're taking an English test, you actually have a choice: IELTS General Training or CELPIP General. Both are accepted by IRCC for Express Entry, PNP, and citizenship applications, and both convert to the same Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) scale for your application — but the tests themselves are built differently.
Here's the honest comparison, not just a feature list.
Where each one is accepted
CELPIP is Canada-only — it isn't recognized by universities or immigration authorities in the UK, Australia, the US, or almost anywhere else. IELTS is accepted virtually worldwide. If there's any chance you'll need an English score for something other than Canadian immigration, IELTS is the safer single test to take.
How the Speaking test actually works
This is the biggest practical difference. CELPIP Speaking is entirely computer-delivered — you speak into a headset microphone and your responses are recorded, with no live person on the other end. IELTS Speaking is a face-to-face (or video call) conversation with a real examiner. Some candidates score higher with CELPIP because there's no interpersonal pressure; others do worse because they lose the natural back-and-forth that helps them extend an answer.
Content and accent
CELPIP uses Canadian English and Canadian contexts throughout — the listening recordings, the topics, the idioms. IELTS uses a mix of British, Australian, and other English accents and is written for a global audience. If you've been learning English in a Canadian context already, CELPIP's material will feel more familiar.
Scoring format
CELPIP reports scores directly on a scale aligned to CLB levels (1–12), so converting your result for an immigration application is direct. IELTS reports Band scores (1–9) which then get converted to CLB via IRCC's official conversion table — an extra step, but a well-documented one.
Test structure and length
IELTS General Training runs Listening, Reading, Writing (two tasks: a letter and an essay), and Speaking — roughly 2 hours 45 minutes total across all four, with Speaking often scheduled separately. CELPIP General covers the same four skills in a single sitting, entirely at a computer, in about 3 hours.
If Canada is your only destination and you'd rather speak into a headset than sit across from an examiner, CELPIP is a strong, purpose-built choice. If you want one score that works everywhere — or you know you do better in a real conversation than talking to a screen — IELTS remains the more flexible option.