05.01.2023
For years now, Canada has been using the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system to determine the skill levels of different occupations. However, this is all due to change in late 2022 – the country is switching to the Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) system instead.
In the meantime though, NOC codes continue to be integral to economic-class immigration applications, especially those done through the Express Entry system. But for the longest time, Canada was focusing its immigration efforts on occupations categorized under NOC 0, A, or B. In fact, these are the only NOC codes catered to by the Express Entry system.
While NOC 0 occupations are usually management ones, NOC A and B jobs are those that require a university degree and those that require a diploma/apprenticeship training respectively. This doesn’t mean that people whose occupations fall in other NOC codes can’t immigrate to Canada though – there are ways to go about this.
While NOC C occupations may need you to have a high school diploma, NOC D ones usually only call for on-the-job training. No matter which one of these occupation types you’re in though, several immigration programs are available to you. In fact, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) have recently been focusing on applicants with occupations in NOC C or D to immigrate to Canada. This was particularly seen when the Canadian government launched the Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence (TR to PR) pathways recently.
These programs allow Canadian provinces to have their own personalized immigration pathways that cater to their economic strategies. Generally, these programs are available in all Canadian provinces except Nunavut and Quebec. Some of these programs that accept immigrants with occupations that fall under NOC level C or D include:
This is an immigration program that allows employers to hire foreigners without having to get a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). But while this is quite convenient, there’s a caveat to this program – it only caters to employers from the Atlantic provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
While there are 3 categories you can apply for under the Atlantic Immigration Program, only one is specifically for NOC C workers – the Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program. To be eligible for this program, you need to:
If your application to the Atlantic Immigration Program is successful, you get Canadian permanent residence and an individualized settlement plan.
If you speak French and work in the food processing industry, this is a great immigration pathway for you. To be eligible you need to:
This program is designed for immigration applicants who work full-time in the agri-food sector in a Canadian province out of Quebec. Eligible occupations include meat processors, general farm workers, harvesting laborers, and farm supervisors. These could work in meat processing, greenhouse food production, livestock raising, or year-long mushroom production.
Current work aside, eligible candidates for this program should also have at least one year of full-time Canadian work experience in an eligible occupation. In fact, you should have a work permit that was given to you under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Beyond that, you need to have at least a high school diploma and French/English language proficiency of CLB level 4.
Both of these programs are for caregivers. To be eligible for them, immigration candidates need to:
Beyond that, candidates in the Home Child Care Provider Pilot need to be caring for children under the age of 18 in their home or that of their employer.
This immigration program is run by the federal government and allows all participating communities to nominate Canadian immigrants. The participating communities are:
To be eligible for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, immigration candidates must fulfill both federal and community requirements. For instance, on the federal level, they must have the equivalent of one year of full-time work done within three years of their application -a total of 1,560 hours. While work done outside Canada is eligible, self-employed work doesn’t count.
If you don’t have work experience though, a job offer coupled with a credential from a public post-secondary institution in the community may suffice. However, you need to have been a full-time student of a program that was at least two years long. Also, you need to have lived in the community for at least 16 of the last 24 months of study and graduated within 18 months before you applied for the RNIP.