An occupational classification system provides a basis for ordering the existing occupational structures, which helps job seekers plan their careers. They can find out the nature of jobs and the training required to perform them, and about job mobility and wages.

From 1971 to 1993, the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) was the key reference document that classified all the occupations in the Canadian labour market into a large integrated system. In an attempt to update the CCDO to better track and identify the occupations found in today's labour market, Human Resources Development Canada produced the new National Occupational Classification (NOC) which became available in May 1993. Some of the vital uses of the CCDO and the NOC include tracking the jobs in the market and the people who are getting those jobs.

Occupational classification systems allow the collection of occupational data through the census, the labour force survey and administrative data. This occupational data can then be used in labour market research and analysis to make occupational projections, to identify training needs, to do occupational research and graduate employment surveys. Occupational research facilitates decisions about immigration, unemployment insurance, employment equity and training programs.

An occupational classification system also provides a framework for describing different occupations and for understanding career paths and the factors affecting occupational change. These topics are introduced in this chapter and resources are suggested for further information.

Tracking the education and skills of workers in the new economy through data linked to the occupational classification allows those involved to form strategies to keep the market healthy: strategies to change curricula or to provide new training, to update employees' skills, to change immigration policies, and to create standards and methods of recognizing out-of-country training.

The classification has been structured to help identify the potential for skill upgrading and occupational mobility. In cases where skill levels and skill types are similar, workers can change to a new occupation with some upgrading or learning of new skills that build on what they already know. The mobility can be lateral, as in the case of a scanner operator to camera operator in the printing industry, or vertical, as in the case of a sales representative to a marketing manager.

Tracking the labour force through different occupations offers information on the relationship of occupations to job supply and demand by:

• demonstrating where there are opportunities to advance and where there are new entry-level positions;
• suggesting education and training needs; and
• indicating the number of people engaged in a certain occupation over time.

A final - and vital - use of occupational classifications is for counsellors and educators to help clients and students gain the information they need about occupations in order to make informed career decisions. The next section will examine the NOC in more detail.

The National Occupation Classification (NOC)

Canadian counsellors and educators have available to them a good, solid basis for beginning research and sharing occupational information with their clients and students. s noted earlier, the advanced classification system called the National Occupational Classification (NOC), developed by Human Resources Development Canada, classifies and describes occupations in the Canadian labour market. The NOC is based on several years of extensive occupational research and analysis, and was introduced in the spring of 1993, replacing the CCDO. The NOC presents a new structural context for the Canadian labour market, reflecting occupational changes that have taken place over the last two decades in terms of evolving main duties, changing requirements, changing demographics and new legislation. Occupations are classified into 522 groups, to which over 25,000 job titles are assigned.

Most classification systems, including the CCDO, have grouped occupations by the type of work performed, i.e., the skill type. The NOC has combined this criterion with the type and length of education and training that are required to perform the job, i.e., the skill level. The new NOC provides an improved ability to collect, analyze and communicate occupational statistics and information. This more accurate occupational information is important for occupational supply and demand analysis, human resource planning, employment equity and the provision of labour market information. The NOC can also be used for graduate employment surveys or in occupational research. Career planning and vocational rehabilitation are also applications of this tool. n example of labour market information resulting from the use of the classification of occupations is this excerpt from the Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) 1992:

On an occupational basis those concentrated in health, information technology, and services are expected to grow faster than average while occupations such as those in the tobacco, textiles, fishing, and clerical fields will lose workers. It is worthwhile noting that the fastest growing occupations are generally those requiring higher levels of skill.

Information organized by occupational grouping is frequently depicted in statistical summaries as well as charts and graphs such as the graphs in the Occupational Forecasting section of this chapter.

The National Occupational Classification Matrix (NOC).

Index for table sections:

• 1. Business, Finance and Administration Occupations
  2. Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations
• 3. Health Occupations
  4. Occupations in Social Sciences, Education, Government Services and Religion
• 5. Occupations in Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport
  6. Sales and Service Occupations
  7. Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators and Related Occupations
• 8. Occupations Unique to Primary Industry
  9. Occupations Unique to Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities

SOURCE: Occupational Outlook/Spring 1993, Economic Services BC/Yukon Territory Region, Human Resources Development Canada.