National Occupational Classification

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The National Occupational Classification, or NOC, is a systematic taxonomy of all occupations in the Canadian labour market. Organized into two volumes, it describes 923 distinct occupations in terms of aptitudes, interests, education, physical activities, and other qualifiers. A separate index further classifies over 25,000 job titles from the listed occupations.

The NOC is used by program planners, labour economists, rehabilitation professionals, and others in the health and social services fields in Canada, as well as by insurance companies and litigators. It is published by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), which is a ministry of the Government of Canada. The first Edition of the NOC was published in 1992, and a Second Revised Edition was offered in 2001. It is available in printed form, on CD-ROM, and on-line.

The NOC supersedes the Canadian Classification Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO), which was published by HRSDC in 1981.

The National Occupational Classification is similar in form and purpose to the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), which was developed and published in the United States by the Department of Labor.

A variation of the NOC, known as NOC-S or National Occupational Classification for Statistics, is maintained by Statistics Canada. According to the NOC-S website, "The two classifications [NOC & NOC-S] differ only in the aggregation structure of the classification." The first use of the NOC-S 2001 was in the 2001 Census of Population.

The NOC is one of the main data sources that supports the Working in Canada Tool which is part of the Government of Canada's Going to Canada - Immigration Portal.