The CELPIP Test was created in 1999 by Paragon Testing Enterprises. 

The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP) Test, the Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL) Assessment, and the Language Proficiency Index (LPI) Test are all developed, delivered, and licenced by Paragon in collaboration with other organisations. It also creates, distributes, and licences online and print self-study materials, test preparation programmes, and test delivery and registration software in collaboration with other organisations.

Paragon’s objective is to make its English language proficiency exams the tests of choice for people seeking to immigrate to Canada, become Canadian citizens, or study at all levels in Canada. Paragon performs continuing test research in conjunction with internationally known scholars from Canada’s top universities to achieve this aim.

When it was created in 2009, the company bought all of the assets associated with the CELPIP and LPI Tests from UBC, which had previously been produced within an ancillary unit of the university called Applied Research and Evaluation Services (ARES). In 1986, the LPI Test was developed, and in 1999, the CELPIP Test was developed. The exams, their content, instructional items and preparation programmes related with the tests, and a range of electronic database systems, registration systems, and test delivery software utilised to distribute and administer the tests were among the assets.

During its ten years of existence, Paragon has grown at a quick pace. This expansion can be seen in a variety of ways, including:

1. A ten-fold increase in annual revenues and a rapid increase in the number of tests delivered annually (from thousands to tens of thousands).
2. A rapid increase in the number of test centres that deliver its computerised tests (from two to more than 70).
3. The introduction of new instructional materials and preparation programmes, as well as a rise in the number of new raters hired (from 10 to more than 100).
4. Important enhancements to the test delivery and registration software, as well as the number of full-time employees (from 16 to 278) and the size of Paragon’s office space have both grown (from under 2,500 square feet to more than 16,000 square feet).

On the UBC Vancouver campus, Paragon commenced operations in the Scarfe Building, which houses the Faculty of Education. In 2010, the company relocated to the Donald Rix Building, which houses several of UBC’s start-up enterprises in the Discover Parks area, and in 2013, it expanded its capacity to include offices in the Gerald McGavin Building. In 2014, Paragon relocated its operations from the UBC campus to the Broadway Tech Centre, and in 2015, it extended its facility there. The company’s headquarters currently encompass 12,500 square feet for offices and an on-site testing centre. Paragon opened a satellite office and test centre in Toronto, Ontario, in August 2016, with 4,000 square feet of office space.

In the beginning, Paragon only had two test centres, one in Vancouver and the other in Toronto, where the computerised CELPIP Tests were administered. The paper-based LPI Tests were given out in more than 25 secondary schools in British Columbia and Alberta, as well as at 25 universities and colleges across Canada, including Alberta, Ontario, and Hong Kong.

Since its establishment, the company has swiftly extended its test centres across Canada and abroad, to the point where it now has over 70 locations globally. The UAE, the United States, India, and the Philippines are now home to Paragon’s first worldwide CELPIP test centres.