NOC 2021 Codes for Indian Professionals: Get Your Code Right Before the High-Wage List Decides Your Score

Your NOC 2021 code is decided by the main duties you actually performed, not by your job title, the designation on your offer letter or the code a colleague used. Since 3 November 2026 that code also decides whether Canadian experience or a job offer earns high-wage points: 20, 40 or 70 for experience and 50, 70 or 100 for an offer. The safe approach is to match your duties to the NOC's lead statement and main duties, check the result against IRCC's high-wage list, and never change a code to chase points.

How NOC 2021 Is Built

Each occupation has a five-digit code, a title and a TEER category. TEER stands for training, education, experience and responsibilities. The first digit is the broad occupational category, from 0 (legislative and senior management) to 9 (manufacturing and utilities), and the second digit is the TEER category. All five digits together identify the unit group, which is the level IRCC asks for.

The Federal Skilled Trades Program uses its own list of trades. See also our pages on NOC and TEER and the NOC codes directory.

How to Find Your NOC From Your Duties

1. Write down what you did day to day in each job, in your own words, before you look at any code.
2. Search IRCC's reference table, or the official NOC website (choose NOC 2021 Version 1.0), by job title or code. Note the five-digit code, the title and the TEER.
3. Read the lead statement, example titles, inclusions and exclusions, and main duties. IRCC's wording is: "Make sure the main duties listed match what you did at your job."
4. If they do not match, look for a different title whose duties do. If a title search fails, narrow by the first and then the second digit and review every unit group under the relevant minor group.
5. Read the employment requirements. They describe what employers typically ask for, and a code far from your own role is a warning sign.
6. Use the same code and the same duties in your reference letters, job offer and Express Entry profile.

IRCC's reference table is for reference only. If it conflicts with the NOC website, IRCC says to treat the NOC website as correct.

Why Your NOC Now Decides Points

IRCC calls an occupation high-wage when the median wage of everyone in Canada working in that NOC is at least 1.3 times the average median wage of the Canadian workforce. NOCs sit at three levels: 1.3 times, 1.5 times and twice the average. A NOC's level is the highest its median reached in the last three years of data, currently 2023 to 2025 from Job Bank, the Labour Force Survey and the Census.

• Experience: at least 12 months (1,560 hours) of Canadian experience in listed NOCs adds 20, 40 or 70 points on top of the work-length points.
• Job offer: a valid offer in a listed NOC earns 50, 70 or 100 points, with no LMIA. IRCC counts the higher of the experience and offer scores, up to 150 points (140 with an accompanying spouse).
• Locked at invitation: if the list changes after an invitation to apply, IRCC keeps the level that applied on your invitation date. IRCC's page does not say how often the list is updated.
• Not affected: skills transferability still uses the length of Canadian experience, not the high-wage levels.

Our November 2026 rule-change guide has the full tables, and the Express Entry guide covers the wider process.

A Spot-Check of Common Codes Against IRCC's List

We checked these codes against IRCC's high-wage page on 6 November 2026. It is a sample of occupations common among Indian applicants, not the full list, and the level of each NOC (1.3, 1.5 or 2 times) should be read from IRCC's page.

Experience in an unlisted NOC still earns work-length points and counts towards program eligibility, but earns no high-wage bonus, and an offer in it earns no CRS points. Look up your own code, because the list can be revised.

Common Job Title Mismatches Among Indian Applicants

These are patterns, not a lookup table. The right code depends on the duties in your own letters.

• "Software engineer" at a services company. If the daily work is testing, deployment support, user support or network administration, the duties may belong to a different unit group from software engineers and developers. A title such as "analyst" can also hide mostly programming work.
• "Manager" and "team lead". TEER 0 describes management occupations. Compare your real authority over budgets, planning and staff with the management profile. A coordinator or senior individual contributor often fits a professional or supervisory code.
• "Accountant" and "accounts executive". Professional accounting and auditing sit in a different group from bookkeeping, data entry and clerical accounts work, which usually carry a lower TEER.
• "Engineer" in construction, manufacturing and maintenance. Site engineers, supervisors, technicians and diploma holders are often called engineers in India. The engineering professions in the NOC usually require a degree, while technician and supervisor roles have their own codes.
• "Staff nurse" and care assistant roles. Registered nursing and nursing assistant work are separate codes with different employment requirements.
• "HR executive", "business analyst" and "sales executive". These titles stretch across several unit groups depending on the real work, such as recruitment versus clerical HR, or financial versus systems analysis.
• Blended roles. If your duties split across two codes, choose the one whose lead statement covers most of the work you did in that period, and keep it consistent.

A mismatch can cost more than points. If your role maps to TEER 4 or 5, it does not count as skilled experience for FSW or CEC at all.

Your NOC Checklist

Frequently Asked Questions

How many digits does a NOC 2021 code have?

Five. The first digit is the broad occupational category (0 to 9) and the second is the TEER category (0 to 5). IRCC switched to the 2021 version on 16 November 2022, so four-digit codes from older lists do not belong in a current profile.

Can I choose my NOC from my job title?

A title is only where you start. IRCC tells candidates to make sure the main duties listed for the NOC match what they did, and to find a different title with matching duties if they do not.

Which TEER categories count as skilled work for Express Entry?

For the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class, experience must be in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. TEER 4 and 5 experience does not count as skilled experience for those programs.

Does my salary decide whether I get high-wage points?

No. IRCC's designation is based on the median wage of all people in Canada in the same NOC, not your own pay. A well-paid job in an unlisted occupation earns no high-wage points.

Is my occupation on the high-wage list?

Look up your five-digit code on IRCC's high-wage page, which currently lists 186 NOCs. Being on the list gives no points by itself: you also need 12 months (1,560 hours) of qualifying Canadian experience in a listed NOC, or a valid job offer in one.

What happens if I choose a NOC that does not match my duties?

It can cost you eligibility and points, and it can be treated as misrepresentation, which under section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act makes a person inadmissible for five years.