To immigrate to Canada, you need to understand what is the National Occupational Classification and which type is eligible to use for your Express Entry profile. The National Occupational Classification, best known as NOC, is the official system used by the Canadian government to see the relationship between a job and its occupational information. It provides a standard to analyze more than 500 NOC codes. Keep in mind that each NOC code has approximately 60 job titles. Likewise, each NOC is organized with a different skill level (A, B, C or D) or (0).

What Are The NOC Skills Type

So, for immigration, the most relevant job types or levels are:

Skill Type 0: This is for occupations related to management, like a factory manager, resort manager, or office manager.
Skill Level A: This skill type is for professional occupations that most of the time need a university degree. It can be a chemist or a pharmacist.
Skill Level B: Most of the time, it refers to technical occupations that usually require apprentice training or a college diploma. It could be an administrative assistant, firefighter or photographer.
Skill Level C: This level is for intermediate occupations. It usually needs a high school diploma. It can be for a truck driver, a travel guide, or a receptionist.
Skill Level D: Labour occupations that only require training. Such as cleaners, kitchen helpers, or receptionists.

Currently, IRCC is using the 2016 version. So, ensure you are using this too. In some cases, the 2011 and 2006 versions also exist, and they may confuse you.

NOC requirements For Express Entry

To qualify under all the three federal programs of the Express Entry system, you must have work experience under a job skill type 0, A or B.

How To Identify The Correct NOC?

To find your correct NOC, you can find it on the NOC . Then, you need to the NOC job code that would be the most comparable to your current job. You must look for the one that better matches your duties and not your job title. Why job duties? Well, because this information is the most important when submitting your Express Entry application. Then, to prove your work experience, you must include your job duties. Further, IRCC can compare your information and compare to the NOC job code. The other option is to use the government website JobBank and find positions whose job duties are related and match your current or past job duties. Besides, on each position page, you will find the corresponding NOC code for that job.

How To Know The Skill Type Or Level?

Finally, when you find your NOC, you can check the skill type or level using our free tool. It will help you know if your NOC is type 0 or A, B, C or D. And, indeed, defined if you are eligible to apply under the Express Entry system or another immigration program.