73100 Concrete finishers

What this occupation covers

Concrete finishers smooth and finish freshly poured concrete, apply curing or surface treatments and install, maintain and restore various masonry structures such as foundations, floors, ceilings, sidewalks, roads, patios and high-rise buildings. They are employed by construction companies, cement and concrete contractors and manufacturers of precast concrete products, or they may be self-employed. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 9 main duties for this code.

• Check formwork, granular base and steel reinforcement materials and direct placement of concrete into forms or onto surfaces according to grade
• Fill hollows and remove high spots to smooth freshly poured concrete
• Operate power vibrator to compact concrete
• Level top surface of concrete according to grade and depth specifications using straightedge or float
• Impart desired finish to concrete surfaces using hand and power tools
• Install anchor bolts, steel plates, door sills and other fixtures in freshly poured concrete
• Apply hardening and sealing compounds to cure surface of concrete
• Waterproof, damp-proof and restore concrete surfaces
• Repair, resurface and replace worn or damaged sections of floors, walls, roads and other concrete 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 9 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.

• 72320 Bricklayers
• 94103 Concrete, clay and stone forming operators
• 72014 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers

Excluded from this code

• Bricklayers (See 72320 Bricklayers)
• Concrete, clay and stone forming operators (See 94103 Concrete, clay and stone forming operators)
• Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers (See 72014 Contractors and supervisors, other construction trades, installers, repairers and servicers)

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 cement finisher · cement finisher · cement finisher apprentice · cement mason · cement mason apprentice · concrete finisher · concrete finisher apprentice · concrete floor finisher · concrete mason · concrete patcher-finisher · concrete polisher · concrete product finisher · concrete smoother-finisher · highway and street cement mason · journeyman/woman cement finisher · maintenance cement mason · precast concrete finisher · sidewalk concrete finisher

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Completion of a two- to four-year apprenticeship program or Over three years of work experience in the trade and some high school, college or industry courses in cement finishing are usually required to be eligible for trade certification.
• Trade certification for concrete finishers is compulsory in Quebec and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
• Trade certification for cement masons is available, but voluntary, in Ontario.
• Red Seal endorsement is also available to qualified concrete finishers upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.