Your employment reference letter is the document IRCC uses to check that your work experience matches the NOC code you claimed. A weak letter is one of the most common reasons work experience is not counted.
What IRCC asks for
For Express Entry, IRCC asks for a letter from each employer you claim experience with. It should:
- be on company letterhead, with the company's address, phone number and email
- be signed by your supervisor, manager or the HR officer, with their name and title
- list every position you held with the company, with start and end dates
- give your hours per week for each position
- give your annual salary plus benefits
- describe the main duties you performed in each position
Self-employed applicants need other proof, such as contracts, invoices and business registration.
How the letter connects to your NOC code
The officer reads your duties and compares them with the lead statement and main duties of the NOC code in your profile. The letter should show that you did what the lead statement describes and most of the main duties.
That does not mean copying ESDC's text. Experienced consultants follow a few rules:
- Paraphrase. Describe the same work in your own words and your employer's context.
- Cover more than half of the main duties, especially the first ones listed.
- Don't follow the NOC order line by line, and don't aim for a 100% match. Real jobs aren't that tidy.
- Split long duties into separate points where the NOC combines them with commas.
- If a NOC has sub-roles, match one role, not all of them.
nocfinder shows which NOC duties your text covers, so you can check coverage before your employer signs.
Sample employment reference letter
Adapt this to your real job. The duties are an example for a software developer (NOC 21232).
[Company letterhead: name, address, phone, email]
[Date]
To whom it may concern,
This letter confirms that [Full name] has been employed by [Company] as a Software Developer from [Month Year] to [Month Year / present], working 40 hours per week. Their current annual salary is [amount] CAD, plus [benefits, e.g. health and dental coverage and a 5% retirement contribution].
In this position, [Name]'s main duties are:
- Writing, testing and maintaining code for our customer billing platform
- Investigating bugs reported by customers and fixing them in the code base
- Reviewing pull requests from other developers and suggesting changes
- Working with the product team to turn feature requests into technical plans
- Writing technical documentation for new features
Please contact me at [phone] or [email] if you need more information.
[Signature] [Name], [Title, e.g. Engineering Manager]
If you held more than one role, add a section for each with its own dates, hours and duties.
Checklist before you upload
- Dates, hours and salary match your pay stubs, contracts and tax records.
- Each period of work matches the NOC code you claimed for it.
- Duties are specific to your job, not a copy of the NOC.
- The signer's name, title and contact details are present.
Not sure which code your duties fit? See how to find your NOC code.
Common questions
What must an employment reference letter for IRCC include?
Company letterhead, contact details, the signature and title of a supervisor or HR officer, your job titles, dates of employment, hours per week, salary and benefits, and the main duties you performed in each position.
Can I copy the NOC duties into my reference letter?
No. Describe your real duties in your own words. They should match the lead statement and most of the main duties of your NOC code, but word-for-word copies look templated and can raise doubts.
What if my employer won't give me a reference letter?
IRCC can accept other evidence, such as a sworn statement describing your duties, along with pay stubs, contracts and tax documents. Explain why the letter is missing.