The Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program is now accepting applications from elementary and secondary school teacher assistants in a move Ottawa is hoping will help ease Canada’s shortage of labour.

The change to the FSW which made that possible came on Nov. 16 last year, when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) added 16 new jobs to its list of eligible occupations under that worker immigration program.

That increased the number of eligible occupations under the FSW on the same day the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 came into effect at the IRCC to 359.

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The 16 new occupations are all deemed to be jobs for which the worker must get a college diploma, an apprenticeship training of less than two years, or more than six months of on-the-job training.

The full list of newly-added jobs on the list of eligible occupations under the FSW includes:

• NOC 13102 Payroll administrators
• NOC 33100 Dental assistants and dental laboratory assistants
• NOC 33102 Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
• NOC 33103 Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
• NOC 43100 Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
• NOC 43200 Sheriffs and bailiffs
• NOC 43201 Correctional service officers
• NOC 43202 By-law enforcement and other regulatory officers
• NOC 63211 Estheticians, electrologists and related occupations
• NOC 73200 Residential and commercial installers and servicers
• NOC 73202 Pest controllers and fumigators
• NOC 73209 Other repairers and servicers
• NOC 73300 Transport truck drivers
• NOC 73301 Bus drivers, subway operators and other transit operators
• NOC 73400 Heavy equipment operators
• NOC 93200 Aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors

Elementary and secondary school teacher’s assistants, commonly called teacher’s aides, help teachers and counsellors with teaching and non-instructional tasks. 

A teacher’s aide might help with personal care, teaching and behaviour management in the classroom under the supervision of a teacher or other childcare professional. 

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Categorized under the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 system with the code 43100, the job prospects for teacher’s aides for the next three years are ranked by Jobbank as good in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Quebec, and the Yukon and as moderate throughout the rest of Canada.

At Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) the inclusion of teacher’s aides in the list of eligible occupations under the FSW in mid-November last year was done to help resolve ongoing labour shortages in the country.

“We are using all of the tools at our disposal to tackle labour shortages, particularly in key sectors like healthcare, construction, and transportation,” said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in November last year.

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“These changes will support Canadians in need of these services, and they will support employers by providing them with a more robust workforce who we can depend on to drive our economy forward into a prosperous future. I’m thrilled to announce expanded pathways to permanent residence in Canada for these in-demand workers.”

The Indeed job-hunting website had 108 help-wanted postings for teacher’s aides and Jobbank had 396 such job listings in mid-January. The vast majority of the job openings for teacher’s aides in the country were then in Ontario with that province having 221 job vacancies for teacher’s aides at that time. There were 82 jobs for teacher’s aides in Alberta and 42 in Saskatchewan.

“NOC 2021 is welcome news for Canadian employers, for newcomers to Canada ready to take on the jobs they are qualified for, and for a newly eligible group of workers who will now have an Express Entry path to permanent residency available to them,” said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough.

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“With these changes, we are better positioned to tackle labour shortages proactively and grow our economy with a stronger, skilled workforce.”

Economic immigration through Express Entry offers both a way for foreign nationals to get their permanent residence here and for school districts to be able to recruit internationally for teacher’s aides to fill much-needed positions in elementary and secondary schools throughout Canada.

Foreign nationals hoping to apply for permanent residence through the FSW must have one year of paid work experience within the last decade in jobs categorized as TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 of the NOC 2021 system.

Applicants under this program must also take a language test to prove they possess sufficient language skills to establish themselves in Canada successfully. Language tests evaluate an applicant’s abilities with regard to:

• listening
• speaking
• reading
• writing

In order to be eligible for the FSW, an applicant needs to obtain at least the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 in all categories and show that he or she has enough money to support him or herself and any relatives upon arrival in Canada.