62200 Chefs

What this occupation covers

Chefs plan and direct food preparation and cooking activities and who prepare and cook meals and specialty foods. They are employed in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other health care institutions, central food commissaries, clubs and similar establishments, and on ships.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 18 main duties for this code.

• Plan and direct food preparation and cooking activities of several restaurants in an establishment, restaurant chains, hospitals or other establishments with food services
• Consult with clients regarding weddings, banquets and specialty functions
• Plan menus and ensure food meets quality standards
• Estimate food requirements and may estimate food and labour costs
• Supervise activities of sous-chefs, specialist chefs, chefs and cooks
• Arrange for equipment purchases and repairs
• Recruit and hire staff
• May prepare and cook food on a regular basis, or for special guests or functions.
• Supervise activities of specialist chefs, chefs, cooks and other kitchen workers
• Demonstrate new cooking techniques and new equipment to cooking staff
• May plan menus and requisition food and kitchen supplies
• May prepare and cook meals or specialty foods.
• Prepare and cook complete meals or specialty foods, such as pastries, sauces, soups, salads, vegetables and meat, poultry and fish dishes, and create decorative food displays for special events such as banquets
• Instruct cooks in preparation, cooking, garnishing and presentation of food
• Create new recipes
• Supervise cooks and other kitchen staff
• May plan menus
• May requisition food and kitchen supplies.

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 3 of its 18 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.

• 63200 Cooks
• 65201 Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations
• 60030 Restaurant and food service managers

Excluded from this code

• Cooks (See 63200 Cooks)
• Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations (See 65201 Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations)
• Restaurant and food service managers (See 60030 Restaurant and food service managers)

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.

assistant chef · banquet chef · chef · chef de cuisine · chef de partie · chef pâtissier · cold foods chef · corporate chef · entremetier · executive chef · executive sous-chef · first sous-chef · garde-manger chef · head chef · head rotisseur · master chef · meat chef · meat, poultry and fish chef · pasta chef · pastry chef · rotisserie chef · saucier · second chef · sous-chef

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Cook's trade certification or equivalent credentials, training and experience are required.
• Executive chefs usually require management training and several years of experience in commercial food preparation, including two years in a supervisory capacity and Experience as a sous-chef, specialist chef or chef.
• Sous-chefs, specialist chefs and chefs usually require several years of experience in commercial food preparation.
• Red Seal endorsement for cooks is also available to qualified chefs upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.
• The certifications of Certified Working Chef (CWC) and Certified Chef de Cuisine (CCC), administered by the Canadian Culinary Institute (CCI) of the Canadian Culinary Federation (CCF) are available to qualified chefs.