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Canada Immigration – Significant NOC Changes in 2022
Jan 03,2022
In Canada’s immigration system, the National Occupational Classification (NOC) has an important role to play. Aspirants for skilled workers and temporary foreign workers must prove that their professional experience meets the NOC requirements of the program to which they are applying.
The NOC is Canada’s national occupational reference. It classifies employment activities in Canada. The main intent of NOC is to assist in gaining a better understanding of the Canadian job market, operating government programs, boosting skill development, conducting experiments, and supporting Canada in handling its immigration and foreign worker programs.
The federal government creates a revised version of the NOC every decade. The modifications done in the NOC reflect changes in the Canadian economy and labor market. The last revision to the NOC system occurred in 2016. The 2021 changes are planned to go into effect in the fall of 2022. This will provide applicants the opportunity to know how the latest things work.
Latest Changes to The NOC System
1. Change in Terminology
The very first significant difference is in the terminology. The National Occupational Classification (NOC) system, which was previously known as the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system, has now accurately changed its name to the Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) system. This makes the point that NOC evaluates an applicant’s or temporary foreign worker’s training, education, job experience, and responsibilities related to the underlying work experience and not just their skillset.
2. Change in Skill Level Categories
The next modification incorporated into the NOC system is an increase in the number of categories or tiers. The major categories have been changed to six in the latest version.
Below are given the details of the 2016 NOC and the 2021 TEER specifications
2016 Skill Level Categories
| Category | Requirements |
| NOC 0 | Management jobs (generally require a degree) |
| NOC A | Professional jobs (generally require a degree) |
| NOC B | Technical jobs and skilled trade jobs (generally require a college diploma or training) |
| NOC C | Intermediate jobs (generally require a high school diploma or job-specific training) |
| NOC D | Labour jobs (generally requires on-the-job training) |
2021 Skill Level Categories
| Category | Requirements |
| TEER 0 | Management jobs (usually require a degree) |
| TEER 1 | Completion of a university degree (bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate); or
Experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 2 (when applicable) |
| TEER 2 | Completion of a post-secondary education program of two to three years at community college, institute of technology or CÉGEP; or
Completion of an apprenticeship training program of two to five years; or Occupations with supervisory or significant safety (police officers and firefighters) responsibilities; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 3 (when applicable). |
| TEER 3 | Completion of a post-secondary education program of fewer than two years at community college, institute of technology, or CÉGEP; or
Apprenticeship training of fewer than 2 years; or More than six months of on-the-job training, training courses, or specific work experience with some secondary school education; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 4 (when applicable). |
| TEER 4 | Completion of secondary school; or
Several weeks of on-the-job training with some secondary school education; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 5 (when applicable). |
| TEER 5 | Short work demonstration and no formal educational requirements. |
3. Change in The Classification System
The third big shift will be the transition from a four-digit NOC code to a five-digit NOC code. The new code aims to facilitate greater flexibility and reliability, as well as the integration of fresh unit groups in the long term.
The new five-digit NOC code can be subdivided into the following parts
- First digit – indicates the broad occupational category
- Second digit – indicates the TEER category
- First digit and second digit – indicate the major group
- First digit and second digit and third digit – indicate the sub-major group
- First four digits indicate the minor group
- All five digits define the unit group or the occupation.
How Canada Immigration Will Be Influenced by The Changes?
The impacts of the introduced changes on Canadian immigration and foreign worker applicants remain unclear at the moment. However, the candidates are expected to be unaffected because the professional experience will remain to be the primary qualifying criteria for the prevalence of programs. Where some can benefit from the changes as they may fulfill the eligibility criteria of the programs for which they were unqualified earlier, others may have to suffer because of the same cause.
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