NOC 73400 job description: heavy equipment operator duties and responsibilities
- Operate heavy equipment such as backhoes, bulldozers, loaders and graders to excavate, move, load and grade earth, rock, gravel or other materials during construction and related activities
- Operate bulldozers or other heavy equipment to clear brush and stumps prior to logging activities and to build roads at logging and surface mining sites
- Operate heavy equipment with pile driver head to drive piling into earth to provide support for buildings, bridges or other structures
- Operate heavy dredging equipment to deepen waterways or reclaim earth fill
- Operate heavy paving and surfacing equipment to lay, spread or compact concrete, asphalt and other surface materials during highway and road construction
- Operate power shovels to excavate rock, ore or other materials from open-pit mines, strip mines, quarries or construction pits
- Operate heavy equipment to move, load and unload cargo
- Conduct pre-operational checks on equipment and clean, lubricate and refill equipment.
Job titles under NOC 73400
See every job title and its code in the A–Z job title index, or all TEER 3 jobs.
Is NOC 73400 eligible for Express Entry?
By TEER, yes. TEER 3 is inside the TEER 0 to 3 range that the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class accept, and NOC 73400 is also on the Federal Skilled Trades list. 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.
| Program | TEER check | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Skilled Worker | TEER qualifies | TEER 3 is within TEER 0 to 3 |
| Canadian Experience Class | TEER qualifies | TEER 3 is within TEER 0 to 3 |
| Federal Skilled Trades | Listed trade | NOC 73400 is in a trade group IRCC accepts. Check IRCC |
| Spouse's open work permit | Qualifies | On IRCC's TEER 2–3 list. SOWP rules |
Category-based draws: NOC 73400 is not on any category-based selection list (checked 2026-10-16). Under NOC 2016, TEER 3 was skill level B ("NOC B").
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 73400: common questions
What is NOC 73400?
NOC 73400 is the code for heavy equipment operators in Canada's National Occupational Classification (NOC 2021). Its first digit, 7, is the broad category and its second digit, 3, is the TEER level. Immigration forms, job offers and LMIA applications use this five-digit code.
What TEER is NOC 73400?
NOC 73400 is TEER 3. Occupations that usually need a college program or apprenticeship of less than two years, or more than six months of on-the-job training. Under the older NOC 2016 system, TEER 3 lines up with skill level B.
Is NOC 73400 eligible for Express Entry and PR?
By TEER, yes. TEER 3 is inside the TEER 0 to 3 range that the Federal Skilled Worker Program and Canadian Experience Class accept, and NOC 73400 is also on the Federal Skilled Trades list. 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 73400 in a category-based Express Entry draw?
No. As of IRCC's list dated 2026-10-16, NOC 73400 is not in any category-based selection list (healthcare, STEM, trades, education, transport and others). You can still be invited in general and program-specific draws.
Is NOC 73400 eligible for a spousal open work permit (SOWP)?
Yes. NOC 73400 is on IRCC's list of TEER 3 occupations that 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 heavy equipment operator?
Heavy equipment operator is listed under NOC 73400, heavy equipment operators. The job title alone does not decide your code: your duties should match the main duties of NOC 73400.
How do I know if NOC 73400 is my NOC code?
Compare what you actually do with the main duties listed for NOC 73400, 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.