Changes in Canada’s National Occupation Criteria from 2022
Many might think that Canada has had a long pause in the visa application processing since a year or two and they are not wrong to think so. The global pandemic has had a devastating effect on many country’s immigrations and many rules and laws are being amended to fit in the new normal.
During the pandemic, Canada has been processing most applications under the Express Entry program as that is the most rewarding and quickest way for applicants as well as the government. Even before the pandemic, over 60% of candidates who immigrated to Canada were those through any one of the Express Entry Categories.
To enter an Express Entry pool for some specific programs a candidate must be able to showcase that their current occupation falls under any one of the National Occupation Classification of Canada. Every 5 years the NOC is updated to make sure that the prevailing system justifies the Canada’s changing labor market trends. But now this approach is being shifted and the jobs will be categorized based on a new Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) system.
The TEER System has six categories: TEER Category 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
|
TEER 0 |
Management occupations |
|
TEER 1 |
Completion of a university degree (bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate); or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 2 (when applicable) |
|
TEER 2 |
Completion of a post-secondary education program of two to three years at community college, institute of technology or CÉGEP; or Completion of an apprenticeship training program of two to five years; or Occupations with supervisory or significant safety (police officers and firefighters) responsibilities; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 3 (when applicable) |
|
TEER 3 |
Completion of a post-secondary education program of less than two years at community college, institute of technology or CÉGEP; or Apprenticeship training of less than 2 years; or More than six months of on-the-job training, training courses or specific work experience with some secondary school education; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 4 (when applicable) |
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TEER 4 |
Completion of secondary school; or Several weeks of on-the-job training with some secondary school education; or Several years of experience in a specific occupation from TEER category 5 (when applicable) |
|
TEER 5 |
Short work demonstration and no formal educational requirements |
Till date the Employment & Social Development Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada used NOC 2016 to evaluate LMIA applications. Other than that, the National Occupational Classification was used by IRCC and ESDC to set policies regarding skilled worker immigration programs and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
The said changes are argued to affect the economic class and foreign worker applicants the most, but this information is yet to be confirmed. No specific information is given regarding which sorts of applicants are subject to get affected. The TEER or NOC 2021 is supposed to be implemented in fall 2022. The new system has 516 occupations, up from 500 in NOC 2016. In this system new occupations were created to reflect emerging fields in data science, cyber security and others.
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