NOC 21300: Civil engineers

NOC 21300 is the NOC 2021 unit group for civil engineers, with job titles such as civil engineer, bridge engineer and highway engineer. It is a TEER 1 occupation in broad category 2, natural and applied sciences and related occupations.

TEER 1Broad category 2NOC 2021

Decode the code

Pick a level to see what each digit means.

21300

Unit group 21300: civil engineers. This is the code you put on your application.

NOC 21300 job description: civil engineer duties and responsibilities

  • Confer with clients and other members of the engineering team and conduct research to determine project requirements
  • Plan and design major civil projects such as buildings, roads, bridges, dams, water and waste management systems and structural steel fabrications
  • Develop construction specifications and procedures
  • Evaluate and recommend appropriate building and construction materials
  • Interpret, review and approve survey and civil design work
  • Conduct field services for civil works
  • Ensure construction plans meet guidelines and specifications of building codes and other regulations
  • Establish and monitor construction work schedules
  • Conduct feasibility studies, economic analyses, municipal and regional traffic studies, environmental impact studies or other investigations
  • Monitor air, water and soil quality and develop procedures to clean up contaminated sites
  • Conduct technical analyses of survey and field data for development of topographic, soil, hydrological or other information and prepare reports
  • Act as project or site supervisor for land survey or construction work
  • Prepare contract documents and review and evaluate tenders for construction projects
  • Supervise technicians, technologists and other engineers and review and approve designs, calculations and cost estimates.

Job titles under NOC 21300

See every job title and its code in the A–Z job title index, or all TEER 1 jobs.

Is NOC 21300 eligible for Express Entry?

By TEER, yes. TEER 1 is inside the TEER 0 to 3 range that the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class accept. You still need qualifying work experience, language test results and enough CRS points to get an invitation. Category-based draws and provincial nominee programs use their own occupation lists.

Federal program TEER requirements for NOC 21300
ProgramTEER checkWhy
Federal Skilled WorkerTEER qualifiesTEER 1 is within TEER 0 to 3
Canadian Experience ClassTEER qualifiesTEER 1 is within TEER 0 to 3
Federal Skilled TradesNot a listed tradeOnly certain trade groups qualify. Check IRCC
Spouse's open work permitQualifiesAll TEER 1 jobs qualify. SOWP rules

Category-based draws: NOC 21300 is on IRCC's STEM list (checked 2026-10-16). Under NOC 2016, TEER 1 was skill level A ("NOC A").

Category-based Express Entry draws and provincial nominee programs use their own occupation lists. Check the current lists on IRCC's Express Entry page and provincial nominee page.

NOC 21300: common questions

What is NOC 21300?

NOC 21300 is the code for civil engineers in Canada's National Occupational Classification (NOC 2021). Its first digit, 2, is the broad category and its second digit, 1, is the TEER level. Immigration forms, job offers and LMIA applications use this five-digit code.

What TEER is NOC 21300?

NOC 21300 is TEER 1. Occupations that usually need a university degree. Under the older NOC 2016 system, TEER 1 lines up with skill level A.

Is NOC 21300 eligible for Express Entry and PR?

By TEER, yes. TEER 1 is inside the TEER 0 to 3 range that the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class accept. You still need qualifying work experience, language test results and enough CRS points to get an invitation. Category-based draws and provincial nominee programs use their own occupation lists.

Is NOC 21300 in a category-based Express Entry draw?

Yes. As of IRCC's list dated 2026-10-16, NOC 21300 is in the stem category. Category-based draws invite candidates with at least 6 months of continuous work experience in one of the listed occupations, and IRCC updates the lists from time to time.

Is NOC 21300 eligible for a spousal open work permit (SOWP)?

Yes. All TEER 1 jobs qualify, so a worker in this job can support a spouse's open work permit, as long as their own work permit has at least 16 months left when the spouse applies (IRCC page modified 2026-06-12).

What is the NOC code for a civil engineer?

Civil engineer is listed under NOC 21300, civil engineers. The job title alone does not decide your code: your duties should match the main duties of NOC 21300.

How do I know if NOC 21300 is my NOC code?

Compare what you actually do with the main duties listed for NOC 21300, not just your job title. IRCC expects your duties to match the lead statement and most of the main duties of the code you choose. If they fit another code better, use that one. You can paste your duties into nocfinder to see how they line up, duty by duty.

Source: ESDC NOC 2021 · IRCC program pages. Not legal advice.