Hi everyone, and welcome back to the next in our series on provincial nominee programs.
We are covering all of Canada’s provinces and their nominee programs, so make sure you
check out our other videos if you are still undecided about where you would like to live
in Canada.
Today we’re going to be talking about the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program, or
SINP for short.
This is a particularly popular provincial program as it has a very low language requirement,
and applicants do not necessarily need a job offer to apply.
Let’s talk a bit about the province, where it is and some of its highlights.
Saskatchewan is one of Canada’s only two landlocked provinces, and is one of Canada’s
three prairie provinces, along with Alberta and Manitoba.
It is called a prairie province due to being less dense in population, with a lot of forests,
grasslands, plains, and lowlands.
Despite having some very cool towns with some of​​ the youngest demographics in Canada,
it doesn’t have any huge metropolitan areas, and is therefore known for its outdoor lifestyle
and incredible views.
Saskatchewan is in the central west of Canada, bordered by Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest
Territories, and the American states of Montana and North Dakota.
The province is home to just under 1.2 million people, roughly half of whom live in the largest
city Saskatoon or the provincial capital Regina.
Saskatchewan also boasts over 100 thousand lakes, and whilst the southern areas tend
to have hot summers, it can get as cold as -45 celsius in the winter!
A little known fact for you is that the largest ethnic group in Saskatchewan is German, at
more than 28% of the population, closely followed by English and Scottish, with only 18 % being
Canadian.
So on to the Saskatchewan Immigrant nominee program.
The SINP offers four categories for immigration through its nominee program.
These categories are: the International Skilled Worker program, Worker with Saskatchewan Experience,
Entrepreneur, and Farm Owner and Operator.
In today’s video we will focus on the International Skilled Worker program and its sub-categories,
as these are where most people’s interests lie, but first we’ll give you a brief overview
of the other three programs, and include all the links below as we’re aware that immigrating
is such a minefield, and the more informed you are, the easier it is!
If any of these programs look like something you are either interested in or qualified
for, then check out the links below to find out more.
As you may have guessed, the Worker with Saskatchewan Experience category is for people already
in Saskatchewan, or more precisely, foreign nationals who are currently working and living
in Saskatchewan on a valid work permit.
There are six sub-categories within this program, which we’ll briefly go over now.
The first is: Skilled Worker With Existing Work Permit.
Requirements are that you must have been working in Saskatchewan with a valid work permit for
at least six months, and have a permanent full-time job offer from a Saskatchewan employer
in NOC "A", "B" or "zero".
If you’re not aware of NOC codes, they come up a lot, and there will be more on this later
on in the video, so keep watching!
Next is Semi-skilled Agriculture Worker with Existing Work Permit.
You must have been working for more than six months with a valid work permit for the employer
offering the job or, who have previously worked in Saskatchewan for a minimum of six months,
and you must have a permanent full-time job offer from a Saskatchewan employer, as a General
Farm Worker or a Nursery and Greenhouse Worker.
Thirdly we have Health Professionals, which is for skilled workers who have been working
full-time in Saskatchewan on a temporary work permit for at least six months as a Physician,
Nurse, or other health professional.
The fourth sub-category is Hospitality Sector Project, which is for foreign workers who
want to apply for permanent residency and are currently working in Saskatchewan on a
temporary work permit, have been working with an approved employer for a minimum of six
months and are working in one of the following jobs: Food/Beverage Server, Food Counter Attendant
or Kitchen Helper, or Housekeeping or Cleaning Staff.
The penultimate category is for Long-Haul Truck Drivers, and the final one is for students
who have graduated from a Saskatchewan institute or a recognized post- secondary institution
in Canada, have worked for a minimum of 6 months in Saskatchewan, and have a current,
permanent, full-time job offer from a Saskatchewan employer.
As we said, click on the links below to find out more if any of these categories jump out
to you.
Now the final two programs we’re going to talk about here are the Entrepreneur and Farm
categories.
The Entrepreneur Category is for foreign nationals looking to obtain or partner in a business
in Saskatchewan and be actively involved in managing it, whilst also living in Saskatchewan.
The entry criteria to be eligible for the program are that you have a minimum of $500,000
canadian dollars in Net Business and Personal Assets, have at least three years of relevant
business management or entrepreneurial experience in the past ten years, and plan to invest
between 2 and 3 hundred thousand dollars, depending on which part of Saskatchewan your
business will be in.
And finally to the Farm Owner and Operator category.
This is for experienced farm operators who want to move to Saskatchewan and also have
experience in farming, have the capital to invest in a farming operation, and who plan
to buy and run a farm in Saskatchewan.
You must also have a personal net worth of at least $500,000 canadian dollars, and at
least three years experience in Farm ownership, Farm management, or Practical farming experience.
Right, so those are three of the categories under the SINP, but now we will move on to
talking about the main focus of today’s video and the most popular category in the
SINP - the International Skilled Worker category.
This is for skilled workers currently living either abroad or in Canada, but who want to
live and work in Saskatchewan.
Within the International Skilled Worker category there are three sub-categories that applicants
can apply through, and these are: Saskatchewan Express Entry, Occupation in Demand, and Employment
Offer.
The SINP International Skilled Worker category assesses candidates using a point assessment
grid, and you will need at least 60 points to be eligible to apply for any of the programs
within it.
Points are awarded based on five factors: Education and training, Skilled work experience,
Language ability, Age, and Connections and adaptability to the Saskatchewan labour market.
You can use the link below to calculate how many points you may score on the assessment
grid.
The Occupation in Demand sub-category is a popular one as it does not require a job offer.
It is for workers who are highly skilled in an in-demand occupation in Saskatchewan.
You must score a minimum of 60 points out of 110 on the SINP point assessment grid,
and have a language score of at least CLB 4.
You must have completed post-secondary education, training or apprenticeship that's comparable
to that in Canada, have work experience that is high skilled, a minimum of one year of
full-time, paid work experience in a skilled occupation over the past 10 years, which is
in a high skilled occupation - NOC "zero", "A" or "B") that is considered to be in-demand
in Saskatchewan, and have proof of settlement funds.
If you are not aware of the National Occupational Classification, or NOC, this is a huge list
of occupations, which defines each occupation as a particular skill level or skill type.
To find out which NOC your experience comes under, click on the link in the description
box below.
Here you can type in your occupation, and will be able to see how it is classified - as
a Skill Type 0, or a skill Level A, B, C or D. As an example, an Accountant comes under
NOC 1111, skill level A, and a Carpenter would be classified as NOC 7271, skill level B.
To apply for the Occupation in Demand category, you must first submit an Expression of Interest,
which is not an application, it simply shows your interest in applying to the SINP.
If this is successful, you will be entered into a pool of eligible candidates.
Those with high scores within the pool will have a greater chance of being invited to
apply to the SINP.
Once invited to apply, you will submit your application, and after review, if your application
is successful, you will be offered a nomination by the SINP.
Now for the Employment Offer sub-category.
As the name implies, this requires a job offer for a skilled occupation from an employer
in Saskatchewan.
The job offer must be permanent and full-time, and must be in an occupation of NOC level
"A", "B" or zero, or in a designated trade in Saskatchewan.
Further requirements are that you need to score at least 60 points on the SINP point
assessment grid, have at least one-year work experience in the past 10 years in your intended
occupation, have a language score of at least CLB 4, and be licensed to work in your profession
in Saskatchewan.
The Employment Offer sub-category does not require you to first submit an Expression
of Interest, you simply apply online by creating an account with the SINP.
Which brings us to the third and final option in the International Skilled Worker category,
and that is Saskatchewan Express Entry.
This category does not require a job offer, and is for skilled workers who are already
in the IRCC Express Entry Pool.
If you are not yet aware of Express Entry, watch our video on Express Entry explained,
which will hopefully make things a bit clearer!
As we said, no job offer is required, but because it is linked to Express Entry, the
rest of the requirements are quite a lot higher than with the previous two categories.
First up, you will need a valid Express Entry Profile, which means meeting the requirements
for at least one of the federal Express Entry programs.
These programs are: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, and Canadian Experience
Class, and the criteria differs for each program, so you will need to check the specifics of
each one.
The links for all of them are in the description box below.
One of the big differences here is the required language levels.
With the previous International Skilled Worker categories, only a CLB 4 was needed, whereas
with the Express Entry category, you must have a language level that meets the requirements
for one of the Express Entry programs.
These are different depending on the program, but may require up to a CLB 7, which is something
worth considering.
Additional requirements are a score of at least 60 points on the SINP point assessment
grid, post-secondary school education or training that is comparable to at least one year of
Canadian education, in the form of a diploma, certificate or degree, work experience in
a job that is not on the Excluded Occupation List, and which is in the field of your post-secondary
education or training.
The minimum length of work experience required is one year in the past 10 years for skilled
professionals, two years in a skilled trade in the past five years for tradespeople, or
one year work experience in Canada in the past three years, for both skilled tradespeople
and skilled professionals.
As with the Occupation in Demand category, for Saskatchewan Express Entry you must first
submit an Expression of Interest online, and if it is successful, you will be entered into
the pool of eligible candidates, where those with the highest scores will be offered an
invitation to apply.
Ok so that’s a lot of information!
But we hope we have given you some food for thought about your decision on moving to Saskatchewan.
Let us know in the comments if you are thinking of moving there, or if you have any questions
about the SINP, and see you next time!