NOC 31101 — Specialists in surgery in Canada
Duties, TEER level, employment requirements and example job titles for NOC 31101 — from the NOC 2021 classification.
What NOC 31101 means in plain English
Specialists in surgery perform and supervise surgical procedures. In NOC 2021, the first digit of the code (3) places this unit group in the broad category Health occupations, and the second digit (1) is its TEER level.
What TEER 1 means
TEER stands for Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities. TEER 1 usually means:
- Completion of a university degree (bachelor's, master's or doctorate), or
- Previous experience and expertise in subject-matter knowledge from a related TEER 2 occupation (when applicable).
Express Entry: Work experience in TEER 0, 1, 2 and 3 occupations is the 'skilled' experience that the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canadian Experience Class under Express Entry look for. Program rules, minimum hours and category-based draws change, so confirm current requirements on IRCC's website before you apply. See all TEER 1 occupations.
Main duties
- Perform surgical procedures
- Conduct pre-operative assessments
- Supervise surgical teams
Employment requirements
- Medical degree (MD)
- Royal College certification in surgical specialty
- Provincial licence
Example job titles under NOC 31101
If your job title is one of these, NOC 31101 is a likely match — confirm it by comparing your actual duties with the list above, since NOC is matched on duties, not titles.
- Cardiac surgeon
- General surgeon
- Neurosurgeon
- Orthopedic surgeon
How to use NOC 31101 on your resume
Recruiters and applicant tracking systems search for Canadian job titles and duty keywords. Use the example title that matches your work, mirror the duty wording above in your bullets, and check your draft with the free ATS checker. If you studied outside Canada, read our Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) guide.
Related occupations
Other health occupations we cover:
- NOC 30010 — Managers in health care (TEER 0)
- NOC 31100 — Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine (TEER 1)
- NOC 31102 — General practitioners and family physicians (TEER 1)
- NOC 31200 — Psychologists (TEER 1)
- NOC 31300 — Nursing coordinators and supervisors (TEER 1)
- NOC 31301 — Registered Nurses (RN) (TEER 1)
- NOC 31302 — Nurse practitioners (TEER 1)
- NOC 31303 — Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals (TEER 1)
Sources: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, Statistics Canada / ESDC (duties and requirements summarized). Always confirm your code on the official NOC site before using it on an application.