Short answer: Many Canadian universities accept the Duolingo English Test, usually at a score between 105 and 120 depending on the program. It’s cheaper and faster than IELTS. The catch is that IRCC doesn’t accept it for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), so you may still need another test later.
Good fit if: you mainly want an admission offer quickly and cheaply, and the immigration side is a problem for later.
Think twice if: you’re planning on a PGWP after graduating, or your program is competitive enough that it may still insist on IELTS or TOEFL.
Looking for funding too? Fully funded scholarships in Canada · Scholarships without IELTS, by country · Toronto Metropolitan University scholarships
If you’ve been putting off your Canada application because IELTS feels like one more expensive hurdle, here’s some good news: you probably don’t need it anymore. A growing number of Canadian universities now accept the Duolingo English Test instead — and for most students, it’s cheaper, faster, and a lot less stressful. This guide walks through which schools actually accept it, what score you’ll realistically need, and one thing almost nobody tells you about the visa side of things.
Quick Facts
| Test Cost | Around $59–70 USD, depending on your country |
|---|---|
| Result Time | Usually within 48 hours |
| Score Range | 10–160 |
| Score Validity | 2 years from your test date |
| Typical Canadian University Minimum | 105–120 overall, depending on the school and program |
Why This Is Even a Thing Now
For a long time, IELTS was pretty much the only option most Canadian universities cared about. That started changing when the pandemic shut down test centres and schools scrambled for an alternative. Duolingo — the same company behind the language-learning app — happened to already have an online English test ready to go, and universities across Canada quietly started accepting it. What began as a stopgap measure has stuck around, mostly because students genuinely prefer it. You take it from your laptop, at home, whenever you want. No booking a slot three weeks out, no travelling to a test centre in another city, no $250 fee.
By 2026, Duolingo says its test is accepted by roughly 90% of Canada’s top universities (ranked by international enrolment) for undergraduate admission, and it’s steadily gaining ground at the graduate level too. That’s a big shift from just a few years ago.
Which Canadian Universities Actually Accept It
Here’s where a lot of blog posts get sloppy — they copy a list from somewhere else and never check if it’s still accurate. Requirements change every year, sometimes every term, so I went and checked official admissions pages directly instead of trusting third-party roundups. Here’s what I found, with the actual minimum scores where a university publishes one:
| University | Duolingo Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| University of Toronto | 120 overall, with 120 in Production | Applies to tests taken on or after July 1, 2024. Confirmed on U of T’s official English requirements page. |
| Lakehead University | Around 120 (undergraduate) | Grad Studies has accepted DET as an alternate option; always confirm the current figure on lakeheadu.ca before you register for the test. |
| University of Guelph | 120 (graduate programs) | Listed on Guelph’s official graduate admissions requirements page, alongside IELTS, PTE, and TOEFL. |
| Concordia University | 120 for some graduate programs (e.g. John Molson MBA); undergraduate minimums vary | Concordia accepts DET university-wide, but the exact cutoff depends on your program — check concordia.ca/ugrad-elp directly. |
A quick honesty check: you’ll find plenty of articles online claiming the University of Calgary accepts Duolingo. When I checked Calgary’s own Faculty of Graduate Studies admissions page directly, Duolingo wasn’t listed — only TOEFL and IELTS were. That doesn’t mean no program at Calgary accepts it (undergraduate requirements can differ from graduate ones, and this changes often), but it does mean you shouldn’t take a random blog’s word for it. Always check the specific faculty’s page for the program you’re applying to, not just the university’s general reputation.
Beyond these, dozens of other Canadian schools — Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Regina, Brock University, Cape Breton University, Ontario Tech, and many more — accept DET in some capacity. The catch is that “accepts Duolingo” doesn’t mean one fixed number across the whole university. A business program might want a 120 while a general arts program is fine with 105. This is genuinely program-specific, not just university-specific.
How Does a Duolingo Score Compare to IELTS?
Roughly speaking, a Duolingo score of 120 lines up with an IELTS band of around 7.5–8, and a score of 105 sits closer to IELTS 6.5. But these conversions aren’t perfect — the two tests measure things a bit differently, so don’t obsess over exact math. If a university asks for IELTS 6.5, aim for somewhere around 100–110 on Duolingo rather than calculating it down to the decimal.
What actually matters more than the conversion chart is checking what your specific school asks for. Some universities set their Duolingo minimum lower than the “equivalent” IELTS score because they know the tests aren’t directly comparable and want to keep the option genuinely accessible.
The Part Almost Nobody Explains Properly: The Visa Side
This is the bit that trips people up, so pay attention here. Getting admitted to a Canadian university with a Duolingo score is one thing. Getting your study permit, and later your Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), is a completely separate process — and IRCC (Canada’s immigration department) has its own rules that have nothing to do with what your university accepted.
For the PGWP specifically, IRCC only accepts test results from IELTS, CELPIP, PTE Core, or TOEFL. Duolingo is not on that list. So if your plan is to study in Canada and then apply for a work permit after graduating, you’ll likely need to sit IELTS or one of the other approved tests at some point anyway — Duolingo gets you in the door, but it doesn’t necessarily get you through every later step. This is confirmed directly on Canada’s official immigration site (canada.ca), not just on university pages.
The regular study permit application itself is a bit more flexible and doesn’t always demand a specific designated test the way the old Student Direct Stream used to (that program was discontinued in November 2024). But if you’re the type who likes to plan two steps ahead, it’s worth budgeting for IELTS at some point during your degree, even if you skip it for the initial application. Cheap now, more expensive to be caught off guard later.
Taking the Test: What to Expect
The Duolingo English Test takes about an hour, start to finish, and you do the whole thing on your own computer with a webcam for proctoring. There’s no separate speaking, writing, listening, and reading section booked on different days — it’s all one sitting, and the questions adapt in real time based on how you’re doing.
A few practical things worth knowing before you register:
- You’ll need a quiet room, a working webcam, and a stable internet connection — a dropped connection partway through can mean starting over.
- Results typically land within 48 hours, and you can send your score to multiple universities at no extra cost, which is a real money-saver if you’re applying to several schools.
- Scores are valid for two years from your test date, same as IELTS.
- You can retake it as many times as you want, though each attempt costs the full fee again.
A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Commit
Duolingo is genuinely a good option for a lot of students, but it’s not automatically the right call for everyone. If you’re also planning to apply for jobs or immigration pathways in the near future, you might end up needing IELTS or CELPIP eventually anyway — in which case, taking IELTS once instead of Duolingo now might save you from taking two different tests down the line. And if your target program is highly competitive (think top business or engineering schools), double-check whether Duolingo is actually accepted for that specific program, not just the university in general, since competitive programs sometimes still insist on IELTS or TOEFL only.
If your main goal is simply getting an admission offer as quickly and cheaply as possible, and you’re not in a rush about the immigration side yet, Duolingo is a genuinely solid, well-tested option that thousands of students use every year.
Where This Fits Into Your Bigger Canada Plan
English test requirements are just one piece of the puzzle — scholarships, deadlines, and actual program costs matter just as much, if not more. If you haven’t already, it’s worth reading our Fully Funded Scholarship in Canada – 2026 Guide for a realistic look at what Canadian universities actually offer international students in terms of funding. We’ve also broken down two specific options in detail in our University of Calgary vs University of Saskatchewan scholarship comparison, which covers the same IELTS requirement question for those two schools specifically.
For the official, up-to-date list of institutions and their current requirements, Duolingo maintains its own searchable directory at englishtest.duolingo.com/institutions — genuinely more reliable than any third-party blog, including this one, since it pulls directly from what universities report to Duolingo.
Sources checked directly for this guide include future.utoronto.ca, lakeheadu.ca, graduatestudies.uoguelph.ca, concordia.ca, grad.ucalgary.ca, and canada.ca. Requirements change often — always confirm the current figure on your target university’s official page before registering for any English test.
