NOC 65220: Pet groomers and animal care workers

Animal care workers feed, handle, train and groom animals and assist veterinarians, animal health technologists and technicians and animal breeders. Pet groomers clip coats, bathe and otherwise groom pets. They are employed by animal hospitals and clinics, animal shelters, breeding and boarding kennels, zoos, laboratories, retail pet shops, dog training schools, pet grooming establishments, or may be self-employed.

Express Entry eligibility

• Skilled work (TEER 0 to 3): no, TEER 5 does not count for Express Entry.
• Canadian Experience Class: does not count.
• Federal Skilled Worker Program: does not count.
• 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 5: Occupations that usually need short-term work demonstration and no formal education. Every program has other requirements too, such as language test results and, for FSW, a points test.

Category-based draws

NOC 65220 is not on any of IRCC’s occupation category lists. You can still be invited in general, Canadian Experience Class or other program draws if you qualify through other experience.

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

CRS points for work in NOC 65220

None. Work in TEER 4 and 5 occupations earns no Canadian work points in the CRS.

See Canadian work points and the median-wage rule.

Main duties

This group performs some or all of the following duties:

• Prepare food and feed animals, fish or birds at scheduled intervals
• Clean and disinfect cages, pens and surrounding areas
• Shampoo, clip and groom animals
• Assist veterinarians and animal health technologists and technicians to inoculate and treat animals
• Assist animal breeders to handle and nurture animals
• Assist scientists and researchers in conducting laboratory tests with animals
• Monitor and document animal behaviour
• Train dogs to obey commands and perform specific duties in response to signals.

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

Example job titles

• animal care worker (except farm)
• dog groomer
• dog trainer
• kennel attendant
• laboratory animal attendant
• pet groomer
• pound attendant
• veterinary attendant
• zoo attendant

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Depending on the type of work performed, training courses in animal handling, grooming or dog training are usually required. Animal health or veterinary assistant college courses may be required for animal care workers.

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