Canada Express Entry: Who Is Eligible and Who is not, Under the New Changes?

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is a job categorization system that is managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) & Statistics Canada. The NOC 2021 will introduce new terminology and a revised classification structure that will affect Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada programs. NOC 2021 is expected to come into effect in November 2022, while the first phase of the changes — which includes new job titles — will effect on November 1, 2020.

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is Canada’s official job and occupation classification system. The NOC groups related occupations together rank them in the Canadian labour force and standardize occupational titles across all sectors. This facilitates easier information sharing and transfer between government and private organizations, allows for a better understanding of the workforce needs, and improves labour market analysis.

Due to these changes, the given below 16 occupations will become eligible under Express Entry:

1. Payroll administrators
2. Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
3. Nurse aides, orderlies, and patient service associates
4. Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
5. Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
6. Sheriffs and bailiffs
7. Correctional service officers
8. By-law enforcement and other regulatory officers
9. Estheticians, electrologists, and related occupations
10. Residential and commercial installers and servicers
11. Pest controllers and fumigators
12. Other repairers and services
13. Transport truck drivers
14. Bus, Subway, & other transit operators
15. Heavy equipment operators
16. Aircraft assemblers and Inspectors

The Department of Employment has announced that it will be removing three occupations from the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) as part of its review of the SOL.

There are a total of three occupations that will become ineligible, they are given below:

1. Other performers
2. Trainers and instructors in recreation, sport, or fitness sector
3. Tailors, dressmakers, furriers, & milliners

The major change to NOC 2021 is the current four-category “skill level” structure has been replaced by a new six-category system. The new categorization system outlines the level of Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) required to enter each occupation or job.

The previous NOC had four skill levels. Skill level NOC A represented jobs that require university degrees, Skill level NOC B included jobs for skilled trades and requires a college diploma, Skill level NOC C represent jobs that require moderate skills or job-specific training, and Skill level NOC D was for labour category jobs that require only on-the-job training.

The new system has six levels: no requirement; entry; intermediate; advanced; senior; specialized.

In September 2020, IRCC’s Executive Committee imposed and implemented a new TEER structure. NOC 2021 will use a five-tier hierarchical job classification system. Also, occupations will now have a five-digit categorization system instead of the current four-digit system.

The new TEER system has six categories namely, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. 0 indicates no education or experience is necessary (entry-level) while 5 indicates extensive education and experience is required (highly skilled).

Statistics Canada has laid out the reasons for the implementation of this new TEER system. Firstly, the main reason for the TEER system is to provide more clarity on the level of education and work experience required to work in an occupation. Secondly, the skill type model creates artificial categorizations between low- and high-skilled occupations. Implementing the TEER categorization system is intended to give stakeholders a better idea of the skills required for each occupation.