Canada Immigration and Visa Services considers several factors when deciding on an NOC for your Owner Operator LMIA applied for with Service Canada. Most importantly the NOC should match the reasonable employment need of your Canadian business, and must also be consistent with your experience, skills, education, and ability to perform the job duties for a smooth Work Permit and/or Permanent Resident application with IRCC.
Here are two negative examples:
Example A: If your last 10 years of work have been as a cook at a fast-food franchise, it is highly unlikely that IRCC will grant you a Work Permit or Permanent Residency for a 200 pt. NOC 0015 – General Manager to manage 3 convenience store locations. There very well may be a reasonable employment need for a General Manager to oversee and direct the operations of 3 active convenience store locations, and the LMIA will be approved by Service Canada, but significant challenges will be faced with IRCC on a Work Permit or Permanent Residency application because it is unlikely, they will be convinced the applicant can perform the job duties of a Senior Manager.
Example B: If you are an experienced senior manager with 15 years of management experience, managing teams of people IRCC will likely be convinced that you have the skills and work experience to apply for a Work Permit or Permanent Residency with a 200 pt. LMIA. However, if on your application for an Owner Operator LMIA to Service Canada only involves 1 convenience store location with 2 staff on payroll, Service Canada will not be convinced that a 0015 – General Manager is required to operate 1 location, and more appropriately adjust your NOC code to a 0621 – Retail Store Manager.