73400 Heavy equipment operators

What this occupation covers

Heavy equipment operators operate heavy equipment used in the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, airports, gas and oil pipelines, tunnels, buildings and other structures; in surface mining and quarrying activities; and in material handling work. They are employed by construction companies, heavy equipment contractors, public works departments and pipeline, logging, cargo-handling and other companies. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 8 main duties for this code.

• Operate heavy equipment such as backhoes, bulldozers, loaders and graders to excavate, move, load and grade earth, rock, gravel or other materials during construction and related activities
• Operate bulldozers or other heavy equipment to clear brush and stumps prior to logging activities and to build roads at logging and surface mining sites
• Operate heavy equipment with pile driver head to drive piling into earth to provide support for buildings, bridges or other structures
• Operate heavy dredging equipment to deepen waterways or reclaim earth fill
• Operate heavy paving and surfacing equipment to lay, spread or compact concrete, asphalt and other surface materials during highway and road construction
• Operate power shovels to excavate rock, ore or other materials from open-pit mines, strip mines, quarries or construction pits
• Operate heavy equipment to move, load and unload cargo
• Conduct pre-operational checks on equipment and clean, lubricate and refill equipment.

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 8 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
• 72500 Crane operators
• 75101 Material handlers
• 83110 Logging machinery 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)
• Crane operators (See 72500 Crane operators)
• Forklift operator (See 75101 Material handlers)
• Industrial truck operator (See 75101 Material handlers)
• Logging machinery operators (See 83110 Logging machinery 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.

aerial tram operator · apprentice heavy equipment operator · asphalt batch plant operator · asphalt plant operator · asphalt roller operator · asphalt spreader operator · asphalt street paver operator · asphalt-grooving machine operator · asphalt-paving machine operator · asphalt-paving screed operator · backhoe operator · bituminous paver operator - heavy equipment · bobcat operator · boom-conveyor operator · bucketwheel operator · bucketwheel-excavator operator · buggy-operator skinner · buggy-scraper operator · bulldozer driver · bulldozer operator · cat operator · cat skinner · caterpillar car operator · caterpillar operator

Employment requirements

• Some secondary school education is required.
• Completion of a one- to two-year apprenticeship program or Some high school, college or industry courses in heavy equipment operating combined with on-the-job training are required.
• Trade certification for heavy equipment operator (dozer, excavator, tractor-loader-backhoe) is compulsory in Quebec and available, but voluntary, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.
• Internal company certification may be required by some employers.
• Red Seal endorsement is also available to qualified heavy equipment operators upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.