63201 Butchers - retail and wholesale

What this occupation covers

Butchers prepare standard and specialty cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. They are employed in supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish stores or may be self-employed. Butchers who are supervisors or heads of departments are included in this unit group. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 7 main duties for this code.

• Cut, trim, bone and otherwise prepare custom and/or standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale at self-serve counters or according to customers' orders
• Prepare meat for special displays and/or delivery
• Shape, lace and tie roasts and other meats, poultry or fish and may wrap or package fresh or frozen or prepared meats
• Manage inventory, keep records of sales and determine amount, product line and freshness of products according to company and customer requirements
• Adhere to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and food safety standards
• Ensure food storage conditions are adequate
• May supervise, direct work or train other butchers, meat cutters or fishmongers.

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 7 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.

• 94142 Fish and seafood plant workers
• 94141 Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
• 65202 Meat cutters and fishmongers - retail and wholesale
• 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers
• 64100 Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers

Excluded from this code

• Fish cutter - fish processing (See 94142 Fish and seafood plant workers)
• Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers (See 94141 Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers)
• Meat cutter - retail or wholesale (See 65202 Meat cutters and fishmongers - retail and wholesale)
• Meat department manager - retail (See 60020 Retail and wholesale trade managers)
• Seafood sales clerk (See 64100 Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers)

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.

apprentice butcher - retail or wholesale · butcher - butcher shop · butcher - delicatessen · butcher - retail or wholesale · butcher - wholesale · butcher apprentice · butcher assistant · grocery store butcher · head butcher - retail · head butcher - retail or wholesale · head butcher - wholesale · retail butcher · supermarket butcher

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school may be required.
• Completion of a college or other butchery training program may be required.
• Several years of on-the-job training in food stores is usually required for retail butchers.