The CDAA is very pleased to report that the profession of dental assisting is now classified as a “skilled” profession under TEER 3 of the NOC 2021 and is no longer classified as an “unskilled” occupation in Canada.

Overview

The Government of Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC) provides a standardized language to describe the occupations of Canadians. It is a framework utilized by researchers, immigrants, economists and statisticians to obtain statistics, analyze labour market trends, and extract career planning information on the work performed by Canadians. Every ten years, the National Occupational Classification (NOC) undergoes a major structural revision whereby the framework of the Classification and the existing occupational groups are reviewed. The 2021 NOC is the result of the latest 10-year review cycle and was undertaken by the departments of Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

On September 21, 2021, the Government of Canada released the amended NOC 2021, noting that it is the result of a major revision cycle that involved in-depth research, analysis, and assessment of the input received through consultations, occupational research, and input received from the public and stakeholders. In order to provide organizations and programs with enough time to make a proper transition to NOC 2021, it is expected to be implemented and become the official classification used by the Government of Canada in the second half of 2022. The first major change to NOC 2021 is the replacement of skill levels with the Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) categories. This new terminology is more precise, as the NOC 2021 assesses not the level of skills but the level of training, of formal education, of experience required to gain entry into each occupation, and the responsibilities associated to it. The second major change revolves around the number of TEER categories. In the new NOC structure, there are six TEER categories. This change ensures clearer distinctions between the employment requirements associated with each TEER category, leading to a more consistent and homogeneous classification.

The Efforts of the CDAA & Results

Historically, within the NOC database, the profession of dental assisting has been categorized as an unskilled (level “C”) profession and did not accurately reflect the skill level, education level and nature of work of the dental assisting occupation. Ensuring that the dental assisting profession was accurately reflected in the NOC has been a key priority of the CDAA for the past 10 years in anticipation of the 2021 structural review.

Over the past number of years, the CDAA wrote letters to the department of ESDC; provided the department with our scope of practice; answered inquiries from the Department; provided input and requested changes to the description of dental assisting included in the NOC; as well as provided research findings and submitted both the 2014 NOA and the 2020 NOA to ESDC with the goal of impacting positive change in the NOC in 2021.

If you would like to review the NOC 2021, you can access the full database at: NOC 2021 - Canada.ca (esdc.gc.ca)

Next Steps

The CDAA will now focus its attention on ensuring that the description of the profession of dental assisting is accurate in the NOC 2021. In addition, the CDAA will advocate to other Government Departments to ensure professions in TEER 3 are included in their policies.

For more information, please contact:

Stephanie Mullen-Kavanagh
Executive Director
Canadian Dental Assistants’ Association
Suite 200, 440 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X6
skavanagh@cdaa.ca