New national occupation classifications merit close review
By Herbert Brownstein
On May 1, 1997, the National Occupation Classification (NOC) replaced the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) as a working tool for the selection of independent immigrants seeking entry into Canada.
The NOC binder and the Career Handbook developed by Human Resources and Development Canada are both components of the NOC system.
The NOC sets out the minimum level of education, training and skills required for a particular occupation.
The four-digit NOC designation divides all occupational titles into 522 unit groups. Some of these groups have been further divided to the five-digit level in the NOC Career Handbook, resulting in 897 occupational titles.
The General Occupations List (GOL), last revised on May 21, 1997, lists those occupations selected by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for immigration purposes from the NOC that are considered to be in demand in the Canadian labour market. There are currently 338 main titles with subtitles consisting of over 1,000 occupations.
In order to be assessed under an occupation, the applicant must have performed a substantial number of the main duties as set out in the NOC, including the essential ones.
CIC's declared intent was for the change from the CCDO to the NOC to be primarily technical in nature. However, many applicants who previously qualified are now ineligible.
Occupations adversely affected by the conversion are those requiring less formal training or education, such as cooks, secretaries, adminstrative officers and technical tradesmen.
Due to a new education and training factor (ETF) assigned to each occupation (replacing specific vocational preparation), the number of points allotted for immigration purposes was reduced by regulation.
A low ETF score also affects the maximum number of points that can be awarded under the work experience factor, since those with an ETF of seven cannot receive more than four points for work experience, despite the number of years acquired in a particular occupation.
Education and training factor -- An ETF is assigned to each occupation, depending on the necessary level of education that is required to perform the occupation.
The NOC Career Handbook sets out the education and training indicator (ETI) for each particular occupation. Points are allotted by immigration regulation based on the lowest rating provided. For those possessing qualifications greater than the minimum, no special consideration is given.
Those who have acquired an expertise on the job but lack the formal education required under the NOC are not eligible.
A greater emphasis has now been placed on the amount of education required to perform a certain trade or occupation -- a move away from vocational preparation or experience.
Each level of education and training is qualified as "required," "usually required" or sometimes required."
On July 16, 1997, CIC produced an Operations Memorandum to interpret these qualifiers as follows:
· when described as "required," it is mandatory;
· when it is "usually required," the applicant must meet this level unless there are significant and substantial factors that would, in the judgment of the visa officer, make it likely that the applicant will be able to overcome this requirement;
· education levels that are "sometimes required" generally mean "not required."
Licensing -- The NOC Career Handbook sets out an "R" rating for those occupations that are regulated and need licensing.
Many occupations in Canada require registration, licensing, or membership in a professional or trade association.
Applicants intending to work in these occupations must prove to immigration officials that they hold sufficient credentials to meet professional or trade licensing standards.
For example, engineers, pharmacists, engineering technicians or technologists and dental hygienists all require licensing.
The Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE) is one of the most organized professional bodies in Canada in terms of its ability to assess foreign qualifications.
The CCPE has published manual containing a list of foreign engineering programs by country resulting from an exhaustive study of foreign jurisdictions. The CCPE also has a mutual recognition agreement with several countries.
An individual whose assessment is favourable is advised by the CCPE that his or her application is acceptable for immigration purposes. In Canada, he or she will be required to write the licensing examination.
Similarly, the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists provides an informal assessment for all technical trades. However, no published list of recognized foreign universities is available.
The Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada has a lengthy assessment process. The foreign applicant must submit to a document evaluation, followed by an evaluating examination and finally a qualifying examination.
The reluctance of many of Canada's other professional and trade licensing bodies to willingly recognize the qualifications of foreign-trained professionals is a serious problem. Not every profession or trade licensing body is willing to do credential assessments for foreign professionals. In practice, very few foreign professionals successfully requalify and work in their fields in Canada.
A lack of co-ordinated effort and cohesive policy exists among the government licensing bodies and educational institutions that would allow for the establishment of a program in which foreign applicants would be able to successfully requalify in their professions in Canada.
Educational institutions are not prepared, because of a lack of will and/or funding, to accept as part-time students those who are required by the licensing bodies to complete courses at community colleges and/or universities for requalification purposes.
The end result is a policy of exclusion of highly qualified professionals who have been invited into Canada as immigrants based on their skills and are denied an opportunity to re-establish themselves and make a significant contribution to the Canadian economy.
Legislative review -- On Jan.16, the Legislative Review Advisory Group, composed of three persons named by Immigration Minister Lucienne Robillard, produced its report entitled Not Just Numbers: A Canadian Framework for Future Immigration.
Included in its 172 recommendations were proposals to change the criteria for selecting independent immigrants.
The report recognized the need to move away from the present NOC-based system to one emphasizing assessment of education skills, language competency (English or French), varied work experience, relative youth, economic ties to Canada (including employment conditions) and self-sufficiency (funds for settlement in Canada), rather than ability to qualify for a particular occupation.
These changes are anxiously awaited and may be introduced in the form of minor regulatory amendments during the course of the coming
Immigration point system
The independent category for permanent immigrants to Canada is based on a point system. Points are awarded according to the following selection criteria:
1. Education (maximum 16 points)
2. Education & Training Factor (maximum 18 points)
3. Work Experience (maximum 8 points)
4. Language Ability (knowledge of English and French) (maximum 15 points)
5. Occupational Factor (on the General Occupation List) (maximum 10 points)
6. Demographic Factor (8 points)
7. Age (21-44 years of age) (10 points)
8. Personal Suitability (maximum 10 points)
9. Relative in Canada (brother, sister, parent, grandparent (5 bonus points)
uncle, aunt, niece or nephew)
10.Arranged Employment (must be validated by HRDC) (10 points)
You must score 70 points to qualify for independent immigration.
