NOC 53200: Athletes

Athletes participate in competitive sports events on an amateur or professional basis. They play team sports such as hockey, baseball, football and lacrosse; or compete in individual sports such as skiing, figure skating, boxing or track and field; or in games such as poker or chess. They are employed by professional team organizations or they may be self-employed.

Express Entry eligibility

• Skilled work (TEER 0 to 3): yes, TEER 3.
• Canadian Experience Class: counts as skilled Canadian work (1 year in the last 3 years).
• Federal Skilled Worker Program: counts as skilled work (1 year of continuous work in the last 10 years).
• Federal Skilled Trades Program: not one of the eligible trades.
• High-wage occupation (from November 3, 2026): no. No high-wage add-on, and a job offer in it earns no CRS points.

TEER 3: Occupations that usually need a college diploma, an apprenticeship of less than 2 years, or more than 6 months of on-the-job training. Every program has other requirements too, such as language test results and, for FSW, a points test.

Category-based draws

NOC 53200 is not on any of IRCC’s occupation category lists. You can still be invited in general, Canadian Experience Class or other program draws.

Category lists checked on canada.ca on 2026-10-17. IRCC category-based selection

CRS points for work in NOC 53200

Skilled Canadian work in this occupation earns the standard points, the same before and after November 3, 2026, with no high-wage add-on:

See Canadian work points and the median-wage rule.

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

• Train under the direction of a coach or trainer to qualify for competition
• Attend scheduled practice and training sessions
• Participate in local, regional, provincial, national or international competitions and sporting events
• Assess performance after an event to identify strengths and weaknesses.

For Express Entry your duties must match the lead statement and most of the main duties above.

Example job titles

• athlete
• baseball player
• boxer
• figure skater
• football player
• golfer
• harness race driver
• hockey player
• jockey
• professional athlete
• skier
• sprinter
• track athlete

Employment requirements

• Demonstrated ability in a particular sport, or type of game, is required.
• Extensive training under the supervision of a coach is required.
• Certification with a particular sports federation may be required.
• A background combining athletic training and college or university studies is strongly recommended.

Similar jobs with a different code

• 53201Coaches
• 54100Sports instructor
• 53202Sports officials and referees