Canada’s overhauled National Occupational Classification (NOC) system is only being rolled out in three and a half months, on Nov. 16 – but the federal government is already providing guidance for foreign nationals hoping to immigrate to Canada under the Express Entry programs.
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“If you plan to submit an Express Entry profile on or after November 16, 2022, you must search for your occupation under the NOC 2021 list on the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) website (and) submit your Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category and five-digit occupation code when filling out your profile,” notes the federal government website.
Those who have already submitted a profile but have not been sent an Invitation to Apply (ITA) must:
- search for their occupation under the NOC 2021 list on the ESDC website, and;
- update their profile with their TEER Category and five-digit occupational code.
Those profiles must be updated on or after Nov. 16 for the applicants to remain eligible for any of the Express Entry programs, Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker program and Federal Skilled Trades program.
Updated NOC 2021 Eligibility Criteria For Express Entry
| Eligibility criteria | Canadian Experience Class | Federal Skilled Worker Program | Federal Skilled Trades Program |
| Language skills | English or French skills
| English or French skills
| English or French skills
|
| Type/Level of work experience | Canadian work experience in an occupation listed in 1 or more of these NOC TEER Categories:
| Work experience in an occupation listed in 1 of these NOC TEER Categories:
| Work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or TEER 3:
|
| Amount of work experience | One year in Canada in the last 3 years (either combination of full-time or part-time work) | One year continuous within the last 10 years (combination of part-time, full-time or more than 1 job in your primary occupation) | Two years within last 5 years (either combination of full-time or part-time work) |
| Job offer | Not required. | Not required. But you can get selection criteria (FSW) points for having a valid job offer. | Required:
|
| Education | Not required. | Secondary education required. You can get more selection criteria (FSW) points for your post-secondary education. | Not required. |
Applicants With ITAs Before Nov. 16 Should Apply Using NOC 2016
Those foreign nationals, though, though have or will have received an ITA before Nov. 16, 2022, should still submit their applications for permanent residence using the current NOC 2016.
Under the changes that will take effect in November, the NOC will move from a four-digit number to categorize each occupation to a five-digit code.
Within the new five-digit code, the Canadian government is breaking down the level of skill of each occupation, until mid-November still called the Skill Levels, into six categories from the current four to better reflect the level of training, education, experience and responsibilities, hench TEER, of each job.
These TEER categories in the re-jigged NOC will replace the current Skill Levels.
| Skill Type/Level | TEER Category |
| Skill Type 0 | TEER 0 |
| Skill level A | TEER 1 |
| Skill level B | TEER 2 and TEER 3 |
The new NOC will also rank occupational groups based on five hierarchal levels consisting of: the broad occupation category; major groups; sub-major groups, minor groups; and unit groups.
Foreign nationals looking for their NOC code for a job only need to go to the search page of the NOC website and search using their job title. After selecting the closest match on the list that is generated, it is important to make sure the main duties listed match those of the job.
When those duties don’t match up, users are being advised to a different job title with duties which more closely match theirs.
After writing down the numeric code and job title – for example, 72302 Gas fitters, and note the TEER category.
The new NOC is being phased in gradually “to provide organizations and programs with enough time to make a proper transition from NOC 2016 to NOC 2021.”
IRCC Undertakes NOC Overhaul Every Decade
A nationally-recognized and standardized system used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to evaluate the work experience of applicants for immigration, the choice of the right NOC code is one of the most important parts of an application for immigration.
With the overhaul to the NOC, all applications submitted once the new system comes into place will require the applicant to put in the proper – and new – five-digit NOC code.
“Every 10 years, the (NOC) undergoes a major structural revision whereby the existing occupational groups are reviewed alongside input collected from many relevant stakeholders through a consultation process,” stated Statistics Canada on its website.
“The release of the NOC 2021 will be the product of this 10-year cycle and will reflect changes in the economy and the nature of work. Input from the public, and particularly stakeholders, has been a key part of the revision process.”
Every province and territory in Canada uses the NOC to identify jobs that need to be filled by immigration programs.
In March last year, for example, New Brunswick temporarily reduced the work experience requirement for its truck driver stream, targeting candidates under what is now NOC 7511.
Earlier that year, British Columbia immigration lifted its exclusion of 31 NOC codes as it conducted two draws, issuing invitations to 494 candidates, after roughly a year of limiting immigration of people to do those jobs.
