2026 Events

Welcome to CELBAN Help Centre Events

What Are the CELBAN Help Centre Events?

CELBAN Help Centre Events are live online learning sessions designed to help Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) and Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs understand and develop the language and communication competencies underlying CELBAN.

The sessions use CLB-informed skill-development activities, questions, and self-evaluation to help you as a participant understand what you can do now, identify areas for development, and make more informed decisions about your career and life preparation.

These events are part of the CELBAN Help Centre at www.CELBAN.info. They are separate from CELBANPrep University courses and are not a substitute for the CELBAN examination or official CELBAN preparation requirements.

This was created to answer the following questions: 

What is CELBAN?

⬇️

What is the CLB relationship?

⬇️

What skills are we talking about?

⬇️

How can I evaluate my own development?

⬇️

Can I explore those skills with others?

⬇️

Can I ask questions?

⬇️

Can I belong somewhere while I am figuring this out?

⬇️

Where do I register?

Why Are We Offering These Events?

Preparing for licensure as a health care professional in Canada, can be confusing: especially when considering the Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN).

As a researcher, you can find books, courses, reviewers, coaches, practice tests, AI-generated materials, study groups, and other resources available. 

> BUT, not all preparation materials are built from the same understanding of the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) framework, which is the foundation of the CELBAN.

The CELBAN Help Centre exists to help you become a more informed participant in your own preparation.

=> These events provide an opportunity to work directly with CLB-based concepts and ask questions about what language development actually involves.

Rather than simply giving you more material to memorize, the sessions are designed to help you understand what you are being asked to do with language, in as a healthcare professional, in Canada.

What Will We Do During the Sessions?

Each session will focus on a specific aspect of language and communication development.

Depending on the session, we may:

• explore a CLB skill or competency.

• work through a self-evaluation quiz.

• examine what a question is actually asking you to recognize or do.

• discuss why an answer works or does not work.

• distinguish language knowledge from language performance.

• identify areas that may require further development.

• connect a skill to healthcare communication.

• discuss how the skill relates to CELBAN preparation.

• consider how to evaluate preparation materials for relevance to the CLB framework.

Our Process:

Framework ➡️ Self-awareness ➡️ Shared learning ➡️ Inquiry ➡️ Belonging

About Our Events

Are These CELBAN Preparation Classes?

They are learning events related to CELBAN preparation, but they are not a conventional CELBAN review course.

The CELBAN Help Centre Events are designed to help participants understand the CLB/CELBAN framework, explore their own skill development, and become more discerning about preparation.

They may therefore be useful before, during, or alongside other preparation.

You do not need to be enrolled in CELBANPrep University to participate.

Who Are These Events For?

These sessions may be especially useful for:

• IENs who are beginning to explore CELBAN preparation;

• IENs who have taken CELBAN and are trying to understand what they need to improve;

• IEHPs developing English communication skills for healthcare practice in Canada;

• learners who want to understand the CLB framework rather than simply collect practice questions;

• people who are unsure whether a particular preparation resource is addressing the skills they actually need;

• self-directed learners who want a place to ask questions and learn with others.

You do not need to know everything about the CELBAN or the CLB before attending.

Curiosity is enough to begin.

How Do the Events Relate to CLB and CELBAN?

CELBAN applies the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) framework to the language and communication demands of Internationally Educated Nurses.

The events therefore use the CLB framework as a foundation for exploring language development rather than treating CELBAN preparation as a collection of unrelated test-taking techniques.

CLB provides the proficiency framework; CELBAN applies that framework in the healthcare context.

The sessions may explore the knowledge, competencies, skills, and performance expectations that help learners understand what effective communication looks like at the levels relevant to CELBAN.

When Are the Events?

The CELBAN Help Centre plans to offer recurring Saturday sessions from September through December 2026.

Sessions are planned for the first and third Saturday of the month.

Planned schedule

September 2026

• Saturday, September 5

• Saturday, September 19

October 2026

• Saturday, October 3

• Saturday, October 17

November 2026

• Saturday, November 7

• Saturday, November 21

December 2026

• Saturday, December 5

• Saturday, December 19

Eight sessions are planned for the September to December series.

Schedule, session topics, and availability may be updated as the series develops.

Are they really free?

Yes and No.

Compassion goes both ways.

We want financial circumstances to be less of a barrier to meaningful learning, while also recognizing that live learning involves human time, preparation, knowledge, attention, and energy.

Your small contribution helps us keep these Events accessible while acknowledging the value of the human work involved.

As such, the CELBAN Help Centre Events follow CELBANPrep's Compassionate Pricing Policy.

1. The first session is offered free so you can experience the space before deciding whether to continue.

2. After that, participation is $10 per session, or $50 for the eight-session series.

Why $10?

The contribution is a minimum of $10 per session: approximately the cost of a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate in Canada.

That simple, modest contribution seemed reasonable to us.

How Do I Register?

Registration is required for each live session.

[Register for an upcoming CELBAN Help Centre Event]

After registration, participants will receive the information needed to join the live Zoom session.

What Should I Bring?

You do not need to purchase a CELBANPrep University bundle to participate.

You may wish to bring:

• a notebook or digital notes. ✅

• questions about your career (CELBAN) preparation. ✅

• your own results or feedback, if you have previously taken CELBAN. ✅

• curiosity about your current language abilities. ✅

• a willingness to consider what you can do, not only what you know. ✅

> You do not need to arrive “ready.”

The purpose of the sessions is to help you become more oriented to what readiness actually means.

What These Events Are and Are Not

These events are:

CLB-informed learning and self-evaluation opportunities.

1. A place to explore interpersonal language and communication development in a medical context, in Canada. ✅

   1. • Interacting with Others

      • Sharing and Understanding Information

      • Giving and Receiving Instructions

      • Getting Things Done

2. A place to ask questions and develop greater understanding of entry-to-practice skills including CELBAN preparation. ✅

   1. • Stage II CLB (5-8)

      • Stage III CLB (9-10)

3. A place to learn how to look more critically at preparation materials and claims. ✅

   1. • Due Diligence

      • How Can I Know What to Trust

      • Why Due Diligence Matters for CELBAN

      • Self-Evaluation Checklist for CELBAN Preparation

These events are not:

The official CELBAN examination.

An official CELBAN Centre examination preparation program.

A guarantee of a particular CELBAN score.

A replacement for individual language assessment or professional advice.

A promise that attending a session will make you “CELBAN ready.”

Why We Begin With Skill Development

A practice question can tell you whether you selected an answer. ✅

• It does not necessarily tell you why you selected it. ❌

A quiz can identify an area of difficulty. ✅

• It does not automatically tell you what ability needs to develop. ❌

A course can give you more material. ✅

• It does not necessarily tell you whether the material is aligned with the framework that underlies CELBAN. ❌

The CELBAN Help Centre events begin with the skill itself.

From there, we can ask:

1. What am I being asked to do?  ✅

2. What do I understand?  ✅

3. What can I actually do?  ✅

4. What is difficult for me?  ✅

5. What kind of development would help?  ✅

6. What preparation resources might address that need?  ✅

That is the beginning of informed preparation.

A Different Kind of CELBAN Community

The CELBAN Help Centre is being developed as a place where IENs and IEHPs can come for information before they decide what to buy, who to trust, or how to prepare.

The events extend that purpose into live learning.

1. You are welcome to come with questions.

2. You are welcome to come uncertain.

3. You are welcome to come simply to understand more clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the CELBAN Help Centre Events free?

The CELBAN Help Centre Events are part of CELBANPrep's commitment to making CLB-informed learning and information more accessible to IENs and IEHPs.

Event registration and participation are offered according to the CELBANPrep Compassionate Pricing Policy.

The purpose of compassionate pricing is not simply to make resources cheaper. It is to make meaningful learning more accessible to people whose financial circumstances may make Canadian educational pricing disproportionately difficult to manage.

There is a fee; it is a small reciprocal contribution that acknowledges that live human time, attention, preparation, and energy have value.

Do I have to be an IEN to attend?

No. The sessions are primarily designed around the needs of IENs and IEHPs preparing for communication in Canadian healthcare contexts, but participation is not limited to one professional pathway unless a particular session states otherwise.

Do I need to have taken the CELBAN?

No. Sessions may be particularly useful for people who have already received CELBAN feedback, while  also being suitable for people who are beginning their preparation. Human communication. Human judgment. Human meaning.

Are the quizzes official CELBAN questions?

No. The skill-development quizzes are educational activities created for the CELBAN Help Centre. They are designed to explore CLB-informed abilities and should not be represented as official CELBAN examination questions.

Are these sessions the same as CELBANPrep University courses?

No. The CELBAN Help Centre events are separate from CELBANPrep University's Bronze, Silver, and Gold bundles. They are part of the public-facing CELBAN Help Centre's information, learning, and community activities.

Will attending these sessions prepare me for the CELBAN?

The sessions can contribute to preparation by helping participants understand and develop relevant language and communication abilities. However, no single event or resource can determine whether an individual is ready for the CELBAN. Preparation needs depend on the learner's existing abilities, goals, feedback, available time, and other circumstances.

Related CELBAN Help Centre Resources

Before choosing preparation resources, learn about the framework that underlies CELBAN and how to evaluate preparation materials.

→ What is CELBAN?

→ How are the CLBs and CELBAN related?

→ CELBAN Preparation Materials

→ Preparation Material Assessment Checklist

→ Checklist for Choosing a CELBAN Reviewer, Course, School, or Program

→ CELBAN Reading

→ CELBAN Writing

→ CELBAN Listening

→ CELBAN Speaking