Foreign-trained school teachers, early childhood educators, and other occupationals qualify for Express Entry’s new education category. This category offers foreign nationals a new pathway to Canadian permanent residence.
On February 27, 2025, IRCC added a new category under the Express Entry system for education occupations, which the department also identified as a priority category for ITAs, i.e., invitations to apply for permanent residence for 2025.
Category-based draws have featured the lowest Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score cut-off of any draw types in the Express Entry system, since their introduction in 2023.
What Jobs Fall Under The Express Entry Education Category?
In order to qualify for Express Entry’s new education category, you must first know which occupations are a part of it.
Canadian occupations are organized according to the country’s National Occupation Classification (NOC). Well, NOC is used to categorize as well as describe occupations by industry and sector.
Moreover, part of the NOC system is the Training Education Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) ranking, which assigns occupations a ranking based on the training, education, and experience required to perform that occupation’s responsibilities. Within this classification, TEER 0 occupations require the highest amount of training, education, and experience, while TEER 5 occupations require the least.
The following table breaks down the occupations included in the new education category, including job titles, TEER levels, and NOC codes.
| Job Title | NOC Code | TEER Level |
| Elementary and Secondary School Teacher Assistants | 43100 | 3 |
| Instructors of Persons With Disabilities | 42203 | 2 |
| Early Childhood Educators and Assistants | 42202 | 2 |
| Elementary School and Kindergarten Teachers | 41221 | 1 |
| Secondary School Teachers | 41220 | 1 |
How To Check If Your Work Experience Qualifies For The Education Category?
In addition to maintaining a valid Express Entry profile, to be considered as part of the education category, foreign nationals should have accumulated six months of full-time work experience within the last three years in a single category-eligible occupation.
In order to know if you qualify for Express Entry’s new education category, you need to determine if the NOC that best describes your work experience falls under one of the eligible education occupations.
How To Identify The NOC Code And Job Title For Your Work Experience?
Finding the right NOC code for your work experience can be challenging because of the vastness of the NOC system. However, the Government of Canada offers resources that can simplify the process.
In order to find the NOC code and occupation title that aligns perfectly with your work experience, IRCC recommends the following steps:
1. Scroll to the table at the bottom of the NOC page and type the job title of your work experience into the ‘Filter items’ field at the top of the table.
2. If the exact job title is not available, try entering a close match (for instance, instead of entering ‘speech coach,’ try ‘speech pathologist’).
3. Copy the TEER number as well as the NOC code number from the result that most closely matches your occupation.
4. In order to confirm this is the correct code, visit Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) webpage, click on the ‘Search by NOC code’ tab, and enter the NOC code you copied into the search bar. Also, review the information for the corresponding occupation.
- Pay particular attention to the ‘main duties’ section. Also, ensure the duties listed match closely with the responsibilities of your work experience.
5. If these duties align, you have likely found the correct NOC that describes your work experience.
- From here, you can check to see whether this NOC code and occupation title are among the listed occupations eligible for Express Entry’s new education category.
6. If the duties do not align, return to step 1 and try again with a different job title.
The table below lists example (alternate) job titles of all eligible occupations within the education category:
| NOC Occupation Title | Example Job Titles |
| Elementary and Secondary School Teacher Assistants | – Educational assistant – Educational resources assistant – Homework assistant – Remedial education aide – Special education assistant |
| Instructors of Persons With Disabilities | – Braille instructor – Instructor of persons with a mobility impairment – Instructor of persons who are deaf – Instructor of persons who are hard of hearing – Instructor of persons with a learning disability – Instructor of persons with a visual impairment – Instructor of persons with special needs – Lip-reading instructor – Orientation and mobility instructor – Sign language instructor – Teacher for persons with intellectual disabilities |
| Early Childhood Educators and Assistants | – Child care worker – daycare – Child care worker assistant – Daycare helper – Daycare supervisor – Daycare worker – Early childhood assistant – Early childhood education worker – Early childhood educator – preschool – Early childhood educator (ECE) – Early childhood program staff assistant – Early childhood supervisor – Preschool helper – Preschool supervisor |
| Elementary School and Kindergarten Teachers | – English as a second language elementary school teacher – French as a second language elementary school teacher – French immersion teacher – elementary school – Kindergarten teacher – Primary school teacher – Remedial teacher – elementary school – Special education teacher – elementary school – Special education teacher – primary school – Supply teacher – elementary school – Teacher-librarian – elementary school |
| Secondary School Teachers | – Adult education teacher – secondary school – Biology teacher – secondary school – Commerce teacher – secondary school – English as a second language (ESL) high school teacher – English teacher – secondary school – French as a second language teacher – secondary school – History teacher – secondary school – Librarian-teacher – high school – Remedial teacher – secondary school – Secondary school department head – Secondary school teacher – Special education teacher – secondary school – Supply high school teacher – Trades instructor – secondary school – Vocational teacher – secondary school |
How Do Education Category-Based Draws Work?
Canada’s Express Entry system manages three immigration programs:
- The Canadian Experience Class
- The Federal Skilled Trades Program
- The Federal Skilled Worker Program
You have to meet the eligibility criteria of at least one of these programs to submit an Express Entry profile. Moreover, as part of your profile submission, you will be provided a CRS score based on information entered in your profile.
In addition, Express Entry draws take place roughly bi-weekly and invite candidates who meet the CRS score cut-off and eligibility criteria for that draw to apply for PR. Draws can be:
- Program-Specific
- General
- Category-Based
- Provincial Nominee Program
Category-based draws consider all candidates in the Express Entry pool who meet the job experience requirements in an eligible occupation and the instructions for that specific draw. Due to the smaller pool of candidates they choose from, these draws often feature lower CRS cut-off scores as compared to other draw types.
Moreover, irrespective of the draw type, candidates with the highest CRS score stand the best chance of receiving an ITA.
In addition, candidates who want to be considered for category-based draws must first enter an eligible Express Entry profile. When submitting their profile, candidates should also include relevant work experience under a category-eligible occupation in their profile, if applicable.
If IRCC accepts the profile, then the candidate has entered the pool. Moreover, candidates in the Express Entry pool are considered for all draw types that they are eligible for. This implies that if a candidate in the education category is eligible for more than one Express Entry category or program, they might receive an ITA through other draws that they can be considered under.
Once a relevant draw takes place, candidates might obtain an ITA provided they:
- Have a high enough CRS score to meet the cut-off
- Created an Express Entry profile before the tie-breaking rule cut-off time
- Meet all conditions of the draw
If a candidate gets an ITA, they have 60 days to submit a complete application for PR to IRCC.
Begin your journey to Canada with Immigtoronto, offering expert guidance and dedicated for a seamless immigration process. Contact us for any queries at [email protected].
