Canada Immigration through Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP)

If you are looking to immigrate to Canada, it is important to note that Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program provides the best pathways for people outside of Canada. In fact, Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program is the only PNP program in Canada that invites candidates outside of Canada who have expressed their interest in Saskatchewan to apply for Canadian permanent residency without the need to have a job offer.  What does this mean? It simply implies you can apply for Canadian permanent residency right from your home country without the need to school in Canada or work in Canada for Canadian work experience or have a connection with the province to be eligible to immigrate to Canada.

In this post, I will be sharing the key things to know about the Saskatchewan PNP, also known as the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program with focus on international skilled worker category.

What is Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program?

Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) is a Provincial Nomination Program which the government of Saskatchewan uses to invite eligible applicants willing to reside in the province of Saskatchewan to apply for Canada immigration in order to become permanent residents. It’s also the best pathway for professionals with years of working experience in a single occupation that is in demand in the province of Saskatchewan, who may often not be competitive for the Federal Skill Worker (FSW) Program because of their age and the extremely high CRS scores.

What are the Pathways for an International Skilled Worker

The Saskatchewan Provincial Nominee Program has 2 broad pathways for international skilled workers to use depending on whether they have a job offer or not. These have been categorized under pathways requiring a job offer and pathways that do not require a job offer.

Pathways Requiring a Job Offer

International Skilled Worker: Employment Offer Category 

This sub-category is for skilled workers who:

• Have a job offer for a skilled occupation in Saskatchewan;
• Who are living abroad or in Canada; and
• Meet the criteria of the sub-category

International Skilled Worker: Hard to Fill Skill Pilot Program

This sub-category is for intermediate and lower-skilled workers who:

• Have a job offer for an eligible intermediate or low-skilled occupation in Saskatchewan;
• Are either living in Canada or abroad;
• Meet the criteria of the pilot

International Skilled Worker: Tech Talent Pathway

This sub-category is for high-skilled technology and innovation sector workers who:

• Have a job offer for a high-skilled occupation in Saskatchewan;
• Are either living in Canada or abroad;
• Meet the criteria of the sub-category; and,
• May be in the immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Express Entry Pool (not required).

Pathways Not Requiring a Job Offer

International Skilled Worker: Occupation in Demand

This sub-category is for skilled workers who:

• Do not have a job offer in Saskatchewan but are highly skilled in an in-demand occupation;
• Who are living abroad or in Canada; and
• Meet the criteria of the sub-category.

International Skill Worker: Saskatchewan Express Entry

This sub-category is for skilled workers who:

• Do not have a job offer in Saskatchewan;
• Who are living abroad or in Canada;
• Are in the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Express Entry Pool; and
• Meet the criteria of the sub-category.

If you are outside of the province of Saskatchewan and cannot get a job offer, your best options as are the International Skill Worker: Occupation in Demand and the Express Entry sub categories.

Occupations In-Demand (OID) and Express Entry (EE)

The Occupations In-Demand (OID) and Express Entry (EE) sub-categories are for international skilled workers who have education and work experience in an in-demand occupation that falls under the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) TEER levels:

• TEER 0: Management occupations
• TEER 1: Occupations that usually require a university degree
• TEER 2: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, apprenticeship training of two or more years, or supervisory experience
• TEER 3: Occupations that usually require a college diploma, apprenticeship training of less than two years, or more than six months of on-the-job training

SINP has not specifically published the list of occupations in demand as they keep adding to the list, except the excluded occupation list. It is therefore important to check that your NOC code is not on the excluded occupation list.

However, you can know that your NOC code is in demand by referring to our SINP Draws Compilation from 2018 to date.

The only difference between Occupations In-Demand (OID) and Express Entry (EE) is that for Express Entry you must have a valid Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Code while creating your expression of interest profile and link to your profile. That then implies your IELTS score should have been at least CLB 7 as requred for creating an express entry profile as opposed to Occupations In-Demand which language result can be CLB 4.

How to Determine Your NOC Code

The National Occupational Codes are codes that have been used to categorize and group a list of related occupations. You can find your NOC code using the NOC Code Search Tool.

To claim a NOC code, you must ensure that you perform the lead roles and your job description must relate to at least 70% of the NOC code job description.

The spoiler alert for SINP is that your education must be related to your work experience.

What is SINP Point Assessment Grid?

In order to immigrate to Canada, Saskatchewan, you need to assess your eligibility for the PNP program using the SINP Point Assessment Grid.

The Point Assessment Grid is a point-based system which awards points for primary eligibility factors such as age, education, work experience, and English and or French language ability for a maximum point of 70. This is particularly for persons looking to immigrate outside of the Saskatchewan province and outside of Canada.

Additionally, the Point Assessment Grid awards points for meeting the secondary eligibility factors such as having schooled for at least 12 months or worked for at least 12 months or having a close family relative living in Saskatchewan to demonstrate connection to the province for a maximum point of 60. This is particularly for persons who are able to go study in Saskatchewan on a valid student visa in a designated learning institution which gives them the opportunity to work on an open work permit.

This makes a total of 110 points to claim by meeting the primary eligibility factors as a minimum and the secondary eligibility factors to increase your chances of ITA.

Take note this excludes points for job offer as we focus on how to immigrate without a job offer.

If you are outside of Canada like majority of us and have no connection to the province, the maximum points you can pursue is 70 points and that is achieved by scoring the highest in each of the primary eligibility factors.

The minimum eligibility points for SINP is 60 points. However the higher your points, the higher your chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA), and once invited you have 60 days to submit your documents for verification against the points you have claimed to get a decision on your application.

How to Assess Your Eligibility

To assess your eligibility, understand the Point Assessment Grid and use the Online Eligibility Tool to determine the category you fit – whether occupation in demand (OID) or express entry (EE).

You must first determine your points based on the real case scenario of what is possible for you to get an invitation e.g., especially education, language ability and work experience, and work towards gathering the required documents.

It is important to be aware that, any points you claim should be points you can prove before you create an expression of interested profile.

How to Prove Your Eligibility

Based on the point assessment grid, you can only claim points for what you can prove with the required documents.

Age

Your age is determined by your national ID, birth certificate and some of your educational transcripts. The ideal age for the maximum points of 12 is between 22 to 34.

Education

You must do an education credential assessment of your highest post-secondary education. You can get the highest points of 20, if you have a master’s degree, and your education is related to your NOC.

Your highest education must be assessed for Canadian equivalency using the IRCC approved Institutions in Canada.

The fastest for most occupations is World Education Service.

Work Experience

You can only claim work experience if it was paid. Voluntary jobs such as internships are excluded. Years of work experience can be claimed in 2 categories:

• Last 5 years starting from the date of invitation.
• Last 6 to 10 years starting from the date of invitation.

Any person in current employment with a continuous work experience for 10 years without any gap can achieve the highest points of 15. Such as person can comfortably track work experience from their current job to the last 5 years and continue from the last 5 years to 10 years.

Persons with gaps in between their work history can only claim the period of work in the same occupation within the 2 timeframes.

Also while creating your profile, you cannot combine 2 NOC codes. You can only claim work experience in a single NOC code (You can claim for different occupations within the NOC code)

Proving work experience is by the following:

• Reference letter.
• Pay slips.
• At least one additional government issued documents like
  • Pension statement
  • Social security statement
  • Work permit, work visa or labor card for any foreign work experience.
  • income tax certificate
  • Government employment contract
• Any additional documents related to your role from your company e.g., emails you were in copy or sent to you.

Reference letter has some key requirements to be accepted as proof of work experience. It is required to have the following;

• Be on company letterhead which has physical address and contact number.
• Introduce the type of business the company does.
• The duration of your employment.
• The hours of work to prove it was full time hence 40 hrs. a week ought to be mentioned.
• Your job title – not the determining factor.
• Your job description – the key determining factor for accepting your claim for the NOC.
• Your monthly salary indicating it was a paid job.
• Signed by the HR, or Supervisor
• Must have the email address and contact number of the signatory.

Those who are self-employed may only claim work experience if they are in a managerial NOC.

• Business license and self-employment tax documents
• Proof of income
• Reference letters from clients.

Language Ability

You are required to demonstrate language ability in English or French or both by having an English or French proficiency exam result valid within the last 2 years.

If you are an English speaker, you must take IELTS General or CELPIP exam whiles French can take TCF or TEF exam and convert to Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB)

The minimum eligibility level for the SINP Occupation in Demand is CLB 4 for 12 points whilst the highest language level is CLB 8 for maximum of 20 points.

If you have a valid language test result that is equivalent to CLB 7, you can create an express entry profile under the FSW and use the SINP Express Entry category to link to your express entry profile.

Check the Language Test Equivalency Chart to convert your language test results to CLB.

Connection to the Province

Connection to the province can be established through at least a 12-month certificate program showing successful completion of the program in the province; a 12-month working experience on a valid work permit proven by an employment reference letter; and any family relatives from parent, siblings, uncles, aunties and first cousins who live in Saskatchewan, proven by their income statements, utility bills, and permanent residence status in Canada.

Proof of Fund

Canada wants skilled migrants to be able to settle themselves for at least 6 months by which they would have gotten a job. This brings some strong requirements on settlement funds for immigrating to Canada based on family size.

According to IRCC, Proof of fund must cover spouse and dependent children even if they are not coming with you to Canada. 

SINP particularly needs your funds to be at least 3 months before submitting an application following an invitation.

Make sure your funds are at least 1 month old before you create an expression of interest profile, since you will have 60 days to submit an application to make a total of 90 days for your funds to be accepted.

Proof of fund must either be in your name or your spouse’s name (I was made ineligible because my fund was in my business account). Also, sponsorship from another family member is not accepted. It has to be fund you or your or both of you own.

Always refer to IRCC’s Proof of fund requirements.

The primary proof of fund is yours or your spouse’s personal current or savings account.

A personal bank statement with a letter from your bank confirming you or your spouse is the account owner, when the account was opened, and the balance as shown in the statement. The letter must be on the banks letterhead.

The secondary proof funds must be liquid funds that can easily be withdrawn when needed to be accepted as proof of fund. These include:

• Bonds
• Cash value life insurance
• Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GICs) or Certificates of Deposit
• Mutual Funds
• Provident Funds (an official letter from the provident fund organization indicating the amount of funds that are accessible is required)
• Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs)
• Stocks
• Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs)
• Term deposits and time deposits (must be valid at the time of application and remain valid throughout the entire application process)
• Treasury Bills

What is an Expression of Interest (EOI) Point?

In order to immigrate to Canada, Saskatchewan you must first express your interest to the province by creating and submitting your profile. While creating your profile, you will complete the eligibility assessment criteria for the pathway you are using and that would generate a score also known as an Expression of Interest (EOI) Score . It is that score which would be used to draw your EOI profile from the pool of other candidates should an SINP draw go in your favor.

How to Create Your Expression of Interest Profile

Now that you have gathered the required documents to prove the points you claim, you can go ahead and create a profile on OASIS using this link here.

How to Submit Your Documents

Once invited, you have 60 days to submit your documents.

Using the same OASIS account, you are able to submit your documents for your:

• birth certificate
• national identity card
• educational credential assessment,
• post-secondary educational certificates and transcripts,
• professional qualifications,
• language proficiency result,
• proof of work experience,
• connections to the province,
• proof of fund.

Again, you must submit:

• marriage certificate,
• birth certificates of your spouse and children,
• additional family information and
• personal history for both you and your spouse.

Check the video on how I submitted mine here

What is the Processing Time for SINP Application?

From my experience, it took SINP 1 month to decide on my ineligibility based on proof of fund and on the second attempt, it took 1 month to get a nomination. Processing times however varies based on the completeness of your application. The more confusing your documents are the longer it takes for processing. The rule is to keep it simple, precise and specific and provide enough relevant documents to prove your claim.

The average processing time is 3 months for a decision to be made on your application.

What Decisions Can Be Made on Your Application?

A decision from SINP can be a provincial nomination from Saskatchewan, which will award you 600 points to kickstart the process of moving to Canada, Saskatchewan; or application is made ineligible for you start again, correct the reasons given and wait for another invitation; or application is PIU ineligible. That is where the Program Integrity Unit (PIU) has suspected you of misrepresentation and requests you to respond within 10 days, upon which a decision will be made to either ban you from applying to SINP for 2 to 5 years or proceed with your application.

Conclusion

Our website is focused on analyzing the draws trends based on EOI scores and the ranking of the NOC codes based on the data already published by SINP for users to make data driven decisions. This is just an introduction. We expect users to focus their attention on SINP website as the ultimate guide.

Below is a ranking of the frequently invited occupation list from 2018 to 2023 for insight into which NOC codes have received the most draws and where your NOC code stands among others for your data driven immigration decision.