NOC Code & TEER Canada: Match Job Duties for Express Entry

A job title can point you toward a National Occupational Classification code. It cannot prove that the code is right.

That distinction matters because immigration programs assess the work a person actually performed. A company might call someone a “manager” even though the role is mainly administrative. Another employer might use a modest title for a position that genuinely includes supervision, scheduling, staffing decisions and operational responsibility.

The practical question is not “What NOC sounds best?” It is “Which NOC most closely describes the work I can truthfully prove?”

This guide provides general information, not legal advice. NOC selection and proof-of-work requirements depend on the immigration program and the facts of the employment.

Quick answer: how do you find the right NOC code in Canada?

Start with your actual job duties, then use IRCC's Find your NOC^[1] tool and the official NOC 2021 profile to compare possible occupations.

Do not choose a code only because the job title sounds similar. IRCC tells applicants to make sure the main duties match the work they actually performed. For Express Entry programs such as CEC and FSW, the work must also show the actions in the NOC lead statement and most of the main duties.

NOC 2021 uses a five-digit code. The second digit identifies the occupation's TEER category, from TEER 0 to TEER 5.

If your employer letter is part of the evidence, describe the real work rather than copying the NOC wording. CADLEAF's Express Entry employer reference letter guide^[2] explains how duties, dates, hours and wages fit together.

Common NOC and TEER questions

Does my job title have to match the NOC title exactly?

No. Job titles are useful for searching, but the occupation should be chosen based on the work actually performed. If the title looks right but the duties do not, IRCC's current guidance says to find a different NOC that better matches the work.

What does TEER mean in a NOC code?

TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities. In NOC 2021, the second digit of the five-digit NOC code identifies the TEER category.

How many NOC duties must match for Express Entry?

IRCC does not publish one universal percentage such as 60% or 80%. Current CEC and FSW guidance requires the actions in the lead statement and most of the main duties. Program-specific instructions still control, so the whole NOC profile should be reviewed.

Can I copy NOC duties into my employer reference letter?

The letter should describe the work that actually happened. Copying NOC wording does not make a claim stronger if the duties are not true or cannot be supported by ordinary employment records.

Start with the work, then find the code

Canada’s current immigration system uses NOC 2021, which assigns occupations five-digit unit-group codes and organizes them through six Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities categories, usually called TEER 0 to TEER 5.

The first digit of a NOC code identifies the broad occupational category. The second digit identifies the TEER category. All five digits identify the unit group—the detailed occupational level normally used in immigration forms and profiles.

IRCC’s Find your NOC^[1] page and ESDC’s National Occupational Classification^[3] resources should be the starting point.

A useful way to approach the search is to write down what the person actually did before looking at codes:

• the work performed most days;
• the decisions the person was responsible for;
• any employees or functions supervised;
• technical, administrative or operational tasks;
• the type of workplace or industry; and
• how the role changed over time.

Only then compare possible NOC profiles.

A title helps you search. Duties help you decide.

A NOC profile contains more than a list of example job titles. It can include a lead statement, main duties, employment requirements, additional information and exclusions.

The title is useful for finding possible matches, but it is not the final test. Two employers can use the same title for different jobs. Different employers can also use different titles for essentially the same occupation.

For Express Entry programs, IRCC’s current program pages tell applicants to choose the NOC that most closely aligns with their work experience and show that they performed:

• the actions in the NOC lead statement; and
• most of the main duties listed for that occupation.

The current Express Entry Ministerial Instructions use more detailed wording for work-experience points: the person must have performed the lead-statement actions and a substantial number of the main duties, including all essential duties.

Those formulations are a reason to read the whole occupational description—not a reason to invent a percentage such as “60%” or “80%.” IRCC does not publish a universal percentage formula for NOC matching.

Read neighbouring NOCs before settling on one

Many NOC mistakes happen because the first plausible search result is treated as the answer.

A better comparison asks:

1. Does the lead statement describe the overall function and setting of the job?
2. Do the main duties resemble the work that was regularly performed?
3. Are there duties that clearly belong to a neighbouring occupation instead?
4. Does the exclusions section point to another code?
5. Does the level of responsibility fit the proposed occupation?
6. Can the claimed duties be supported by ordinary employment records?

This is especially important when a role combines functions. A warehouse employee, for example, might perform receiving, inventory control, forklift work and some team coordination. That does not automatically make the position a supervisory NOC. The overall function and actual responsibility still need to fit the occupational description.

Do not rewrite a job around a preferred NOC. Choose the NOC around the job that actually existed.

TEER describes the occupation, not the person

TEER is often misunderstood as a ranking of workers. It is not.

The TEER category describes the typical training, education, experience and responsibility associated with an occupation. A highly educated person can work in a TEER 4 occupation. Someone without a university degree may have years of experience in an occupation classified at a higher TEER level.

NOC 2021 uses six TEER categories:

TEER	General NOC description
0	Management occupations
1	Occupations usually requiring a university degree, or qualifying experience in certain TEER 2 occupations
2	Occupations usually requiring two or more years of post-secondary or apprenticeship training, or involving supervisory or significant safety responsibilities
3	Occupations usually requiring shorter post-secondary or apprenticeship training, or more than six months of on-the-job training
4	Occupations usually requiring secondary school or several weeks of on-the-job training
5	Occupations usually requiring a short work demonstration and no formal educational requirement

These descriptions help explain the classification. They do not replace the immigration program’s eligibility rules.

The same NOC can be treated differently by different programs

Finding the occupation is only one step. The next question is whether the work meets the rules of the program being used.

For example:

Program	Current work-experience framework
Canadian Experience Class	Canadian work in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3; experience can be in more than one NOC, but must meet CEC authorization, timing, payment and duty requirements
Federal Skilled Worker Program	Work in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3; the qualifying experience must be in the same NOC as the primary occupation and meet the FSW timing, continuity, payment and duty rules
Federal Skilled Trades Program	Work must fall within the skilled-trade NOC groups currently specified by IRCC, be in the same NOC, meet the duty test and meet the trade’s NOC job requirements

The current Canadian Experience Class^[4], Federal Skilled Worker Program^[5] and Federal Skilled Trades Program^[6] pages should be checked separately.

A NOC code does not make otherwise ineligible work count. Correctly classifying unauthorized work, unpaid work or experience outside a program’s required period does not cure those problems.

NOC employment requirements are not automatically immigration requirements

Every NOC profile can include an employment requirements section. It describes what is usually required to enter or practise the occupation in the Canadian labour market.

That does not mean every immigration program automatically requires proof of every item in that section.

The Federal Skilled Trades Program is a clear example of why the program rules matter: IRCC specifically requires the applicant to meet the job requirements for the skilled trade as set out in the NOC. The Canadian Experience Class page, by contrast, centres its occupational comparison on the lead statement and main duties.

Regulated occupations are another separate issue. A person may identify the correct NOC but still need provincial or territorial licensing before legally practising that occupation in Canada.

Keep these questions separate:

• What occupation best matches the work?
• What does the immigration program require?
• Does the occupation have a licensing or certification requirement where the person will work?

An employer letter should describe the job, not imitate the NOC page

Once the NOC is identified, the evidence still has to show what happened in the workplace.

IRCC’s Express Entry documents^[7] page lists an employer reference or experience letter as an example of proof of work experience. IRCC’s common supporting-document guidance^[8] also lists employment contracts, pay statements, employer reference letters and tax documents, and notes that reference letters may include duties, dates and salary.

There is no single universal employer-letter template that automatically satisfies every federal or provincial immigration program. The applicant’s program instructions and personalized document checklist remain important.

Depending on what the checklist requests, a useful letter may identify:

• the employer and reliable contact information;
• the employee’s name;
• each position held;
• start and end dates for each position;
• hours and employment status;
• wage or salary and benefits;
• work location;
• duties and responsibilities for each role; and
• the name, title and signature of the person issuing the letter.

The strongest wording is usually the employer’s ordinary, truthful description of the work. Copying sentences from the NOC page word-for-word can make the evidence less credible if those words are not how the job was actually performed or documented.

For a document-by-document discussion, see CADLEAF’s Express Entry employer reference letter guide^[2].

A job offer and an experience letter prove different things

These documents are easy to confuse because both come from an employer.

A job offer generally describes proposed or continuing employment. A reference or experience letter records work that has already been performed.

That distinction matters because a person may need evidence of past work experience even when no current job offer is involved. Conversely, a valid job offer can have its own eligibility rules that are separate from proving previous employment.

IRCC’s current job-offer guidance^[9] should be read separately from the work-experience document requirements.

If the employer will not give a detailed letter

This is a common practical problem, especially with large employers that issue only standardized employment confirmations.

The first step is not to invent a replacement letter. It is to check what the actual program or document checklist requires.

If the requested evidence genuinely cannot be obtained, an applicant may need to submit the available employer document, explain the efforts made to obtain the missing information, and provide supporting records that help establish the employment history. Depending on the circumstances, those records might include:

• employment contracts;
• pay statements;
• T4 slips or tax records;
• promotion or wage-change notices;
• contemporaneous job descriptions;
• schedules or organizational records; or
• other records created in the normal course of employment.

IRCC’s general guidance recognizes several types of employment evidence, but alternative documents are not guaranteed to replace a requested employer letter. More documents do not automatically fix weak or inconsistent evidence.

Promotions and role changes should have dates

One employer can contain several different immigration work periods.

An employee might begin in an operational role, become a lead hand and later move into genuine supervision. If the duties, pay, hours or level of responsibility changed materially, the employment evidence should make the dates of those changes clear.

A promotion does not retroactively change the NOC of earlier work.

Where different periods fit different NOCs, treating them separately can make the history easier to understand and easier to compare with payroll, tax records, permits and employer documents.

This is also why keeping records while still employed matters. Years later, managers leave, HR systems change and detailed job descriptions can become difficult to obtain.

Self-employment and student work need program-specific treatment

Do not assume that every paid period counts the same way.

For the Canadian Experience Class, IRCC generally does not count self-employment or work gained while the person was a full-time student toward the minimum Canadian work-experience requirement, subject to the current limited policy for certain physicians providing publicly funded medical services.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is different. Its current instructions state that paid student work may count toward the minimum requirement if it was continuous and meets the program’s other conditions. The FSW selection-factor section can also recognize qualifying self-employed skilled work.

For the Federal Skilled Trades Program, IRCC currently states that work experience gained while studying does not count toward its minimum requirement.

The lesson is simple: do not carry one program’s work-experience rule into another program.

Keep every version of the employment story consistent

A work claim rarely appears in only one document. It can show up in the Express Entry profile, personal history, work history, employer letters, tax records, work permits, resumes, job offers and supporting explanations.

Small differences are not automatically fatal. Real employment records are not written for immigration applications, and titles or department names can change. But material inconsistencies should be explained instead of hidden.

Watch for conflicts involving:

• dates;
• hours;
• job title;
• location;
• salary;
• employer name;
• duties; and
• whether the person was an employee or self-employed.

A polished letter cannot compensate for records that tell a different story.

A practical NOC review before you claim the work

Before entering a NOC in an immigration profile or application, work through this sequence:

1. Write down the real duties first. Do not start by copying a NOC description.
2. Search several possible unit groups. Read the lead statement, duties and exclusions.
3. Choose the closest honest match. Job title alone is not enough.
4. Check the TEER and program rules. Classification and eligibility are separate questions.
5. Review each employment period separately. Promotions can change the occupational match.
6. Check the evidence. Dates, hours, pay and duties should be supportable.
7. Read the personalized checklist before filing. Do not assume one employer-letter format works everywhere.
8. Explain real gaps or unavailable documents. Do not manufacture evidence to make the file look complete.

The goal is not to find the NOC with the best immigration outcome. It is to identify the occupation that best describes the work that actually happened and then apply the rules of the program being used.

Read next

If NOC is part of a broader work or Express Entry plan, continue with:

• Working in Canada: work permits, job offers and NOC/TEER^[10]
• Express Entry employer reference letters^[2]
• Canadian Experience Class: who qualifies and what to document^[11]
• Federal Skilled Worker Program explained^[12]
• Federal Skilled Trades Program explained^[13]
• Express Entry explained^[14]
• LMIA vs. LMIA-exempt work permits^[15]

Official sources

• ESDC: National Occupational Classification^[3]
• NOC 2021: Concepts and conventions^[16]
• NOC 2021: Structure list^[17]
• IRCC: Find your National Occupational Classification^[1]
• IRCC: Express Entry—who can apply^[18]
• IRCC: Canadian Experience Class^[4]
• IRCC: Federal Skilled Worker Program^[5]
• IRCC: Federal Skilled Trades Program^[6]
• IRCC: Express Entry documents^[7]
• IRCC: Common supporting documents^[8]
• IRCC: Express Entry job offers^[9]
• IRCC: Work-permit forms and document requirements outside Canada^[19]
• IRCC: Current Express Entry Ministerial Instructions^[20]
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 75^[21]
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 87.1^[22]
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, section 87.2^[23]