CELPIP Writing Topics
CELPIP is a test of everyday Canadian English, so its writing prompts come from everyday life: your building, your job, your city, the companies you deal with, your child's school, your friends. Knowing the six topic areas lets you prepare the vocabulary and the typical requests in advance. Each area below lists the usual Task 1 situations, the usual Task 2 choices, and the words that keep coming back.
Updated October 20, 2026
Housing and neighbours
Typical Task 1 emails: noise from a neighbour or renovation; a repair the landlord has not made; a parking or garbage problem in the building; a request to keep a pet or sublet.
Typical Task 2 surveys: building a new apartment block or keeping a green space; allowing short-term rentals or not.
Vocabulary to have ready: tenant, landlord, lease, repair, maintenance, notice, building rules, common areas.
Practise: Renovation noise from the apartment upstairs · Samples: Renovation noise from the apartment upstairs
Work and workplace
Typical Task 1 emails: proposing a schedule change or carpool to a coworker; asking a manager for leave or training; reporting a problem with equipment; thanking a colleague or team.
Typical Task 2 surveys: working from home or in the office; a four-day week; training budget on courses or conferences.
Vocabulary to have ready: shift, schedule, colleague, deadline, overtime, flexible hours, productivity, commute.
Practise: Proposing a carpool to a coworker · Working from home or a four-day week · Samples: Proposing a carpool to a coworker , Working from home or a four-day week
Community and city services
Typical Task 1 emails: a complaint about a park, road or transit route; a suggestion to a city councillor; thanks to a local business or volunteer group; a request to use a community hall.
Typical Task 2 surveys: library hours; a park budget; one big festival or many small events; transit fares; a new recreation centre or more bike lanes.
Vocabulary to have ready: residents, council, budget, facility, maintenance, accessible, volunteer, neighbourhood association.
Practise: Thanking a business that supported a neighbourhood cleanup · Longer weekday evenings or Sunday opening at the library · A playground or a community garden · One big festival or several small events · Samples: Longer weekday evenings or Sunday opening at the library , A playground or a community garden
Companies and customer service
Typical Task 1 emails: cancelling a membership or subscription; a lost item at a venue or on a bus; a damaged delivery or wrong order; a billing error.
Typical Task 2 surveys: cards only or cash at a market; self-checkout or staffed tills; online or phone customer support.
Vocabulary to have ready: refund, receipt, invoice, warranty, cancellation, policy, customer, inconvenience.
Practise: Cancelling a gym membership before moving · A bag left behind at a conference venue · Free transit for students or a cheaper pass for everyone · Cards only or cash at the farmers’ market · Samples: Cancelling a gym membership before moving , Free transit for students or a cheaper pass for everyone
Education and courses
Typical Task 1 emails: a course that changed or was cancelled; asking a teacher for a reference; a problem at a child's school; applying for a scholarship or program.
Typical Task 2 surveys: school uniforms; online or in-person classes; homework or no homework; later school start times.
Vocabulary to have ready: instructor, coordinator, enrol, tuition, curriculum, assignment, attendance, extracurricular.
Practise: A community-centre course that changed halfway · School uniforms at the local elementary school · Online or in-person evening classes · Samples: A community-centre course that changed halfway , School uniforms at the local elementary school
Family and friends
Typical Task 1 emails: a friend visiting; inviting someone to an event; apologising for missing a celebration; daycare or school arrangements.
Typical Task 2 surveys: children and screen time rules; family holidays at home or abroad; living with parents or renting alone.
Vocabulary to have ready: arrangements, celebrate, look forward to, apologise, catch up, host, childcare, relatives.
Practise: A friend wants to visit next month · A daycare that is changing its closing time · Samples: A friend wants to visit next month
How to use the topic list
- For each area, write the three most likely bullet points as a mini-plan (describe, explain, request) and the two most likely survey options. You will recognise the pattern on test day.
- Learn the ten vocabulary items per area that you would actually use; precision counts more than range.
- Write one Task 1 and one Task 2 per area over two weeks with the practice prompts, and score each one. The tips page shows what to fix between attempts.
The situations above are patterns, not predictions: actual test items are confidential and change. The official free sample test on celpip.ca shows the format with one item per task.