On March 16, 2023, the Government of Canada published ministerial instructions amendments after the NOC 2021 change. On September 23, 2022, the government expanded the geographic boundaries for participating communities to allow more employers to participate in the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) Program, increased the application deadline to August 2024, expanded the job offer range available to candidates with specific work experience, and decreased the number of settlement funds applicants were required to have. 

The recent Ministerial Instructions will not affect applications received by a community before September 23, 2022.

The Ministerial Instructions were amended on September 23, 2022, to: 

• Expand the geographic boundaries of seven of the eleven participating communities to make room for the participation of more businesses. North Bay (Ontario), Sudbury (Ontario), Timmins (Ontario), Thunder Bay (Ontario), Moose Jaw (Saskatchewan), West Kootenay (British Columbia), and Vernon (British Columbia) are the communities expanding their boundaries.
• Make sure that all applications for permanent residence are received by August 2024, increasing the time communities can participate from the original 3 years to February 2024. (when the pilot comes to an end)
• by increasing the number of job offers available to candidates with specific job experience, it becomes easier to fulfill the needs of the healthcare and trade sectors in the labor market.
• provide clarification that job offers are not eligible from a business where more than 50% is owned (or controlled directly or indirectly) by the foreign national or their spouse / common-law partner
• reduce the amount of settlement funds participants must possess for rural areas outside of census metropolitan areas or census agglomerations from 50% to 12.5% of the Low-Income Cut-Offs (LICO).
• strengthen program integrity

Applications submitted by the community before September 23, 2022 (the “locked-in date”) are exempted from the Ministerial Instructions amendments.

National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2021

On November 16, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) updated the National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2021. The NOC 2021 has been updated by introducing TEER levels. TEER 0 is the highest level and TEER 5 is the lowest. 

What has changed?

• The current four-digit codification system has been replaced with a brand-new five-digit system. 
• There is now a five-tiered hierarchy for occupational categories that includes broad occupational categories, major groups, sub-major groups, minority groups, and unit groups at each tier of disaggregation.
• The current four-category NOC “Skill level” has been replaced with a  new six-category system representing the level of Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) required for entry into an occupation.

Affected programs by the NOC 2021

The following 11 programs’ eligibility criteria are impacted by NOC 2021:

• Express Entry: Canadian Experience Class (CEC), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
• Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
• Caregivers Programs
• Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
• Agri-Food Pilot
• Out-of-Status Construction Workers
• Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
• International Mobility Program (IMP)

Want to know more details about “Ottawa published ministerial instructions amendments after the NOC 2021 introduction” you can contact one of our immigration specialists at  Gunness & Associates.

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