When a professional immigrant woman arrives in Canada, she brings with her years of education, international experience, and valuable skills. However, entering the labour market isn’t as simple as submitting a résumé. Behind visible opportunities lies a structured, technical, and often invisible system that determines access to qualified employment, recognition of credentials, and full economic integration.
In this Clé Maîtresse article, we introduce three key tools in the Canadian labour ecosystem that every professional immigrant woman should know: the National Occupational Classification (NOC), the TEER system, and the Skills and Competencies Taxonomy. Understanding them isn’t just helpful—it’s a powerful strategy to transform invisible barriers into concrete opportunities.
The NOC: Canada’s Official Employment Language
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is the system used by the Government of Canada to classify all existing jobs in the country. Each occupation has a five-digit code that groups jobs according to the type of tasks performed and the level of training required.
This system directly affects:
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Your eligibility for immigration programs.
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Your access to training, subsidies, and job integration programs.
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How your previous work experience is interpreted.
For example, if a woman has worked as a financial analyst in her country but doesn’t identify the correct NOC code when applying for jobs in Canada, she may be undervalued or filtered out by automated recruitment systems.
The NOC is also used to analyze the labour market, define employment policies, and build equity indicators—including those affecting immigrant women.
TEER: A New Way to Understand Professional Levels
Since 2021, the NOC has replaced its previous “skill level” categories with a more modern system called TEER, which stands for Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities.
This new model allows us to understand not only the educational level required for an occupation but also the type of experience and level of responsibility involved.
For professional immigrant women, the TEER system creates important opportunities:
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It helps make the case for equivalency when foreign credentials aren’t directly recognized.
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It guides career transitions between related occupations.
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It highlights the value of non-traditional or international work experience.
The second digit of the NOC code represents the TEER category. Understanding this is key to presenting your professional profile with clarity.
The Skills and Competencies Taxonomy: The Real Map of Professional Value
The Skills and Competencies Taxonomy is an official tool that organizes hundreds of occupational descriptors into seven categories:
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Skills
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Knowledge
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Personal attributes
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Work context
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Work activities
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Interests
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Cognitive abilities
This taxonomy standardizes the language used by employers, job platforms, and artificial intelligence systems when searching for talent. Knowing how to describe your experience using this language can make the difference between being recognized as a strategic professional—or going unnoticed.
Concrete examples:
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Writing “I worked with multicultural teams” is not the same as “Intercultural team leadership.”
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If you’ve used ERP or CRM systems, name them with their exact technical terms. These are what systems expect to see when evaluating your experience.
This model is aligned with Canada’s federal framework “Skills for Success,” reinforcing its value for employability and career development programs.
Clé Maîtresse: Translating the System
Canada’s labour market is not closed to immigrant talent—but it is coded. And in many cases, that code is written in a language immigrant women do not know when they arrive.
At Clé Maîtresse, we help decode that system. Our team and network of allies will support you in:
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Identifying your real NOC code and TEER level.
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Translating your experience into terminology that local employers recognize.
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Optimizing your professional profile using the skills taxonomy.
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Building an economic integration strategy that works.
Because talent alone is not enough: you need to know how to present it according to the system’s rules. And once you know the rules, you can transform them into opportunities.
Is the Profession or Industry You're Interested in Federally Regulated in Canada?
In Canada, certain industries are regulated directly by the federal government under the Canada Labour Code, rather than by provincial or territorial standards. These federally regulated sectors include strategic areas such as air and interprovincial transportation, telecommunications, banking, broadcasting, postal and courier services, uranium mining, pipelines, marine shipping, and other vital industries that operate across provincial or international borders.
This also includes the federal public service, Parliament, and some private-sector activities in the northern territories. If the profession or sector you're targeting for work or entrepreneurship falls into these categories, it's essential to consult the applicable rules.
👉 View the full list here:
List of federally regulated industries and workplaces
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs/workplace/federally-regulated-industries.html
Official Resources to Understand Your Labour Rights and Professional Sector in Canada
National Occupational Classification
Skills and Competencies Taxonomy Data
Recognition of skills acquired abroad(Quebec)
Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials
📌 Important:
Government bodies and professional associations may update or revise the lists and links provided. It is essential to ensure that the information you consult reflects the most current laws and regulations in effect at the time of your search.
