NOC 94104: Inspectors and testers, mineral and metal processing

Inspectors and testers in mineral and metal processing inspect, grade, sample or test raw materials and products from mineral ore and metal processing operations. They are employed in mineral ore and metal processing plants such as copper, lead and zinc refineries, uranium processing plants, steel mills, aluminum plants, precious metal refineries, cement processing plants, clay, glass and stone processing plants and foundries.

Express Entry eligibility

• Skilled work (TEER 0 to 3): no, TEER 4 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 4: Occupations that usually need a high school diploma or several weeks 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 94104 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 94104

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:

• Inspect mineral ore, metal, cement, glass, clay or concrete products at various stages of processing to ensure adherence to specifications
• Grade and label raw materials or finished products according to size, thickness, composition or other classification standards
• Take samples of products during or after processing operation for routine analysis or for subsequent laboratory analysis
• Test product for strength, density, durability and conformance to specifications
• Advise supervisor or central control operator and process machine operators of problems and product deficiencies
• Complete inspection and test reports.

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

Example job titles

• asbestos grader
• brick and tile inspector
• castings tester - primary metal and mineral products processing
• clay products grader
• core tester - foundry
• fibreglass tester
• glass quality control inspector
• heat treating inspector - metal processing
• metal processing inspector
• mineral sampler - mineral products processing
• molten metal sampler - primary metal processing
• salvage glass inspector
• sheet steel inspector - primary metal processing
• steel tester - primary metal processing

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is usually required.
• Experience as a machine or process operator in mineral and metal processing is usually required.

Similar jobs with a different code

• 22101Assayer - mineralogy
• 93100Central control and process operators, mineral and metal processing
• 22100Chemical technologists and technicians
• 94100Machine operators, mineral and metal processing
• 22101Metallurgical control analyst
• 22230Non-destructive testers and inspectors
• 92010Supervisors, mineral and metal processing