Nurse Aides, Dental Assistants, Teacher Assistants, Truck Drivers and Heavy Equipment Operators are now eligible for Express Entry
The NOC system in Canada is used to classify an applicant’s job to determine their eligibility for different programs available for immigration. NOC system assigns codes to all occupations. These codes are then grouped together based on the type of work, job duties and education level of applicant.
NOC 2021 became effective on November 16, 2022. In this NOC system, the former five-category skill level structure has been replaced with a six-category system called Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) categories. All 4-digit occupation codes are now 5-digit codes. TEERs are numbered from 0 to 5 depending on job duties, experience and education. Some of the NOC codes from 2016 have been spliced to create multiple categories aligned with job duties. For example, NOC 1123 for professional occupations in ‘advertising, marketing and public relations’ was previously under skill level A that required university or professional degree. But under new system this code has been divided into three different TEERs and codes; (TEER 0) managers, (TEER 1) profession occupations and (TEER 4) customer service representative. As such latter job code 64409 being categorized under TEER 4 will not qualify for express entry. However as per the new NOC, nurse aides, long-term care aides, hospital attendants, elementary and secondary school teacher assistants, and transport truck drivers are now included in the Express Entry.
A list of new occupations added to Express Entry class includes:
- 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
- Bylaw 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
Table1. Example of NOC transition from NOC 2016 to NOC 2021
| Old code | Old Occupation | Old Skill level | New Code | New Occupation | TEER | Description of Change |
| 1123 | Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations | A | 10022 | Advertising, marketing and public relations managers | 0 | NOC 1123 was split. Job title “social media community manager” updated to “social media manager” moved from NOC 1123 to NOC 10022. |
| 11202 | Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations | 1 | NOC 1123 was split. Job titles related to professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations moved from NOC 1123 to NOC 11202. | |||
| 64409 | Other customer and information services representatives | 4 | NOC 1123 was split. Job titles “tourism information officer” and “tourism information technician” moved from NOC 1123 to NOC 64409. |
Table2. Eligibility criteria for Express Entry under new NOC TEER System
| Eligibility criteria | Canadian Experience Class | Federal Skilled Worker Program | Federal Skilled Trades Program |
| Language skills | English or French skills CLB 7 for TEER 0 or TEER 1 occupations CLB 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3 occupations | English or French skills CLB 7 | English or French skills CLB 5 for speaking and listening CLB 4 for reading and writing |
| Type/Level of work experience | Canadian work experience in an occupation listed in 1 or more of these NOC TEER Categories: TEER 0 TEER 1 TEER 2 TEER 3 | Work experience in an occupation listed in 1 of these NOC TEER Categories: TEER 0 TEER 1 TEER 2 TEER 3 | Work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or TEER 3: Major Group 72, technical trades and transportation officers and controllers, excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers Major Group 73, general trades Major Group 82, supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production Major Group 83, occupations in natural resources and related production Major Group 92, processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers Major Group 93, central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors Minor Group 6320, cooks, butchers and bakers Unit Group 62200, chefs |
| 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: a valid job offer of full-time employment for a total period of at least 1 year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority |
| Education | Not required. | Secondary education required. You can get more selection criteria (FSW) points for your post-secondary education. | Not required. |