If you've looked into moving to Canada for work, you've probably run into two acronyms that keep showing up: NOC and TEER. They sound bureaucratic, but they quietly decide whether your work experience counts for Canadian immigration, and how much it counts for. Here is what each one means in plain language.
The National Occupational Classification, or NOC, is Canada's standard way of describing jobs. It is maintained jointly by Employment and Social Development Canada and Statistics Canada, and it gives every occupation a unique five-digit code.
Each NOC code comes with three useful things: a lead statement that describes what people in the job typically do, a list of main duties, and the education or experience usually required to enter the occupation. When an immigration officer reviews your profile, they look at the NOC code you claimed and match it against the duties you say you actually performed at work.
The NOC uses a hierarchy that narrows from a broad category down to a specific occupation: broad category, then major group, sub-major group, minor group, and finally the unit group that the five-digit code refers to. In practice you don't need to memorize the hierarchy. You only need your own five-digit code.
TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities. Every NOC occupation is assigned exactly one TEER category, from 0 to 5. The category summarizes what it usually takes to enter and perform the job. Lower TEER numbers typically mean more formal education or more complex responsibilities. It's a more precise breakdown than the old A, B, C skill-level labels.
| TEER | Typical work |
|---|---|
| 0 | Management roles |
| 1 | Typically requires a university degree |
| 2 | Typically requires a college diploma or apprenticeship of 2 or more years, or supervisory roles |
| 3 | Typically requires a college diploma or apprenticeship under 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training |
| 4 | Typically requires a high school diploma or several weeks of on-the-job training |
| 5 | Short-term work demonstration and no formal education requirement |
Take NOC 21234 Web designers and developers, TEER 1. That five-digit code covers people who design and build websites and web applications. The lead statement describes typical duties like writing code, maintaining sites, and consulting with clients on requirements. TEER 1 signals that the role usually expects a university education.
The important detail is the duties, not the job title. If you call yourself a "web developer" on your resume but the work you actually did was closer to a different NOC code, the officer will match against the duties, not the label. Check the lead statement and main duties for any code you consider before you claim it.
Express Entry programs use your NOC code and TEER category to decide whether your work experience counts toward eligibility. Your Comprehensive Ranking System score weighs Canadian and foreign work experience partly based on TEER. Beyond Express Entry, several regional and work-based Canadian programs also reference NOC codes when they evaluate skilled work.
The official NOC site has a search tool where you can look up occupations by keyword, title, or code. HowToMoveTo also finds a matching NOC code for you inside the Express Entry eligibility checker and the CRS calculator, so you don't have to pick one yourself when using those tools.
Ready to see where your NOC lands you? Start with the Express Entry eligibility checker.
