The primary National Occupational Classification (NOC) code you use for your Express Entry profile can significantly impact whether you get Canadian permanent residence (PR).
Not only can your primary NOC determine your eligibility for certain Express Entry programs, but it also impacts your visibility as a suitable candidate for enhanced Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams.
Furthermore, choosing the wrong Primary NOC can have negative consequences for your immigration changes, such as missed opportunities, application refusals, and even misrepresentation.
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This article highlights the importance of selecting the right primary NOC and provides guidance on how to do so accurately in your Express Entry profile.
Why does your primary NOC matter?
Express Entry eligibility
When creating an Express Entry profile, you are required to input your primary NOC.
At its core, your primary NOC is the one you select as primary in your candidate profile, which best represents the main skilled occupation for which you are claiming experience for—and the occupation you intend to base your Express Entry application on, if you receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
If you input the wrong primary NOC code in your Express Entry profile, you risk being found ineligible for certain Express Entry programs.
For the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), your primary NOC must be the one for which you have at least two years of work experience in one of the following NOC groups:
- Major Groups 72, 73, 82, 83, 92, or 93;
- Sub-Major Groups 726 and 932 are excluded.
- Minor Group 6320; or
- Unit Group 62200.
Let’s look at an example: You are a chef (NOC 62200) but inadvertently list your primary occupation as falling under cook (NOC 62300) because you failed to realize these are classified differently by IRCC. This simple mistake would make you ineligible for the FSTP and mean you are misrepresenting your experience, as your duties do not match.
To be considered for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the one year of continuous work experience in your primary occupation must align with the NOC you intend to use when submitting an Express Entry application.
For Canadian Experience Class, you must simply have at least one year of work experience in one or more NOCs, falling under *TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3, which you gained by working in Canada.
*Within Canada’s NOC system, jobs are assigned to one of six TEER levels (0 to 5) based on the Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities involved, ranging from highly skilled positions at TEER 0 to lower-skilled roles at TEER 5.
Consideration under enhanced Provincial Nominee Program streams
By selecting the correct NOC as your primary occupation in your Express Entry profile, you are making yourself discoverable to provinces that may be searching for individuals who have adequate experience or a job offer in that exact occupation.
Most PNPs have at least one enhanced stream, meaning the stream is aligned with the federal Express Entry system.
In such cases, a PNP can access the Express Entry pool and run structured searches for candidates that meet the criteria for one or more of their enhanced streams.
While PNPs can filter their search based on a variety of factors, they often conduct searches based on primary NOCs, as well as the years of work experience in NOCs of interest.
PNPs typically target and prioritize certain sectors and occupations for provincial nomination, based on their regional needs.
If you accidentally input the wrong NOC as your primary occupation, your profile may never be seen by a province for an enhanced stream that you very well could have been eligible for.
If a province selects you from the pool, you receive a Notification of Interest (NOI), which is essentially an invitation to apply for provincial nomination.
Fictional example:
Elizabeth Johnson wishes to immigrate to Canada and settle in either Alberta, Ontario, or British Columbia.
Because she has been living and working in Ontario for just over a year, she creates an Express Entry profile to be considered under CEC, and selects those three provinces as “Provinces of interest.”
Though her title at work is “Graphic Designer” (which would fall under NOC 52120), she does her due diligence and finds that, according to the NOC, her job duties are more aligned with “Web Designer” (NOC 21233)—so she makes this her primary NOC in her profile.
Unfortunately, based on her skills and qualifications, she currently has a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 525, which is several points short of the recent CRS score cut-offs for CEC draws.
She does, however, qualify for the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream, for which the province finds suitable candidates through the Express Entry pool.
Because she put her primary NOC as 21233 (Web Designer) when creating her Express Entry profile, she also qualifies for the OINP’s tech draws, which target nine specific occupations in the technology sector.
The OINP does a scan of the Express Entry pool to find candidates with qualifying work experience in one of these NOCs, sees her profile meets their regional needs, and sends her an NOI.
Had she just gone based on her title at work and put her primary NOC as 52120 (Graphic Designer), she wouldn’t have been discovered by Ontario and invited to apply for provincial nomination through its tech draws recruitment initiative.
Individuals who are successful in applying for provincial nomination get an additional 600 points toward their CRS score, which almost guarantees an ITA in an upcoming draw.
Elizabeth, if successful in obtaining a provincial nomination, would have a CRS score of 1,125 and likely be drawn in the next federal PNP draw.
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How to choose the correct primary NOC
To find the NOC that best aligns with your occupation, you’ll want to do the following:
- On the Government of Canada’s NOC webpage, enter your occupation title in the “Filter items” field to receive the associated NOC and TEER. Take note of these (there may be multiple).
- For example, if you enter “Executive assistant,” the associated NOC is 12100, which falls under TEER 2.
- Go to this webpage and search for your NOC using either your occupation or code.
- Examine the “Main duties” to ensure you have performed most of the duties associated with this classification, as well as the actions in the lead statement of the NOC job description.
- You do not rely on job titles alone, since titles can vary by employer.
- If you do not find a match, you will need to repeat this process with a different job title until you find a match.
The documents you provide when submitting an Express Entry application must support this NOC. Federal (and if applicable, provincial) authorities will examine these documents—which may include reference letters, contracts, or pay records—and if they conclude your duties do not substantially match the NOC, they may deem your occupation to be ineligible as your primary NOC.
If this happens, you may be found to have misrepresented yourself, which can result in:
- Your provincial nomination being withdrawn (if applicable);
- Inability to submit a PNP nomination application for a specified period (often two years);
- Your federal Express Entry application being refused;
- Having a permanent record of fraud with the immigration department;
- Having your temporary resident status stripped;
- Being removed from Canada; and/or
- Being banned from entering Canada for at least five years.
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