A mathematics teacher with one year of experience asked whether they qualify for Express Entry STEM category draws. The thread's answers (community understanding — verify against IRCC's current category list):
- School teachers are not in the STEM category. Teaching maths at high-school level is classified as an educator occupation, not a STEM occupation, for category-based draws. STEM draws target specific NOC codes in science, tech, engineering, and math practice roles — not teaching them.
- University professors weren't included either. A member checked NOC 41200 (university professors/lecturers) against the then-current STEM list and reported it was not included — with the caveat 'correct me if I'm wrong'. The same doubt applied to a biology lecturer who asked in-thread.
- Educator roles carry their own requirements. For teaching experience to be credibly claimed, members noted a B.Ed. (teaching qualification) is expected alongside the subject degree.
- The general-draw fallback: without a category, you compete in general draws — a member estimated CRS around 500 was needed for an ITA in regular draws at the time (historical figure).
Category draw occupation lists change; always check IRCC's current category-based selection page for your NOC before planning around a category.