NOC TEER Categories

In our previous post, we have talked about the NOC TEER codes and why is it so important to get them exactly right! We also discussed the five-digits in the NOC TEER code and how these five digits can tell us in depth about the roles and responsibilities expected in the jobs they represent. Canadian immigration authorities have designed the National Occupational classification (NOC) system to be hierarchical with five layers of detail and information about specific jobs. Just like an onion, you need to peel each layer to get to the core of your work experience.

So, let's get our fundamentals right! Remember the first digit of our NOC TEER code that we talked about in our previous post? Why is that first digit so important? That is because this first digit of the NOC TEER code is where your journey for selecting the right code for your immigration application starts. And as you know, if you get the fundamentals right, you have a strong application.

Now, let me remind you that the first digit of the NOC TEER codes links each job to a broad occupational category. These categories, along with the TEER categories, are used by the Canadian immigration authorities to classify all jobs available in the Canadian labor market. So, how is that classification done? Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have broken down the labor market into distinct and easily identifiable segments called broad occupational categories. Each category gives you necessary information about that particular piece of the labor market, like type of work performed or the sector of activity. Let’s look at these broad occupational categories in detail now. 

Category	Industry	Description
0	Legislative and senior management occupations	This category contains legislators and senior managers.
1	Business, finance and administration occupations	This category includes financial and business services, administrative and regulatory services, and clerical supervision and support services. Some jobs in this category are only applicable to the financial and business service sectors but usually most are found in all industries.
2	Natural and applied sciences and related occupations	This category aims at professional and technical occupations in the sciences, including physical and life sciences, engineering, architecture, and information technology.
3	Health occupations	This category focuses on jobs that provide health care services directly to patients. Also, included are jobs that provide support to professional and technical health care staff.
4	Occupations in education, law, social, community and government services	This category targets jobs in teaching, law, social and community services, social sciences, public administration including front line public protection services, developing government policy, and administering governmental and other programs.
5	Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport	This category includes professional and technical jobs related to art and culture, including the performing arts, film and video, broadcasting, journalism, writing, creative design, libraries, and museums. It also targets jobs in recreation and sport.
6	Sales and service occupations	This category focuses on sales and customer service jobs, including hospitality and tourism.
7	Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations	This category includes construction and mechanical trades, trades supervisors and contractors, and operators of transportation and heavy equipment. These jobs are present in various industries. What is interesting about this category is that it includes most of trades with apprenticeships that carry specific training and licensing requirements.
8	Natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations	This category contains supervisory and equipment operation occupations in the natural resource-based sectors of mining, oil and gas production, forestry and logging, agriculture, horticulture, fishing, hunting, and trapping. Most jobs in this category are not found outside their primary industries.
9	Occupations in manufacturing and utilities	This category includes supervisory and production occupations in manufacturing, processing, and utilities.

After the broad occupational categories that are represented by the first digit in the NOC TEER code, we move on to the next digit! The second digit of the NOC TEER code gives us information about the TEER category assigned for that particular job. These TEER categories are used to classify all the jobs included in the federally recognized NOC system.

Now, what does TEER stand for? TEER here stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities required for a particular job. So, basically, the TEER category will tell you details like what kind of formal education or what duration of training is required for a particular job. That means that every TEER category outlines the most common ways by which you can get a particular job. When there are many paths to the same job, the TEER category most commonly used by the employers is applied.

There are six TEER categories that range from TEER 0 to TEER 5, as detailed below.

TEER Level	Job Type	Examples
TEER 0	Jobs that usually require Management responsibilities	Advertising and Marketing Public Relations Managers Financial Managers
TEER 1	Jobs that usually require a University degree (bachelor's, master's, or doctorate). previous experience and expertise in subject matter knowledge from a related occupation found in TEER category 2 (when applicable)	Financial Advisors Software Engineers
TEER 2	Jobs that usually require a college diploma of two to three years at community college, institute of technology, or CÉGEP; or an apprenticeship training program of two to five years; or supervisory or significant safety responsibilities; or several years of experience in a related occupation from TEER category 3 (when applicable)	Computer Network and Web Technicians Medical Laboratory Technologists Police Officers Firefighters
TEER 3	Jobs that usually require a college diploma of less than two years at community college, institute of technology or CÉGEP; or an apprenticeship training program of less than two years; or more than six months of on-the-job training with some high school education; or several years of experience in a related occupation from TEER category 4 (when applicable)	Bakers Dental Assistants Dental Laboratory Assistants
TEER 4	Jobs that usually require a high school diploma; or several weeks of on-the-job training with some high school education; or experience in a related occupation from TEER category 5 (when applicable)	Home Child Care Providers Retail Salespersons Visual Merchandisers
TEER 5	Jobs that usually require short-term work demonstration and no formal education	Landscapers Grounds Maintenance Laborers Delivery Service Drivers Door-to-door Distributors

Now, as you can see above, TEER categories outline what kind of education and training is required to do a particular job. Someone from TEER 2 category can easily move into TEER 1 category with additional formal education and more work experience. That’s not all. These categories also define what kind of experience is needed for a particular job. As your responsibilities in a job become more complex, you can move from TEER 5 category to TEER 4 by more on-the-job training. So, if you are looking to increase your CRS score to increase your chances for getting permanent residence (PR), you can look at these categories to see how you can do it.

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Disclaimer:

The content available on this page is for informational purpose only. For professional advice, please book an appointment with our licensed immigration consultants through our website.

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