72500 Crane operators

What this occupation covers

Crane operators operate cranes or draglines to lift, move, position or place machinery, equipment and other large objects at construction or industrial sites, ports, railway yards, surface mines and other similar locations. They are employed by construction, industrial, mining, cargo handling and railway companies. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 12 main duties for this code.

• Operate mobile and tower cranes to lift, move, position or place equipment and materials
• Perform pre-operational inspection, and calculate crane capacities and weight to prepare for rigging and hoisting
• Operate pile driving cranes to drive pilings into earth to provide support for buildings and other structures
• Operate cranes equipped with dredging attachments to dredge waterways and other areas
• Operate gantry cranes to load and unload ship cargo at port side
• Operate locomotive cranes to move objects and materials at railway yards
• Operate bridge or overhead cranes to lift, move and place plant machinery and materials
• Operate offshore oil rig cranes to unload and reload supply vessels
• Operate cranes mounted on boats or barges to lift, move and place equipment and materials
• Operate dragline cranes to expose coal seams and ore deposits at open pit mines
• May assemble tower cranes on site
• Perform routine maintenance work such as cleaning and lubricating cranes.

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 12 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.

• 72021 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
• 73400 Heavy equipment operators
• 83100 Underground production and development miners

Excluded from this code

• Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews (See 72021 Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews)
• Heavy equipment operators (See 73400 Heavy equipment operators)
• Underground production and development miners (See 83100 Underground production and development miners)

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 mobile crane operator · boat crane operator · boom crane operator · boom truck crane operator · boom truck hoist operator · bridge crane operator · cantilever crane operator · cinder crane operator · climbing crane operator · construction crane operator · crane and hoisting equipment operator · crane hoist operator · crane operator · crane operator apprentice · crawler crane operator · demolition crane operator · dragline crane operator · drilling rig crane operator · electric crane operator · electric dragline operator · electric gantry crane operator · electric monorail crane operator · floating crane operator · gantry crane operator

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Completion of a one- to three-year apprenticeship program or Industry courses in crane operating are usually required.
• Mobile crane operator trade certification, for specified types of cranes, is compulsory in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia and available, but voluntary, in all other provinces and the Northwest Territories.
• Tower crane operator trade certification is compulsory in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia and available, but voluntary, in Prince Edward Island.
• Hoist operator trade certification, for specified types of cranes, is compulsory in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia and is available, but voluntary, in New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
• Mobile crane operators may require a provincial licence to drive mobile cranes on public roads.
• Internal company certification as a crane operator may be required by some employers.
• Red Seal endorsement is also available to qualified mobile crane and tower crane operators upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.