13110 Administrative assistants

What this occupation covers

Administrative assistants perform a variety of administrative duties in support of managerial and professional employers. They are employed throughout the public and private sectors.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 13 main duties for this code.

• Prepare, key in, edit and proofread correspondence, invoices, presentations, brochures, publications, reports and related material from machine dictation and handwritten copy
• Open and distribute incoming regular and electronic mail and other material and coordinate the flow of information internally and with other departments and organizations
• Schedule and confirm appointments and meetings of employer
• Order office supplies and maintain inventory
• Answer telephone and electronic enquiries and relay telephone calls and messages
• Set up and maintain manual and computerized information filing systems
• Determine and establish office procedures
• Greet visitors, ascertain nature of business and direct visitors to employer or appropriate person
• Record and prepare minutes of meetings
• Arrange travel schedules and make reservations
• May compile data, statistics and other information to support research activities
• May supervise and train office staff in procedures and in use of current software
• May organize conferences.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 13 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 12110 Court reporters, medical transcriptionists and related occupations
• 12100 Executive assistants
• 13111 Legal administrative assistants
• 13112 Medical administrative assistants
• 13100 Administrative officers

Excluded from this code

• Court reporters, medical transcriptionists and related occupations (See 12110 Court reporters, medical transcriptionists and related occupations)
• Executive assistants (See 12100 Executive assistants)
• Legal administrative assistants (See 13111 Legal administrative assistants)
• Medical administrative assistants (See 13112 Medical administrative assistants)
• Office manager (See 13100 Administrative officers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

administrative assistant · administrative assistant - office · administrative secretary · appointment secretary · church secretary · contracts secretary · executive secretary (except legal and medical) · finance secretary · human resources administrator · human resources administrator - Canadian Armed Forces · human resources secretary · loans and grants administrative assistant · office administrative assistant · personal secretary · private secretary · recording secretary · sales secretary · school secretary · secretary (except legal and medical) · secretary-clerk · taxation service secretary · technical secretary

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Completion of a one- or two-year college or other program for administrative assistants or secretaries or Previous clerical experience is required.