New NOC Eligibility and Impact For the Express Entry System

The Canadian government will change the NOC eligibility to allow 16 occupations to qualify for the Express Entry. These changes will begin in November 2022. 

The new NOC system will affect how IRCC assesses work experience for PR candidates, admitting 16 new occupations to become eligible under the Express Entry system, and turning 3 occupations ineligible.

In the end, the Express Entry system is the most popular immigration pathway in Canada, and the NOC code is vital for the process and eligibility. Then, the following changes will directly impact many candidates.

What is NOC?

The National Occupational Classification, also known as NOC, is the official system for describing occupations across the country. Indeed, it is an essential part of qualifying under the Express Entry system. It is supervised by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Statistics Canada, which adjust it every decade. 

Therefore, new changes in the NOC code eligibility are coming. As a consequence of these changes, the following 16 occupations are now eligible under 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
• Aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors

On the other hand, three occupations will become ineligible for Express Entry in November:

• other performers;
• program leaders and instructors in recreation, sport and fitness; and
• tailors, dressmakers, furriers and milliners

However, those 3 occupations will still be eligible for other programs such as Provincial Nominee Programs. Keep in mind that, even if your NOC meets the eligibility criteria for the Express Entry, you must still satisfy other requirements to become a PR.

More Changes in the NOC Eligibility Criteria

Another significant change to NOC 2021 is replacing the current “skill level” structure with a new six-category system. Therefore, the new NOC eligibility criteria will be based on the level of Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) required in each occupation.

The previous NOC had four skill levels:

• NOC A: Jobs require university degrees
• NOC B: Skilled trades jobs that require a college diploma
• NOC C: Occupations that demand intermediate skills or job-specific training
• NOC D: Labour jobs that require on-the-job training.

IRCC decided that the new TEER structure would be divided into six categories:

Then, as you can see, occupations will now have a five-digit based on six categories. Then, the NOC eligibility will be divided into TEERS  (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).

With this new NOC eligibility, the TEER system seeks to provide more transparency on the level of work experience and education required to work in an occupation. Indeed, it gives a more practical sense of the skills needed for each field.

How Can We Help?

In mana immigration, we have more than 20 years of experience with Canadian visas. In fact, we understand everything related to immigrating to Canada and may help you improve your profile to have a smooth and straightforward process to become a permanent resident. 

Source: CIC News