NOC Update of 2022 – How Will it Impact Canada Immigration for Aspiring Candidates?

Canada attracts immigrants from all over the globe as it offers an excellent standard of living and employment opportunities. International immigrants are an integral part of the Canadian economy who receive PR based on their skillset. Croyez Immigration, one of the best Canadian immigration consultants in India, enables the candidates to showcase their skills viably in the express entry profile.

To qualify under these skilled worker categories and get a PR in Canada, one needs to have a minimum of full-time professional work experience for one year. This is mandatory to qualify for any skilled immigration programs such as; Federal Skilled Worker Program or the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

This experience gets calculated and graded under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) list, which undergoes revision and changes after every five years. The biggest changes took place in 2011, and recently the current update came out on 1st September 2021. The new NOC list describes the occupation for the immigrants for fall 2022.

Occupation Categories Under NOC 2016

NOC helps Canada Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canadian provinces to evaluate the application of immigrants under the skilled worker programs. NOC is also used by the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to assess Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). It is a test conducted by ESDC for applicants who apply under the temporary worker’s program.

Also Read: International Experience Canada – Inviting Professionals

Major Changes in the Skill Levels as per NOC 2021

The Canadian government has introduced several structural changes in the NOC list. These changes are brought about while keeping the economic and market trends in the background. The following mentioned are the significant changes announced:

Swapping skill levels with TEER system:

TEER here stands for Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities. The TEER system is introduced to focus more on the occupational and educational part rather than skills. As per Statistics in Canada, this replacement was needed because the 2016 NOC categories couldn’t differentiate properly between low and high skilled workers. With this change, it is expected to filter out the professionals or highly skilled individuals precisely.

New entrants to the Occupational list:

These changes have been made per the changing demands and evolution in the Canadian job market. Based on these trends, new occupations have been added. Previously there were 423 occupations in NOC 2016, and now the updated NOC 2021 includes 516 domains. Newly added disciplines are:

● New Unit Groups – Data Science and Cybersecurity
● Granted a group of their own – Financial advisors and Police investigators
● Three different unit groups made – Software developers and programmers, Information technology sector, and Health agriculture sector
● Renewal within sectors – Military occupations and Postal service

Four-tiered to Five-tiered NOC classification :

A new codification format for naming the NOC code has been introduced. Initially, the code would come in a 4-digit format, but now it will be structured under a 5-digit format. This is assumed to be better and more flexible because it will help in adding more unit groups in the future.

What Do These Changes Imply for Immigration?

This diversification and categorization are expected to affect those immigrating aspirants who are planning to get Canadian PR under a specific economic Canada immigration program. It could be the federal express entry program or temporary foreign workers. The federal government of Canada is yet to declare which types of applicants will be affected after this major overhaul of the NOC occupation list.

Foreign working applicants and Canada immigration must confirm their NOC eligibility under the programs they plan to apply for. Classification of occupation by IRCC and ESDC is still a point of concern. Professions that come under pool “B” have grown significantly because jobs in this pool require educational qualifications and some level of work experience.

Immigrant applicants and individuals with a relevant educational background and professional work experience who want to get Canadian PR must wait for IRCC and ESDC to give out further details. At the moment, it is unclear which TEER division will be under the federal express entry program, and the same applies to other federal and provisional level immigration programs.

Contact Croyez Immigration, one of India’s best Canadian immigration consultants, to streamline the application process and apply for a skilled worker visa under professional guidance.