72320 Bricklayers

What this occupation covers

Bricklayers lay bricks, concrete blocks, stone and other similar materials to construct or repair walls, arches, chimneys, fireplaces and other structures in accordance with blueprints and specifications. They are employed by construction companies and bricklaying contractors or they may be self-employed. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 11 main duties for this code.

• Read sketches and blueprints to calculate materials required
• Cut and trim bricks and concrete blocks to specification using hand and power tools
• Prepare and lay bricks, concrete blocks, stone, structural tiles and similar materials to construct or repair walls, foundations and other structures in residential, industrial and commercial construction
• Lay bricks or other masonry units to build residential or commercial chimneys and fireplaces
• Lay radial bricks to build masonry shells of industrial chimneys
• Lay or install firebricks to line industrial chimneys and smokestacks
• Line or reline furnaces, kilns, boilers and similar installations using refractory or acid-resistant bricks, refractory concretes, plastic refractories and other materials
• Lay bricks, stone or similar materials to provide veneer facing to walls or other surfaces
• Construct and install prefabricated masonry units
• Lay bricks or other masonry units to build patios, garden walls and other decorative installations
• May restore, clean or paint existing masonry structures.

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 11 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.

• 72014 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers
• 73100 Concrete finishers
• 73101 Tilesetters

Excluded from this code

• Bricklayer supervisor (See 72014 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers)
• Concrete finishers (See 73100 Concrete finishers)
• Tilesetters (See 73101 Tilesetters)

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 bricklayer · apprentice brickmason · apprentice mason · artificial stone mason · artificial stone setter · brick and stone mason · brick chimney builder · brick setter · bricklayer · brickmason · chimney bricklayer · chimney repair bricklayer · chimney repair stonemason · cinder block mason · cinder block setter · concrete block setter · fire brick layer · fire brick liner repairer · fireplace brickmason · furnace lining bricklayer · industrial furnace bricklayer · industrial furnace brickmason · industrial oven brickmason · journeyman/woman bricklayer

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Completion of a three- to four-year apprenticeship program or A combination of over four years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college or industry courses in bricklaying is usually required to be eligible for trade certification.
• Trade certification for bricklayers is compulsory in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec and available, but voluntary, in all other provinces and the Yukon.
• Trade certification for stonemasons is available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador.
• Trade certification for restoration stone masons is available, but voluntary, in Nova Scotia.
• Red Seal endorsement is also available to qualified bricklayers upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.