Major revisions coming to Canada’s National Occupational Classification

Canada is overhauling the National Occupational Classification (NOC) — the national reference on occupations in Canada.

The NOC provides a systematic classification structure that categorizes the entire range of occupational activity for collecting, analyzing and disseminating occupational data.  Every 10 years, the government conducts a major review of the NOC for the purposes of labor supply and demand analysis, skills development, occupational forecasting and other programs and services.

The next release, scheduled for early 2021, includes a new structural approach.  Let’s take a look:

New ‘TEER’ approach

Reflecting changes in the economy and the nature of work, the NOC 2021 revision will overhaul the “skill level” structure by introducing a new categorization representing the degree of training, education, experience and responsibilities (TEER) required for an occupation.

The new TEER categorization considers the type of education, training, and experience required for entry as well as the complexities and responsibilities typical of an occupation. This new structure has a scale of 0 to 5:

• TEER 0 is defined as high-level management.
• TEER 1 occupations usually require a university education or previous experience and expertise in subject matter knowledge from a related occupation found within TEER 2.
• TEER 2 usually requires post-secondary education, apprenticeship, or occupations with supervisory or significant safety responsibilities.
• TEER 3 occupations require less than two years of post-secondary education or on-the-job instruction.
• TEERs 4 and 5 usually require a high-school diploma or no formal education.

Better representation

The federal government says the TEER system better reflects the way people develop their skills and knowledge.

The revisions introduce changes that will make the new classification system more representative, useful and achieve a more balanced representation of occupation groupings within a given classification. It will also address many existing concerns about how skill levels are categorized under the existing system.

Key dates

With a new NOC on the way, here are some key dates to consider:

• December 2020: Publication of revised NOC codes.
• Early 2021: Release of the full classification for the NOC code (including the leading statements, main duties, employment requirements, example titles, inclusions, exclusions and additional information).
• Spring 2022: Government programs and departments will implement the new NOC at their discretion. While Statistics Canada will implement in early 2021, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is planning on Spring 2022 implementation, which will impact the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

At this point, we don’t know of any specific changes to NOC 7511, how truck drivers will be classified in the TEER system, or if the new classification will result in changes to affected programs.

Stay tuned. Trucking HR Canada, the Canadian Trucking Alliance, and your provincial trucking association will have updates as they become available.