TOEFL iBT registration in Canada: fee, deadlines, refunds, ID and the Home Edition
Registration is the part of the TOEFL where a mistake costs money rather than marks: a name that differs from the passport, a cancellation a day late, a home test booked for a visa that will not accept it. This page sets out the rules as ETS publishes them in its 2026–27 Information Bulletin and on its fee, scheduling and Home Edition pages, with the source named beside each one. Where ETS has not said something, this page does not say it either.
The figures that decide your booking
Seven numbers from ETS. Everything else on this page is the detail behind them.
How registration works
ETS's bulletin describes one route: create an ETS account at ets.org/toefl and register through it, or register by phone using the Testing Inquiries contact for the country where you will test. The account and the registration are not transferable. The name you register with must exactly match the name printed on the identification you will present on test day, and ETS makes that the candidate's responsibility: a mismatch means no test and no refund.
- 1. Choose where to sit it
A computer at an authorised test centre, or the TOEFL iBT Home Edition on your own computer with a live human proctor. ETS's at-home page says home testing is available 24 hours a day, four days a week. The Home Edition has its own equipment and room rules, set out below, and is not accepted for Australian visas.
- 2. Choose a date with room to spare
ETS's how-to-register page recommends registering four months before the test date, and its scheduling page says to pick a date at least two to three months before your earliest admissions deadline. Scores post about three days after the test, but ETS says reports reach institutions in roughly four to sixteen business days, and a retake, if you need one, cannot be within three days of the first sitting.
- 3. Register before the deadline that applies
Regular online registration closes seven full days before the test date. From then until two days before, express registration is open at an extra US$49. By phone, the regular deadline is the same seven full days and the express deadline is 5 pm local test-centre time the day before.
- 4. Pay
ETS accepts credit and debit cards — American Express, Discover, JCB, China UnionPay, Diners Club, MasterCard, RuPay and VISA — an electronic cheque drawn on a bank in the United States, U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico or Canada in U.S. dollars, PayPal, and Alipay. A payment declined by the bank is charged a US$30 returned-payment fee, and ETS will not release scores while a payment cannot be processed.
- 5. Name your four free score recipients
The fee includes up to four score reports sent to institutions or agencies you designate before the test. You can add, delete or change them until 10 pm local test-centre time the day before; after that, each report costs US$29.
If you need testing accommodations for a disability or health-related need, ETS's bulletin requires approval before you register, and its review takes approximately four to six weeks — so that request comes before step 3, not after it.
Every deadline, with ETS's own examples
ETS counts in full days before the test date and gives Saturday examples in the bulletin. They are reproduced here because “four days” and “by Tuesday” are not always the same thing in a candidate's head.
| Action | Deadline | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regular online registration | Closes 7 full days before the test date | After that, an express fee is charged. | Bulletin, Registration deadlines |
| Express online registration | Closes 2 days before the test date | ETS's example: for a Saturday test, the last day to register is Thursday. | Bulletin, Registration deadlines |
| Regular phone registration | Closes 7 full days before the test date | After that, an express fee is charged. | Bulletin, Registration by phone |
| Express phone registration | Closes at 5 pm, local test-centre time, the day before | Phone registration uses the Testing Inquiries contact for the country where you test. | Bulletin, Registration by phone |
| Reschedule or cancel | At least 4 full days before the test date | ETS's example: for a Saturday appointment, reschedule or cancel by Tuesday. Later than that, the fee is not refunded. | Bulletin, Rescheduling and canceling |
| Change your four free score recipients | Until 10 pm, local test-centre time, the day before | After that, each report sent costs a fee. | Bulletin, Score reports |
| Request a Speaking or Writing score review | Within 30 days of the test | Not available once scores have been sent to any institution or agency. | Score Guidance page |
| Reinstate cancelled scores | Within 60 days after the test date | For a fee; reinstated scores are reported about three weeks after ETS receives the request and payment. | Bulletin, Reinstating your scores |
What it costs
ETS prices the test by testing location, in U.S. dollars, and shows the figure on its fee page once a country is selected. Its published fee for Canada is US$249. Two notes go with that number, both ETS's: the fee page states that TOEFL iBT prices exclude VAT or other applicable taxes, and the bulletin lists Canada among the locations where test and test-related fees are exclusive of sales, value-added or similar taxes, which are added to the order when it is placed. So the amount charged in Canada is US$249 plus the applicable tax.
The services below are priced the same everywhere. The table is ETS's, reproduced as published.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| TOEFL iBT registration — Canada | US$249 + applicable taxes |
| Express registration (within 7 days of the test date) | US$49 |
| Rescheduling | US$69 |
| Reinstatement of canceled scores | US$20 |
| Additional score reports (per recipient) | US$29 |
| Speaking or Writing section score review | US$80 |
| Speaking and Writing section score review | US$160 |
| Returned payment | US$30 |
| Express Scoring | US$129 |
Source: ETS, TOEFL iBT Test Fees page, checked 6 September 2026. Fees are ETS's and can change without notice; the bulletin says so of every policy in it. Confirm the amount in your ETS account before paying.
Read together with the deadlines, the table says what lateness costs. Registering inside the last week adds US$49. Moving a date costs US$69, and only if done four full days ahead. Cancelling four full days ahead returns half the fee; cancelling later returns nothing. A score review is US$80 for one section or US$160 for both, must be requested within 30 days, and is closed off the moment scores have been sent anywhere.
Rescheduling, cancelling and refunds
Both are done through the ETS account or by phone; the bulletin says appointments cannot be rescheduled or cancelled by mail, by email, or at the test centre. The deadline for either is four full days before the test date.
- Cancel by the deadline and ETS refunds 50% of the original test fee automatically, credited to the original method of payment in the currency you paid in. An express fee paid at registration is refunded too. Cash refunds are not available.
- Cancel late, or not at all, and the fee is not refunded. The same applies if you are turned away for not following the registration procedure or for not presenting the required identification.
- Cancel your scores at the end of the test and there is no refund either; cancelled scores can be reinstated within 60 days for a fee.
- If ETS cancels an administration for reasons beyond its control — the bulletin names severe weather and natural disasters — it offers a transfer to another date or a full refund, and the bulletin describes reimbursement of reasonable, documented travel costs claimed within 30 days of the test date. Missing a session that did go ahead counts as an absence, with no refund.
Identification
ETS's bulletin puts the ID rules under the candidate's responsibility and repeats the consequence: without valid, acceptable ID you will not be admitted and the fee is not refunded. With few exceptions, each document must be:
- an original — no photocopies, and nothing presented on a phone or other device;
- a physical document — electronic ID issued to a phone or device is not acceptable;
- government-issued and recognised where you are a citizen or permanent resident;
- in a first and last name and date of birth that exactly match your registration;
- carrying a recent photograph that clearly matches your appearance, and your signature.
The primary documents ETS lists are a passport, a driver's licence, a state or province ID card including those issued by motor-vehicle agencies, and a national ID card. If the primary ID lacks a signature, a supplemental ID with photograph and signature in the same name can be shown. A supplemental ID cannot fix a last-name discrepancy: the last name on the primary document must match the registration. For the Home Edition, ETS says you may need to verify your identity through a mobile app before the test, and if so to do it at least 48 hours ahead.
The requirements depend on where you test and on your citizenship, and ETS keeps the per-country version on its ID page, which the bulletin tells candidates to check for their location.
The Home Edition: what ETS requires of the room and the computer
The Home Edition is the same test with a live human proctor watching through your webcam. ETS publishes the conditions on its at-home and equipment-requirements pages; they are stricter than most candidates expect, and a failed equipment check on the day is a missed test.
Equipment
- A desktop or laptop — no tablet or phone — running a licensed Windows 11 or later, or macOS 10.13 or later, with a single screen and power connected.
- A webcam that can be moved to show a 360-degree view of the room, including under the desk.
- An internal or external microphone and speakers. Headsets and earbuds are not permitted.
- The TOEFL Test App, downloaded from the My TOEFL Home dashboard, where the equipment check runs before the day.
Room and conduct
- Alone, in a closed room, with windows covered and the desk clear.
- For notes, one small whiteboard, or one sheet of paper inside a transparent sheet protector, with an erasable marker.
- No smartwatch, jewellery, headphones or phones; you stay in view of the proctor throughout, and unscheduled breaks are not allowed.
- Identity check-in through ETS's app-based verification where it applies, at least 48 hours before the test.
One rule sits outside ETS's pages and matters more than any of them for some candidates. The Australian Department of Home Affairs states that online tests, including the TOEFL iBT Home Edition, are not accepted for its visas, and ETS's bulletin adds that only tests taken before 21 January 2026 and the TOEFL iBT Australia are currently approved for Australian visa purposes. A candidate testing for Australia registers through ETS's TOEFL iBT Australia pathway; its scores post in approximately four to eight days rather than three.
After the test
To be scored at all, the bulletin requires at least one answered question in Reading and in Listening, one Speaking task and one Writing task. Unofficial Reading and Listening scores appear on screen at the end, together with the date official scores are expected, and ETS notes the official figures can differ after its statistical analysis. At that same screen you choose to report or cancel all sections; once reported, scores cannot be cancelled.
Official scores post to the ETS account approximately three days after the test, with an email notification. The fee entitles you to the scores in your account, a downloadable PDF score report, your MyBest scores combining the best section results from all valid tests in the last two years, and the four reports to recipients named before the test. Scores remain valid for two years; ETS will not report or verify a score older than that.
For what the score itself means — the 1–6 scale, the rounded-mean overall, the comparable 0–120 figure carried on reports for two years after January 2026 — see the 1–6 score scale guide.
Before you pay US$249
A registration is a two-hour appointment that cannot be moved inside four days and returns half its fee at best. The cheaper question to answer first is whether you are ready for the 2026 format: two adaptive sections, Listen and Repeat, Build a Sentence, an email, an interview. A full-length practice test on this site runs that format under its own rules and reports on the same 1–6 bands, so the booking decision is made on a score rather than a guess.
Questions candidates ask
How much does the TOEFL iBT cost in Canada?
ETS's fee page lists the registration fee by testing location, in U.S. dollars; its published figure for Canada is US$249. ETS's note on that page is that TOEFL iBT prices exclude VAT or other applicable taxes, and its bulletin names Canada among the locations where test and test-related fees are exclusive of sales, value-added or similar taxes, which are added to the order when it is placed. Services such as rescheduling or extra score reports are charged on top, at the rates in the fee table on this page.
How far ahead should I register?
ETS's how-to-register page recommends registering four months before your test date, and its scheduling page says to pick a test date at least two to three months before your earliest admissions deadline. The hard limits are shorter: regular online registration closes seven full days before the test date, and express registration, with its US$49 fee, closes two days before.
Can I take the test more than once?
Yes. ETS's bulletin sets no limit on the number of attempts, but you cannot take the test more than once in a three-day period, even if you cancelled the scores from the previous sitting, and you cannot hold two appointments within three days of each other.
What happens if I cancel?
If you cancel by the four-day deadline, ETS refunds 50% of the original test fee automatically, to the original method of payment, in the currency you paid in; an express fee paid at registration is also refunded. Cancelling later than four full days before the test, missing the appointment, or being turned away for not following the registration procedure or not presenting acceptable ID, all mean no refund. If ETS itself cancels an administration, it offers a transfer to another date or a full refund.
Which ID do I need?
An original, physical, valid government-issued document, whose first and last name and date of birth exactly match your registration, with a recent photograph and your signature. ETS's primary list is a passport, a driver's licence, a state or province ID card, or a national ID card. Photocopies and IDs shown on a phone or other device are not accepted. Because the requirements depend on the testing location and your citizenship, ETS's ID page has a country selector, and the bulletin says to check it for your location.
Can I take the TOEFL at home in Canada?
ETS offers the TOEFL iBT Home Edition, taken on your own computer with a live human proctor, and its at-home page says home testing is available 24 hours a day, four days a week. The equipment and room rules are strict and listed on this page. One limit matters for some candidates: the Australian Department of Home Affairs states that online tests, including the TOEFL iBT Home Edition, are not accepted for its visas.
When do I get my scores?
ETS's bulletin says scores are posted to your ETS account approximately three days after the test, with an email when they are up; unofficial Reading and Listening scores are shown on screen at the end of the sitting. Your fee includes up to four score reports to institutions you named before the test, and ETS's scheduling page says reports reach recipients in about four to sixteen business days, depending on how the institution receives them. Scores are valid for two years.
Is the TOEFL iBT accepted for Australian visas?
Only in a specific form. ETS's bulletin states that only tests taken before 21 January 2026 and the TOEFL iBT Australia are currently approved for Australian visa purposes, and Home Affairs lists the TOEFL iBT Home Edition among the online tests it does not accept. If the test is for an Australian visa, register through ETS's TOEFL iBT Australia pathway rather than the ordinary one.
Sources
- ETS, TOEFL iBT Information Bulletin 2026–27 — registration, deadlines, retakes, payment, rescheduling and refunds, identification, Home Edition policies, scores and score reports.
- ETS, TOEFL iBT Test Fees — the Canada registration fee, the tax note and the service-fee table.
- ETS, How to register and Schedule your test — the four-month and two-to-three-month advice and score-delivery times.
- ETS, ID requirements — the per-country identification rules.
- ETS, TOEFL iBT Home Edition and Home Edition equipment and environment requirements.
- ETS, Score Guidance — score review and reinstatement windows.
- Australian Department of Home Affairs, English language requirements — online tests, including the TOEFL iBT Home Edition, not accepted.
Checked 6 September 2026. Every figure above is ETS's or Home Affairs's; ETS states its policies are subject to change without notice, so confirm in your ETS account before paying.
In this series: the whole 2026 format · what changed · Reading · Listening · Writing · Speaking · The 1–6 score scale.