IRCC is switching to the NOC 2021 system today. Here’s what you need to know.

16 November, 2022

How the Express Entry candidates will be impacted by NOC changes implemented today

As announced on July 27, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) today transitioned to the 2021 version of the National Occupation Classification (NOC) system.

This change brings some changes to eligibility for Canada's 80+ immigration programs, including Express Entry.

While the current NOC system (NOC 2016) requires an Express Entry candidate to have work experience within NOCs 0, A or B, the change from IRCC to NOC 2021 brings change to TEER, which stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities.

This means occupancy codes will no longer have 4 but 5 digits. Another point is the type of skill and skill levels from NOC 2016 that categories within TEER will replace.

You will not be eligible to receive an ITA until your profile is updated with your NOC 2021 code.

As the ITA rounds will resume on November 23, 2022, we recommend that you do this as soon as possible.

If you received an Invitation to Apply (ITA) before November 16, 2022

You must: submit your application for permanent residence using the NOC 2016.

If you have already submitted a profile but have not received an ITA

You must: search your occupation on the NOC 2021 list on the ESDC website, update your profile with your TEER Category and 5-digit occupation code

In the table below, you can see how the categories of the current NOC system will be replaced by the TEER categories of the 2021 NOC system:

NOC 2016	NOC 2021
Skill Type 0	TEER 0
Skill Level A	TEER 1
Skill Level B	TEER 2
Skill Level B	TEER 3
Skill Level C	TEER 4
Skill Level D	TEER 5

In the table below, you can see the updated NOC 2021 eligibility criteria (TEER) for Express Entry:

Eligibility criteria	Canadian Experience Class	Federal Skilled Worker Program	Federal Skilled Trades Program
English or French skills	CLB 7 for TEER 0 or TEER 1 occupations; CLB 5 for TEER 2 or TEER 3 occupations	CLB 7	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 one or more of these NOC TEER Categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, or TEER 3.	Work experience in an occupation listed in one of these NOC TEER Categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, or TEER 3.	Work experience in a skilled trade under key groups of TEER 2 or TEER 3.*
Amount of work experience	One year in Canada in the last three years (full-time or part-time).	One year continuous within the last ten years (combination of part-time, full-time or more than one job in your primary occupation).	Two years within the last five 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.	A valid job offer of full-time employment for at least one year or a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued by a Canadian provincial, territorial or federal authority.
Education	It is not required.	Secondary education is required. You can get more selection criteria (FSW) points for post-secondary education.	It is not required.

With this transition to NOC 2021, 16 occupations will become eligible for Express Entry, while 3 will become ineligible.

The 3 new ineligible occupations will remain eligible for some provincial programs - Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

Find out below the 16 newly eligible occupations:

Payroll Administrators
Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
Nursing assistants, orderlies, and patient care associates
Pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants
Elementary and high school teacher assistants
Sheriffs and Bailiffs
correctional officers
Law enforcement and other regulatory officials
Estheticians, electrologists and related occupations
Residential and commercial installers and service providers
Pest controllers and fumigators
Other repairers and service providers
transport truck drivers
Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators
heavy equipment operators
Aircraft Assemblers and Aircraft Assembly Inspectors

Below are the 3 occupations recently ineligible:

other artists
Program leaders and trainers in recreation, sport and fitness
Tailors, sewists, furriers and hatters

These changes will result in adjustments for most programs: the use of new terminology and for programs with narrower occupational criteria where current Skill Type/Level groupings are used, including those managed under Express Entry (Federal Skilled Workers Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class and a part of the Provincial Nominee Program).

Need some help with the new TEER categories, contact our team.