Language courses in Edmonton: free LINC at Metro, EAL fees and Alliance Française prices

Quick answer: Edmonton Public Schools’ Metro Continuing Education runs free LINC English classes for newcomers with free childminding, and charges $2,790 plus $280 for books for a 15-week full-time EAL/ESL programme. The Alliance Française d’Edmonton charges $190–$375 for 12–24-hour French courses, and Mango Languages is free with an Edmonton Public Library card.

How public language classes work in Edmonton

Edmonton Public Schools delivers adult English through Metro Continuing Education’s English Language Institute at Avonmore School, near Bonnie Doon and the Avonmore stop on the Valley Line LRT. There are two streams. The federally funded LINC programme is free to newcomers who are permanent residents or refugees and not yet citizens. Metro teaches it at four levels, CLB 1 to CLB 4, full-time from 9am to 2:30pm, Monday to Friday, with free childminding for children aged 19 months to 5 years. Terms run from 1 September to 11 December 2026, then January to April and May to August 2027.

The second stream is a provincially funded, fee-paying EAL/ESL programme for levels 4 and 5, aimed at people preparing for further study or work. A small number of full-time students can get help with the cost through Alberta’s Foundational Learning Assistance programme, but Metro says there is no funding for part-time evening and weekend academic students.

Metro no longer runs in-person personal enrichment courses, so its foreign language options are now online only, through partner platforms such as ed2go, where an instructor-moderated course lasts about six weeks and takes around 24 hours. For classroom French in Edmonton, the Alliance Française is the main cultural institute.

Edmonton language course fees: a sample

We read these providers’ own pages in September 2026. They are examples, not a full price list for the city.

Provider	Course	Hours	Fee
Metro Continuing Education (LINC)	English, CLB 1–4, full-time	9am–2:30pm, Monday to Friday	Free for permanent residents and refugees
Metro Continuing Education	EAL/ESL Levels 4 & 5, full-time	15 weeks (375 hours)	$2,790 plus $280 books and materials
Metro Continuing Education	EAL/ESL Levels 4 & 5, visitors to Canada	15 weeks (375 hours)	$4,365 plus $280 books and materials
Alliance Française d’Edmonton	Group French, 1.5 hours a week	12 hours	$190 ($175 early bird)
Alliance Française d’Edmonton	Group French, 2 hours a week	16 hours	$280 ($260 early bird)
Alliance Française d’Edmonton	Group French, 3 hours a week	24 hours	$375 ($345 early bird)
University of Alberta English Language School	Academic English for graduate admission (EAP 500)	One intensive term	$4,958.16 plus non-instructional fees

Metro’s full-time EAL/ESL works out at about $7.44 an hour of teaching before books. The Alliance Française charges about $15.60 an hour for a regular 24-hour course, plus a $25 annual membership and textbooks, with no tax on the course price and a 15% discount if you combine a general course with a grammar, conversation or phonetics class. The University of Alberta’s EAP 500 is accepted by more than 35 of its graduate programmes in place of TOEFL or IELTS.

Free language help at the library

Edmonton Public Library gives cardholders free access to Mango Languages, with more than 70 language courses, and runs free English classes and volunteer-led conversation circles for newcomers. Catholic Social Services and the Edmonton Catholic School Division also run English conversation and LINC programmes in the city. For how LINC works nationally, see free English and French classes in Canada.

Private lessons and schools: typical prices

We did not find a published source for typical tutor rates in Edmonton. National ranges are in our Canada language course costs guide.

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How to choose a language course in Edmonton

Leisure language classes are not licensed in the way a trade is, so compare providers on what they publish and what they will put in writing:

Level and outcome. Ask which level the course starts and finishes at and how many teaching hours that takes. Government-funded English and French classes use the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and NCLC; most institutes use the CEFR scale explained in our guide to CEFR levels A1 to C2.
Price per hour, not per course. The courses on this page run from 8 hours to 375 hours, so divide the fee by the teaching hours before comparing.
What is extra. Registration fees, memberships, placement tests and textbooks are often charged on top of tuition.
Eligibility for free classes. LINC and school board ESL classes have immigration-status and address rules, and most need a language assessment first. Ask what to bring before you go.
Refunds and transfers. Ask for the refund policy in writing before you pay.
Tests and certificates. If you need a result for immigration, check the course prepares for the exact test you will book: see language tests for Express Entry. For DELF and other certificates, see DELF, DELE and the Goethe-Zertifikat.
Early-bird deadlines. The Alliance Française d’Edmonton knocks $15–$30 off each course for early registration.

Language course providers in Edmonton

These providers appear in public business and education listings for Edmonton. We have not checked their teaching, prices or accreditation, and they have not paid to appear.