Canada NOC list changes affect Express Entry candidates

 According to the government website, Canada's immigration department will transition to the 2021 National Occupational Classification, Canada NOC list system on November 16, 2022. Ineligibility for several of Canada's immigration programmes, notably Express Entry, will alter as a result of the revised NOC list. 

Currently, you must have job experience that matches NOC skill categories 0, A, or B, which are consistent with the Canada NOC list 2016, in order to submit an Express Entry application for permanent residence in Canada. After the change, the new Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) system will be used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to establish a candidate's eligibility for work experience. 

The data below compares TEER categories to talent types from the Canada NOC list for 2016:

• Skill Type 0 to TEER 0

• Skill Level A to TEER 1 

• Skill Level B to TEER 2

• Skill Level B to TEER 3

• Skill Level C to TEER 4

• Skill Level D to TEER 5

Instructions for Express Entry candidates

Candidates that apply for Canada PR in the Express Entry pool and those who haven't yet submitted their files are given guidance on the IRCC website. 

You must update your profile on or after November 16, 2022 if you have already submitted it but have not yet received an Invitation to Apply (ITA). To achieve this, go to the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) website and search the Canada NOC list 2021 list. After that, update your profile with your five-digit profession code and TEER Category. 

You must locate your occupation's code on the Canada NOC list 2021 list and include it while completing your Express Entry profile if you want to submit it on or after November 16.

You must use the Canada NOC list 2016 to submit your application if you got an ITA prior to November 16. It is not necessary to determine which new code matches the one you already have.

CRS implications

The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) will award points for organized employment in accordance with the Skill Type/Level updating chart. 

For instance, if your NOC is in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, and you would have gotten 50 points for scheduled employment in Skill Type/Level 0, A, or B, you will still receive those points.

Federal Skilled Worker Program selection factor points

The Skill Type/Level update table will be used to determine your points based on the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) selection criteria. 

It follows that you will still earn the same number of points for employment in TEER 0, 1, or 2 as you would have received 10 for employment in Skill Type/Level 0, A, or B.

Which occupations will be affected?

According to a previously published internal briefing letter, individuals who apply for Canada PR through Express Entry will be able to work in a total of 16 new occupations, while three will no longer be eligible. 

Beginning November 16, the following occupations will be qualified for Express Entry:

• Payroll administrators;

• Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants;

• Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates;

• Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants;

• Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants;

• Sheriffs and bailiffs;

• Correctional service officers;

• By-law enforcement and other regulatory officers;

• Estheticians, electrologists and related occupations;

• Residential and commercial installers and servicers;

• Pest controllers and fumigators;

• Other repairers and servicers;

• Transport truck drivers;

• Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators;

• Heavy equipment operators; and

• Aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors.

The three occupations that will no longer be eligible are:

• other performers;

• program leaders and instructors in recreation, sport and fitness; and

• tailors, dressmakers, furriers and milliners.

For programs with greater occupational eligibility requirements, such as some streams of the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), these three occupations will continue to be eligible.