NOC 63200: Cooks
What cooks do
Cooks prepare and cook a wide variety of foods. They are employed in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other health care institutions, central food commissaries, educational institutions and other establishments. Cooks are also employed aboard ships and at construction and logging campsites. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.
Main duties
This group performs some or all of the following duties:
- Prepare and cook complete meals or individual dishes and foods
- Prepare and cook special meals for patients as instructed by dietitian or chef
- Schedule and supervise kitchen helpers
- Oversee kitchen operations
- Maintain inventory and records of food, supplies and equipment
- May set up and oversee buffets
- May clean kitchen and work area
- May plan menus, determine size of food portions, estimate food requirements and costs, and monitor and order supplies
- May hire and train kitchen staff.
Job titles under NOC 63200
38 job titles are classified here, including apprentice cook, cook, dietary cook.
- apprentice cook
- assistant cook
- banquet cook
- breakfast cook
- broiler cook
- cafeteria cook
- camp cook
- caterer cook
- construction camp cook
- cook
- cook - Canadian Armed Forces
- diet kitchen cook
- dietary cook
- domestic cook
- ethnic food cook
- first cook
- fishing and merchant vessel cook
- grill cook
- hospital cook
- institutional cook
- journeyman/woman cook
- kosher foods cook
- licensed cook
- line cook
Employment requirements
- Completion of secondary school is usually required.
- Completion of a three-year apprenticeship program for cooks or completion of college or other program in cooking or food safety or several years of commercial cooking experience may be required.
- Trade certification is available, but voluntary, in all provinces and territories.
- Red Seal endorsement is also available to qualified cooks upon successful completion of the interprovincial Red Seal examination.
Cooks wages in Canada
Low, median and high hourly wages from Job Bank’s 2025 wage data. Annual figures assume full-time work (1,950 hours a year).
| Where | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $15.00/hr | $18.00/hr | $25.00/hr |
Toronto ON | $17.60/hr | $18.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
Montréal QC | $16.10/hr | $20.00/hr | $26.00/hr |
Vancouver Lower Mainland region, BC | $17.85/hr | $20.00/hr | $26.00/hr |
Calgary AB | $15.00/hr | $18.00/hr | $23.00/hr |
Edmonton AB | $15.30/hr | $18.00/hr | $23.50/hr |
Ottawa ON | $17.60/hr | $19.00/hr | $23.00/hr |
Winnipeg MB | $16.00/hr | $16.00/hr | $21.00/hr |
Québec City Quebec region, QC | $16.10/hr | $18.00/hr | $25.00/hr |
Hamilton Hamilton–Niagara Peninsula region, ON | $17.60/hr | $18.00/hr | $24.36/hr |
Kitchener-Waterloo Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie region, ON | $17.60/hr | $18.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
London ON | $17.60/hr | $18.00/hr | $23.74/hr |
Halifax NS | $16.50/hr | $17.00/hr | $22.00/hr |
Victoria Vancouver Island and Coast region, BC | $18.00/hr | $21.18/hr | $27.00/hr |
Saskatoon Saskatoon–Biggar region, SK | $15.35/hr | $16.44/hr | $22.50/hr |
Regina Regina–Moose Mountain region, SK | $15.35/hr | $17.00/hr | $22.00/hr |
| Where | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
Newfoundland and Labrador | $16.00/hr | $17.00/hr | $27.54/hr |
Nova Scotia | $16.50/hr | $17.00/hr | $22.50/hr |
New Brunswick | $15.65/hr | $16.40/hr | $22.00/hr |
Quebec | $16.10/hr | $18.00/hr | $25.00/hr |
Ontario | $17.60/hr | $18.00/hr | $24.00/hr |
Manitoba | $16.00/hr | $16.50/hr | $21.00/hr |
Saskatchewan | $15.35/hr | $17.00/hr | $23.08/hr |
Alberta | $15.00/hr | $17.50/hr | $23.50/hr |
British Columbia | $17.85/hr | $20.00/hr | $26.00/hr |
Using NOC 63200 for your resume or Express Entry profile
- IRCC asks you to make sure the main duties listed for your NOC match what you actually did at your job. If they don’t, look for another unit group whose duties do.
- Describe your own work in your own words. Recruiters and ATS software look for concrete tools, results and scope, not text copied from the NOC.
- Applying from outside Canada? Run your resume through the Canadian resume format checker to catch things Canadian employers don’t expect, like a photo or date of birth.
- Use the job title the employer’s posting uses. The 38 titles above are how the same work is named across employers.
Not in this group
Similar jobs classified under a different NOC code:
- Chefs (NOC 62200)
- Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations (NOC 65201)
Frequently asked questions
What is the NOC code for cooks?
Cooks are NOC 2021 unit group 63200. Example job titles in this group include apprentice cook, cook, dietary cook, first cook.
What TEER is NOC 63200?
NOC 63200 is TEER 3 (College or apprenticeship (under 2 years)). Usually requires a college program or apprenticeship of less than 2 years, or more than six months of on-the-job training. TEER 0, 1, 2 and 3 work counts as skilled work experience for Express Entry’s Federal Skilled Worker and Canadian Experience Class programs.
How much do cooks earn in Canada?
Job Bank's 2025 wage data puts the median at $18.00/hr, about $35,000 a year full-time, with a range of $15.00/hr to $25.00/hr.
Related occupations
Sources: Statistics Canada, National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0; Employment and Social Development Canada, Job Bank wages (2025). Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. OfferJetAI is not affiliated with the Government of Canada. Check IRCC’s NOC guidance before you apply.