NOC 63221: Upholsterers

Upholsterers cover furniture, fixtures and similar items with fabric, leather or other upholstery materials. They are employed by furniture, aircraft, motor vehicle and other manufacturing companies, furniture retail outlets and repair shops 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 63221 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 63221

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:

• Discuss upholstery fabric, colour, and style with customers and provide cost estimate for upholstering furniture or other items
• Lay out, measure and cut upholstery materials according to sketches or design specifications
• Replace worn-out webbing, springs and other furniture parts using hand and power tools
• Operate sewing machines or sew upholstery materials by hand to seam cushions and join sections of covering materials
• Install padding and underlays and fasten covering materials to furniture frames
• Tack, glue or sew ornamental trim, braids or buttons on upholstered items
• Lay out, cut, fabricate and install upholstery in aircrafts, motor vehicles, railway cars, boats and ships
• May repair furniture frames and refinish wood surfaces
• May make upholstery patterns from sketches, customer descriptions or blueprints
• May install, fabricate, maintain and repair interior components of aircraft, such as seats, coverings, drapes, cargo nets, flooring, closets, bins and panels.

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

Example job titles

• automobile upholsterer
• custom upholsterer
• furniture upholsterer
• upholsterer
• upholstery repairer

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Completion of college or other specialized courses or an apprenticeship program in furniture upholstering and repair or Several years of on-the-job training, including working as an upholsterer helper are usually required.
• Trade certification is available, but voluntary, in Quebec.

Similar jobs with a different code

• 94210Furniture and fixture assemblers, finishers, refinishers and inspectors
• 62029Upholsterers supervisor
• 95105Upholstery marker and cutter