Refused because your duties fit a different NOC: why it happens and your options

By Sundeep S. Grewal, lawyer at Lawgical Law Corporation · Reviewed November 10, 2026

Published November 10, 2026

Sundeep S. Grewal is a lawyer at Lawgical Law Corporation, called to the BC bar in 2018, and a member of the Law Society of British Columbia.

Updated November 10, 2026: section 87.1 of the Regulations and the Federal Court’s 2026 decision in Nanda checked that day.

If IRCC refused your permanent residence or work permit because your duties do not match the occupation code you chose, or because they match a different code, the officer was applying a strict rule. For the Canadian Experience Class, you must have performed the lead statement and a substantial number of the main duties of your code, including all of the essential ones. Officers will not move you to a better-fitting code. If your letters do match and the officer did not engage with them, judicial review can send the file back. If they really fit another code, the answer is a new application under that code.

Lawgical Law Corporation, an immigration law firm in Surrey, Abbotsford and Vancouver, BC, reviews Express Entry and work permit refusals and takes them to the Federal Court; this guide is by Sundeep S. Grewal.

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What does the refusal say?

The wording I see in these files:

• “I am not satisfied that the PA has performed the lead statement and a significant number of the main duties of their declared NOC”
• “Job responsibilities listed on your letter of employment [..] do not match NOC-[..]. They match NOC-[..] which is not an eligible occupation”

The second kind is the hardest: the officer agrees you have experience, just not in an occupation the program accepts.

What does the rule require?

For the Canadian Experience Class, section 87.1(2) of the Regulations requires that during the work you “performed the actions described in the lead statement” and “a substantial number of the main duties of the occupation [..] including all of the essential duties”, as described in the National Occupational Classification. The work must be in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3, and not a restricted occupation. Similar duty tests apply in the other Express Entry programs and in many work permit and PNP streams.

Why this needs a lawyer

One lawyer, one file, every step:

• comparing your letters with the code, duty by duty;
• judicial review within 15 or 60 days;
• arguing it in the Federal Court;
• a new application under the right code or the right program.

Picking the code is a legal judgment with legal consequences. Once it is wrong in a filed application, it usually cannot be fixed in that application.

Immigration lawyers are members of a provincial law society (in our case, the Law Society of British Columbia), and only lawyers can appear for you in the Federal Court.

Reconsideration is often suggested by people who cannot represent you in the Federal Court. It is discretionary, rarely changes the result and does not stop the deadline.

What are my options?

1. Get the officer’s notes to see which duties were not accepted, or which code the officer thought fit.
2. Judicial review if your letter shows the lead statement and main duties and the officer did not explain why it was not enough.
3. A new application under the correct code, if the officer was right that your duties fit another one, and if that code is eligible.
4. Another program, if the better-fitting code is not eligible for the one you applied under.
5. Reconsideration request. Discretionary, rarely changes the result and does not stop the court deadline.

What did the Court say in Nanda?

In Nanda v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2026 FC 649, an applicant under the Canadian Experience Class declared a code whose duties did not match her reference letter. The officer excluded the experience and her score fell below the cut-off. Her representative later admitted the error and proposed a different code, and the officer declined to reopen. The Court dismissed her challenge: “it was not up to the Officer to look for a different NOC”. The burden was on the applicant to identify the code correctly.

The lesson I take from Nanda is that the code decision happens before you file, not after a refusal. A short review of the letters against the code would have avoided the whole problem.

NOC refusals at a glance

Worked example: two codes

Example. A worker in Surrey described as an “office manager” mostly scheduled staff, ordered supplies and handled payroll. Her employer’s letter listed those tasks. They fit an administrative officer code better than an office manager code, because she did not plan or direct the office’s operations, which is the lead statement for the manager code. Filing under the administrative code, if it is eligible for her program, avoids the refusal.

What the letters need

• Duties in the employer’s own words that match the lead statement and most main duties.
• Job title, dates, hours and pay, consistent with pay records.
• Any change in role, with dates, so each period is assessed under the right code.

Mistakes I have seen

• I have seen people pick the code with the most draws rather than the one that matches their work.
• I have seen reference letters copied from the code description, which officers notice.
• I have seen job titles treated as if they decide the code. The duties decide it.
• I have seen people try to switch codes in a reconsideration request.

Frequently asked questions

Does my job title matter?

Less than your duties. Officers compare what you actually did with the lead statement and main duties of the code.

Can the officer give me a fairness letter first?

Not always. In Nanda the Court found no fairness letter was required because the problem came straight from the rules.

What if my duties fit two codes?

Choose the one whose lead statement best describes your work, and make sure your letter shows it.

Related guides

See our guides on an Express Entry refusal over a reference letter, a refused category draw, an Express Entry refusal over proof of funds and high-wage job offer points questioned.

Related guides: trade certificate refusals.

What should I do right now?

Write down the date of the refusal and whether you were in or outside Canada. Put your letter next to the code’s lead statement and main duties, line by line. Request the officer’s notes to see which code the officer thought fit.

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Sources (official)

• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s. 87.1 (current to October 19, 2026)
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, s. 72
• Nanda v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2026 FC 649 (May 21, 2026)
• Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts.