National Occupational Classification (NOC)

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The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is the national system that categorizes all occupational activities in Canada.

In the NOC, an “occupation” is defined as a set of jobs that are sufficiently similar in work performed. This allows them to be grouped under the same unit group, with the same NOC code. The NOC 2021 uses 5-digit codes as well as Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) categories numbered from 0 to 5. You may need to indicate the NOC code for your job or know the TEER category (0 to 5) of your job during certain immigration processes.

The NOC 2021 matrix (make sure to choose the correct version of the NOC) includes over 40,000 job titles assembled into 516 unit groups. The unit groups are organized into 10 broad occupational categories and 6 Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) categories.

The broad occupational categories (first digit of the NOC code) are as follows:

0 - Legislative and senior management occupations
1 - Business, finance and administration occupations
2 - Natural and applied sciences and related occupations
3 - Health occupations
4 - Occupations in education, law and social, community and government services
5 - Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport
6 - Sales and service occupations
7 - Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations
8 - Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations
9 - Occupations in manufacturing and utilities

The TEER (training, education, experience, and responsibilities) categories (second digit of the NOC code) are as follows:

TEER 0 - Management occupations
TEER 1 - Usually requires a university degree
TEER 2 - Usually requires a college diploma or apprenticeship training of two or more years; or supervisory occupations
TEER 3 - Usually requires a college diploma or apprenticeship training of less than two years; or more than six months of on-the-job training
TEER 4 - Usually requires a secondary school diploma; or several weeks of on-the-job training
TEER 5 - Usually requires short-term work demonstration and no formal education

Here are some examples of jobs according to the TEER categories:

TEER	Examples
TEER 0	Advertising, marketing, and public relations managers Financial managers
TEER 1	Financial advisors Software engineers
TEER 2	Computer network and web technicians Medical laboratory technologists
TEER 3	Bakers and pastry chefs Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
TEER 4	Babysitters Retail salespersons and window dressers
TEER 5	Landscaping and grounds maintenance labourers Delivery drivers for delivery services and door-to-door distributors

NOC 2021 codes

The NOC 2021 codes are based on a five-level hierarchical structure. The first level consists of 10 broad occupational categories, the second level consists of 45 major groups, the third level consists of 89 sub-major groups, the fourth level consists of 162 minor groups, and the final level contains 516 unit groups.

Within a unit group, there may be one or more occupations, all of which fall into the same broad occupational category and the same TEER category. The NOC evaluates the type of work and tasks performed rather than the job title or salary. Each unit group has the following components:

Lead statement or description
Example titles
Main duties
Employment requirements
Additional information
Exclusions, i.e. job titles or occupations that are similar but excluded from the unit group

Searching the NOC

To find out the unit group for a job, visit the National Occupational Classification website. Make sure you choose the right version of the NOC for your needs. You can search by job title; enter your job title. If no results appear, try other searches using similar job titles.

Next, select the unit group that seems to be most appropriate. Read through the entire job description and the profile to make sure that the description actually matches your job. The two most important things to consider when reading the job description are the lead statement (the description just below the title) and the main duties.

The example titles and employment requirements sections are also useful for helping you determine which unit group is appropriate for your job. However, these are not as important as the lead statement and main duties because a job assessment is mostly based on the tasks carried out.

If you read the unit group and determine that it does not correspond to your job, you can do the following:

Go back to the list of unit groups generated by the search engine.
Check the exclusions section at the bottom of the page for examples of similar occupations.

You can also perform an advanced search by keyword or within the NOC structure by selecting “Advanced Search” below and to the right of the search bar.

If in doubt, we recommend that you talk to your employer about this. Your employer would know the exact definition of the tasks that you carry out and may be able to help you with this exercise. You can also use the Québec government’s Exploring Trades and Occupations site to help you in your search, or contact the NOC team directly.

Once you have determined which NOC unit group matches your duties, you can find out your job’s TEER category by consulting the “Breakdown summary” table to the right of the page. You will need to know this category for certain immigration processes.