Released on May 21, 2013
Government to Consult on Future Direction of Program
Economy Minister Bill Boyd today announced the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) will receive an additional 450 nominations this year, bringing the annual nomination level to 4,450 for 2013. The increase is expected to translate into more than 1,200 additional newcomers to Saskatchewan on top of the 12,000 new residents that arrive to the province annually.
“Developing a skilled workforce is a key priority for the Government of Saskatchewan,” Boyd said. “Immigration is an important part of a balanced approach to labour force development that requires the most effective use of the programs and services available to facilitate attraction of skilled workers in hard-to-fill in-demand jobs across the province.”
The 450 increase represents 27 per cent of the total additional nomination allocation across Canada in 2013. The additional nominations are contingent upon the Government of Saskatchewan making further changes to the SINP category assessment.
After changes in May 2012, the Minister and officials met with a number of affected stakeholders to discuss concerns. The federal government has again indicated its desire for provincial nominee programs to be economically driven with a focus on labour market demands. With this in mind, the Ministry of the Economy will start formal consultations on possible changes to the Family category of the SINP that will see it rolled into the skilled workers category with the implementation of a points system. These changes will help strike a balance between the needs of the newcomer community and the direction of the Federal Government while ensuring newcomers can maintain family connections. Family members will be eligible under the new system.
The Ministry of the Economy will begin regionally-based and online stakeholder consultations, which will focus on defining the future direction of the SINP. This will include reviewing the current eight classifications to align with the federal government direction and consider other changes to the program to effectively allocate the limited nominations and improve program responsiveness. Consultation outcomes will be announced in August 2013.
“The SINP is one of the most successful provincial immigration programs in Canada,” Boyd said. “In order to continue to offer timely service to Saskatchewan employers and candidates for permanent residency in the province, we must review our program criteria and application streams to modernize the SINP and remain responsive to growing labour market demands.”
To improve program efficiency the SINP will implement application targets. The SINP will accept a maximum number of applications in each category for the remainder of 2013 and continue to process applications currently in inventory. These changes will not impact current processing.
An overview of the SINP category criteria and application thresholds are available online at www.economy.gov.sk.ca/immigrationconsultations.
Stakeholders are encouraged to provide input electronically to SINPconsultation@gov.sk.ca or sent by mail to:
Saskatchewan Immigration Services – Consultations
7th Floor – 1945 Hamilton Street
Regina, SK S4P 2C8
Stakeholder consultations on the existing SINP criteria and the future direction of program eligibility will begin on May 27, 2013. Submissions will be accepted until July 8, 2013.
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For more information, contact:
Deb Young
Economy
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4765
Email: deb.young@gov.sk.ca