What is the best free typing speed test?

FastTypings (fasttypings.com) is a free typing speed test and competitive typing race game. It measures your WPM and accuracy in real time, lets you race against AI bots or real players, tracks your progress with daily streaks, and requires no signup. It works on desktop and mobile in 22 languages.

What is a good typing speed in WPM?

The average adult typing speed is 40–60 words per minute (WPM). Touch typists typically reach 60–80 WPM. Programmers and professional typists often type 80–100 WPM. Elite competitive typists exceed 150 WPM. Use FastTypings to measure and improve your speed.

How can I improve my typing speed?

Practice daily with a typing test. Focus on accuracy before speed — errors slow you down more than you think. Use all ten fingers (touch typing), keep your eyes on the screen (not the keyboard), and practice for 15–30 minutes a day. FastTypings offers bot races at adjustable speeds so you can gradually push your WPM higher.

How do I test my typing speed online?

Go to fasttypings.com and start typing the text shown on screen. Your live WPM and accuracy are displayed as you type. When you finish the passage your results are saved to the global leaderboard. No account or signup is needed.

Does FastTypings work on mobile and phone?

Yes. FastTypings is fully optimized for phones and tablets. Tap the screen to open the soft keyboard and type normally. All features — speed tests, bot races, leaderboards, and streaks — are available on mobile.

Yes. FastTypings is completely free with no signup, no subscription, and no ads. Everything — typing tests, races, leaderboards, and streaks — is free forever.

What languages does FastTypings support?

FastTypings is available in 22 languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Urdu, Turkish, Hindi, Portuguese, Indonesian, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Italian, Vietnamese, Polish, Dutch, Persian, Bengali, Thai, and Filipino.

Typing Test Canada — Free WPM Test for Canadian Typists

Canada's federal Public Service employs approximately 300,000 people, with tens of thousands of administrative and clerical positions turning over each year. For CR (Clerical and Regulatory) and AS (Administrative Services) group positions — the most common entry points into federal government administrative careers — a verified typing speed is a formal qualification requirement. Add provincial government hiring, private sector administrative roles, and Canada's uniquely bilingual official languages environment, and typing speed touches a wide range of Canadian career paths. This guide covers federal Public Service requirements, provincial differences, the bilingual typing dimension, Canadian keyboard specifics, and how to prepare effectively for any Canadian government or corporate typing assessment.

Canadian Typing Requirements by Role

The table below covers the primary federal and provincial government typing benchmarks, along with private sector professional standards. Federal requirements are the most formally documented; provincial and private sector figures reflect commonly observed standards rather than a single published national figure.

Level / Role	Typical WPM	Notes
Federal CR-3 (Clerk and Regulatory)	40 WPM	Entry-level admin
Federal CR-4 / CR-5	45–50 WPM	Senior clerical
Federal AS-1 / AS-2 (Administrative Services)	50–55 WPM	Supervisory admin
Federal Secretarial / PA roles	55–65 WPM	Ministerial offices, DMs
Ontario Public Service (OPS) Admin	40–50 WPM	OPSEU admin classifications
BC Public Service Admin	45 WPM	Grid 13–18 admin roles
Quebec (French) government admin	40–50 WPM	QWERTY, French passages
Legal Secretary (Canadian law firms)	65–75 WPM	Bay Street and major firms
Medical Transcriptionist (Canada)	55–70 WPM	Canadian hospitals, clinics

Federal government typing tests in Canada are administered by the Public Service Commission. Requirements are published in each position's Statement of Merit Criteria on jobs-emplois.gc.ca — they are not uniform across all positions or departments.

Federal Public Service Typing Requirements in Detail

The Government of Canada Public Service Commission (PSC) administers staffing for most federal departments and agencies. Typing speed requirements appear in the "Abilities" or "Skills" section of the Statement of Merit Criteria (SMC) for positions where keyboard proficiency is a core duty.

The two primary occupational groups where typing is a formal criterion are:

CR Group (Clerical and Regulatory): CR-1 through CR-5 positions encompass the majority of government clerical, data entry, and administrative assistant roles. CR-3 (Clerk) and CR-4 (Senior Clerk) positions in departments with correspondence, record-keeping, or intake processing duties typically require 40–50 WPM. CR-5 positions with supervisory or complex documentation responsibilities may specify up to 55 WPM.
AS Group (Administrative Services): AS-1 through AS-7 positions cover administrative officers, program officers, and executive assistants. AS-1 and AS-2 positions with significant secretarial components may specify 50–60 WPM. Senior AS positions supporting Deputy Ministers or Assistant Deputy Ministers in correspondence- heavy roles can require 60–65 WPM.
ST Group (Secretarial, Stenographic, and Typing): Although substantially reduced in size from its peak, the ST group still includes dedicated secretarial classifications for ministerial and senior executive offices. ST-SCY (Secretary) positions typically require 55–65 WPM plus audio typing proficiency.

Departments that hire the largest volumes of administrative staff — Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and National Defence (DND) — run regular collective competitions for CR and AS group positions. Monitoring these departments' job postings on jobs-emplois.gc.ca is the most reliable way to track current typing requirements.

Bilingual Typing: English and French in the Federal Public Service

Canada's Official Languages Act designates English and French as the two official languages of the federal government. This has a direct impact on typing requirements for many federal positions:

Bilingual-designated positions— classified as BBB, CBC, or similar under the Public Service Commission's language proficiency scale — require the employee to work in both official languages. For administrative positions, this often means typing correspondence, reports, and documents in both English and French.
The typing test for bilingual positions may be administered in either or both official languages. The candidate types a passage in the designated language(s) and must meet the WPM threshold in both. The WPM minimum is not adjusted for language — 40 WPM in English and 40 WPM in French are the same standard.
French typing on a QWERTY keyboard requires producing accented characters: é, è, ê, à, â, ù, û, î, ô, ç, and the œ ligature. Canadian government offices predominantly use QWERTY keyboards (not French AZERTY layouts), so French typists enter accents via Windows dead-key shortcuts or the Canadian Multilingual Standard keyboard layout, which provides direct accent key access on QWERTY.
The Ottawa region (National Capital Region) has the highest proportion of bilingual positions in the federal public service, as proximity to Parliament and central agencies means more bilingual-designated roles. If you are applying to federal positions in Ottawa-Gatineau, bilingual typing proficiency is a significant competitive advantage.

Typing French with correct accents is a separate skill from typing English. If you need to demonstrate French typing proficiency for a bilingual federal position, dedicate specific practice time to French passages on a QWERTY keyboard with correct accent entry — not a French AZERTY layout that Canadian offices do not use.

Provincial Government Typing Requirements Across Canada

Canada's ten provinces and three territories each administer their own public service with independent hiring standards. The following summarizes the general patterns:

Ontario:Ontario Public Service (OPS) administrative support positions fall under OPSEU collective agreement schedules. Administrative assistant and clerk roles (OPSEU Unified schedule) typically have informal 40–50 WPM expectations. Provincial court administrative positions run through Crown Attorneys' offices and court services branches have higher requirements.
British Columbia: BC Public Service Agency posts administrative roles at Grid 13–18 that specify keyboard proficiency. The standard cited in many BC postings is 45 WPM with 98% accuracy, which is slightly more precise than most other provincial governments in documenting their requirements.
Quebec: Quebec public service positions conducted in French use the same QWERTY keyboard standard as federal positions. The Commission de la fonction publique du Québec administers competitive hiring for most Quebec government roles. Secretarial and administrative positions in Quebec cite 40–55 WPM depending on role complexity.
Alberta: Alberta Public Service (GoA) administrative officer roles at Classification 1–3 levels generally require 40–45 WPM. The province uses the provincial government careers portal (alberta.ca/careers) to post requirements.
New Brunswick:As Canada's only officially bilingual province, New Brunswick mirrors the federal requirement structure — bilingual administrative positions may require typing proficiency in both English and French.

Canadian vs. US Keyboard: Key Differences

Most Canadian workplaces use standard US ANSI QWERTY keyboards, which are identical to US keyboards. However, Canadian-specific keyboard layouts exist:

Canadian Multilingual Standard (CSA Z243.200):A QWERTY-based layout that adds dedicated access to French accented characters without requiring Alt codes or dead key sequences. The é, è, à, ù, ç characters are accessible directly via modified key combinations. This is the "official" Canadian keyboard standard but is less commonly deployed in offices than the plain US ANSI layout.
Canadian French QWERTY: Used primarily in Quebec, this layout keeps QWERTY base but rearranges some symbols to accommodate French accent entry more naturally. Common in Quebec government offices and educational institutions.
Standard US ANSI (most common in Canadian offices): The vast majority of Canadian offices — including most federal government departments — use standard US ANSI keyboards. French accents are entered via Windows language bar switching or keyboard shortcuts (Alt+0233 for é, etc.). Government typing tests are conducted on whatever keyboard the exam center provides, which is typically ANSI QWERTY.

The practical implication: Canadian English typing tests use exactly the same keyboard layout and techniques as US typing tests. French typing tests require accent entry skill on a QWERTY keyboard, which is a learnable but non-trivial additional skill compared to typing pure English.

Typical Office Speed Standards in Canada

Outside government, Canadian private sector employers in various industries have informal typing standards:

General office / administrative assistant: 40–55 WPM
Customer service / call centre: 35–45 WPM
Data entry clerk: 45–60 WPM, focus on accuracy
Legal secretary (Bay Street and national law firms): 65–75 WPM
Medical transcriptionist: 55–70 WPM with medical terminology accuracy
Software developer / tech worker: 60–80 WPM (keyboard-intensive role)
Journalist / writer: 65–85 WPM

Canadian financial institutions (RBC, TD, BMO, Scotiabank, CIBC) routinely include a typing assessment in administrative and contact centre hiring. The standard across these employers is typically 40–50 WPM with 95–98% accuracy, administered as an online pre-screening assessment before phone or in-person interviews.

5 Preparation Tips for Canadian Typists

Find your exact requirement on jobs-emplois.gc.ca

Federal government job postings in Canada always include a Statement of Merit Criteria that lists essential qualifications. Typing speed, when required, appears under 'Abilities and Skills' as a specific WPM or as a reference to the Public Service Commission typing test standard. Do not assume 40 WPM applies uniformly — CR-5 and AS-level administrative positions with correspondence-heavy duties may specify 55 WPM. The posted requirement is the only authoritative figure.

Bilingual positions: practise in both official languages

If you are applying for a bilingual-designated federal position, you may need to demonstrate typing proficiency in both English and French. French-language typing on a QWERTY keyboard requires familiarity with entering accented characters — é (Alt+0233 or dead key), è, à, ç, etc. Practice French passages on a QWERTY keyboard specifically, not a French AZERTY layout. The WPM requirement is the same in both languages, but typing French with correct accents on a QWERTY keyboard is a separate skill from typing English.

Provincial government: read the specific posting for your province

Ontario, BC, Quebec, Alberta, and other provinces each set their own administrative typing standards. Ontario's OPSEU collective agreement classifications for administrative positions have historically cited 40–50 WPM. BC's Public Service Agency specifies role requirements at the position level. Quebec's Commission de la fonction publique applies French-language standards. There is no Canada-wide provincial standard — reading the actual job posting is the only reliable way to know the requirement for your target role.

Canadian English spelling differs from both US and UK conventions

Canadian English occupies a middle ground: some words follow British spelling ('colour', 'centre', 'defence'), others follow American ('program' not 'programme', 'fulfill' not 'fulfil'). Federal government documents use Canadian Press style or the Government of Canada's own writing guidelines. If your typing practice has been entirely on American tools, some Canadian spellings may cause hesitation mid-passage. Read a few Government of Canada web pages or reports as supplementary material to internalize Canadian spelling conventions before a formal typing test.

Target 110% of the stated requirement to allow for test-day variables

Whether the requirement is 40 WPM or 55 WPM, practise until you consistently score 10–15% above the threshold in 5-minute timed sessions. Federal government typing tests are administered in-person at Public Service Commission locations on standard office keyboards — not the keyboard you practise on at home. Hardware variability, test-day nerves, unfamiliar passage content, and time pressure all typically reduce effective WPM by 5–10% compared to home practice scores. A built-in buffer is not optional.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the typing speed requirement for Canadian federal government jobs?

The Government of Canada Public Service Commission sets typing requirements for clerical and administrative positions in the federal public service. CR (Clerical and Regulatory) group positions at CR-3 and CR-4 levels — the most common entry-level government administrative classifications — typically require 40–50 WPM. AS (Administrative Services) group positions at higher levels may require 50–60 WPM for roles involving intensive correspondence or secretarial work. Requirements are specified in the Statement of Merit Criteria for each specific competition — always verify in the job posting on the Government of Canada's Jobs website (jobs-emplois.gc.ca).

Do Canadian federal government jobs require bilingual typing (English and French)?

Many federal government positions in Canada are designated bilingual under the Official Languages Act, requiring proficiency in both English and French. For bilingual administrative positions, the typing speed requirement applies in the language(s) specified by the position — candidates may need to demonstrate adequate WPM in both official languages. The French language typing test uses French-language passages and a standard QWERTY keyboard (not a French AZERTY layout), since Canadian French typists predominantly use English-layout keyboards with accent characters entered via shortcuts or dead keys. The WPM standard is the same for both languages.

How do provincial government typing requirements differ across Canada?

Canadian provincial governments set their own typing requirements independently of the federal standard. Ontario Public Service administrative assistant and clerk roles typically require 40–50 WPM. British Columbia public service administrative roles often specify 45 WPM. Quebec government positions (where French is the primary language of work) use QWERTY keyboards and apply the same WPM benchmarks as English typing. Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan public service administrative posts generally require 40–45 WPM. New Brunswick, as a bilingual province, may require typing proficiency in both English and French for specific roles. Always check the specific job posting for your target province.

How does a Canadian keyboard differ from a US keyboard?

Canadian keyboards come in two layouts: Canadian English (also called Canadian Multilingual Standard, CSA layout) and Canadian French (QWERTY variant). The standard Canadian English layout is nearly identical to the US ANSI QWERTY layout, with the addition of dedicated keys for accented characters (é, è, à, ù, â, ê, î, ô, û, ç) used in French. The Canadian French QWERTY layout keeps the core QWERTY arrangement but rearranges some symbols and adds accent dead keys, making it usable for both English and French typing without switching input methods. In practice, most Canadian offices and government workstations use the standard US ANSI layout, with French accent characters entered via Alt codes, keyboard shortcuts, or input method switching.

What is the average typing speed for Canadian office workers?

The average typing speed for Canadian adult office workers is approximately 38–45 WPM, consistent with the US and Australian average for English-speaking countries. Canadian workers in knowledge-intensive sectors (government, finance, legal, tech) typically average 45–55 WPM. The federal public service standard of 40–60 WPM spans from slightly above average to well above average, depending on the position level. Canadian university students who type extensively for assignments commonly reach 55–70 WPM by graduation without formal typing training.

Take a free timed typing test to find your current WPM baseline. Whether you are targeting a federal Public Service CR position, a provincial government role, or a private sector administrative job in Canada, knowing your starting point is the first step to meeting the requirement.

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