The National Occupational Classification (NOC) provides standardized criteria for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. It gives statisticians, labour market analysts, career counsellors, employers and individual job seekers a consistent way to collect data and describe and understand the nature of work and positions.

When considering whether or not a NOC code works for you, you should consider your duties, not your title. Titles are often ambiguous and interchangeable between different organizations and companies. For this reason, when determining the proper NOC for you, you should rely more heavily on duties as they typically remain the same across the board regardless of job title.

The NOC is used for:

• defining and collecting statistics;
• managing information databases;
• analyzing labour market trends; and
• extracting practical career planning information.

You will need to determine what NOC a temporary foreign worker falls under before you proceed to the next steps. Depending on the NOC code, this will determine what the criteria are for such a position as well as the expectations and obligations of an employer hiring a person in such a position.

To find the NOC code of the available position, employers should:

1. Visit the NOC website

2. Conduct a search based on the criteria of your choosing, such as job title

3. Review each of the occupations provided in the list until you have found one that works for you

4. Select the digit NOC code associated with the occupation that matches the education, employment requirements and main duties of the available position

Once the most appropriate NOC code has been found, you can determine its skill level.  Positions under the High skilled Occupations are defined as:

Management Occupations (first digit 0)
Occupations that begin with the digit 0 refer to management occupations

Skill level A (second digit 1)
The entry requirements are:

• University degree (bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate)

Skill level B (second digit 2 or 3)
The entry requirements are:

• 2 to 3 years of post-secondary education at a community college
• 2 to 5 years of apprenticeship training; or
• 3 to 4 years of secondary school and more than 2 years of on-the-job training, occupation-specific training courses or specific work experience.

Occupations with supervisory or significant health and safety responsibilities, such as firefighters, police officers and registered nursing assistants, are all assigned to skill level B, for example.