Postdoctoral Associate at a Canadian university — NOC 41200 vs 41201?
I am currently employed as a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Alberta in the Department of Medicine. My work is research-focused rather than teaching-focused.
My employment contract states that my role involves:
- epidemiological research on heart disease;
- assessment of disease outcomes, medication use, and burden of illness;
- analysis of manifestations and health-system impacts;
- development of economic and modelling approaches to understand current and future healthcare needs;
- generating evidence to inform clinical practice, resource planning, and health-system decision-making.
I also contribute to other research projects and provide methodological/research guidance and mentoring to PhD candidates. I have a PhD and my work includes research design, statistical analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and scholarly publication. I do not have regular formal teaching duties.
I am trying to determine the most appropriate NOC for Express Entry.
NOC 41200 – University professors and lecturers explicitly lists “Postdoctoral fellow” under Inclusions. One of its main duties is:
“Conduct research in field of specialization and publish findings in scholarly journals or books.”
It also includes advising graduate students on research matters, but many of the other listed duties are teaching-related.
NOC 41201 – Post-secondary teaching and research assistants is another possible category, but my position is a formal postdoctoral appointment and I am not employed as a research assistant.
My questions are:
- Has anyone here used NOC 41200 for a research-only or mostly research postdoc without regular teaching?
- Was your PR application approved using 41200?
- Did your university or HR officially classify your postdoc as 41200?
- Has anyone contacted the federal NOC unit about this and received guidance?
- Does anyone know of a case where a postdoc used 41200 and IRCC questioned or refused it because of the teaching-heavy lead statement/main duties?
- For those who used 41200 successfully, what did your employment/reference letter emphasize?
I am especially interested in first-hand experiences, not just general opinions about matching NOC duties.
Thanks.