Saskatchewan To Nominate 42% More Canada Immigration Candidates In Three Years

Colin Singer
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Saskatchewan To Nominate 42% More Canada Immigration Candidates In Three Years

Saskatchewan Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison is hoping to boost the number of nominations through its Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) by 42 per cent over the next three years.

This year, Saskatchewan’s allocation for its Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is the biggest in its history, 7,250 nominations, and is expected to result in about 18,000 newcomers to the province in 2023.

By 2025, that SINP allocation is expected to swell to 8,500.

In the wake of the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration in Halifax earlier this month, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) agreed to cut red tape in the processing of SINP nominations and give the province sole authority over assessing a candidate’s ability to live in Saskatchewan. 

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The IRCC also agreed to up Saskatchewan’s annual allocation of provincial nominees.

“I am pleased to see that our proposal for a significant increase in our SINP allocation has been accepted by the government of Canada,” said Harrison. 

“Saskatchewan is seeing record-high population growth numbers and immigration to the province has played a significant role in that. We are well on our way to our goal of 1.4 million residents by 2030.”

At the forum of immigration ministers, Harrison and his counterpart in the federal government also discussed federal settlement funding. The province wants to have control of those funds which are spent to help immigrants settle within Saskatchewan.

Prairie Province Wants More Immigrants To Fill Jobs Going Begging For A Lack Of Workers

In July last year, the province put forth its Saskatchewan Immigration Accord, modelled after a similar deal between Ottawa and Quebec, which contains measures to give the province more autonomy over immigration. 

Under the accord, Saskatchewan would set its own immigration levels, select skilled immigrants aligned with labour market needs, re-establish a family class immigration stream and gain control over the design and delivery of settlement and integration services.

“Saskatchewan needs more workers to fill job vacancies in all sectors of the economy,” said Jason Aebig, chief executive officer of the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce.

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“Federal immigration programs and settlement services are not meeting the needs of Saskatchewan’s labour market. We are calling on the federal government to speed up the negotiation process of the Saskatchewan Immigration Accord, enabling Saskatchewan the freedom to dictate immigration levels and deliver services that best support newcomer retention and integration.”

There were more than 15,600 job vacancies in Saskatchewan posted on the provincial job board, SaskJobs, and the federal job-hunting website, Jobbank, and there are a total of 135,800 job openings forecast to be created in Saskatchewan over the next five years.

Alberta is Also Bullish On Immigration To Resolve Labour Shortages

Saskatchewan’s announced upcoming boom in PNP allocations comes less than a month after its neighbour, Alberta, made a similar announcement. 

In early March, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the number of nominations through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program (AAIP) is expected to soar by almost 67 per cent over the next three years.

“Alberta is still calling,” Smith wrote on her LinkedIn page.

“Right now there are over 100,000 job vacancies to fill in Alberta. We need more skilled workers to keep our economy firing on all cylinders!”

Alberta, like Saskatchewan, has also been given the green light to increase its immigration under the AAIP to 9,750 nominations in 2023 and it expects to receive 10,140 nominations in 2024 and 10,849 nominations in 2025, substantial increases from the 6,500 allowed in last year.

“Alberta needs more immigrants,” said Alberta Immigration Minister Rajan Sawhney in a statement. “We need them to help grow our communities, address labour shortages in key sectors and help continue Alberta’s economic success.”

Canada Helps Immigrant Women Get Tech Jobs With $1.1m Investment

Colin Singer
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0
Canada Helps Immigrant Women Get Tech Jobs With $1.1m Investment

Canada is helping minority, immigrant women get jobs in the information technology sector by investing $1.1 million into the Racialized Newcomer Women Pilot (RNWP) program at the Vancouver YWCA over two years.

“Racialized newcomer women face significant challenges in entering the workforce,” claims Marie-France Lalonde, parliamentary secretary to the immigration minister.

“We are working to break down these barriers to ensure all immigrants can work in jobs that align with their skills and experience,” she says. “Programs like Tech Connect are taking important steps to combat gender and race-based discrimination, giving women important opportunities to reach their fullest potential.”

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Under the RNWP, which had already received a pledge a year ago of more than $15 million over two years starting in 2021, organizations are funded to deliver programs to address the alleged barriers faced by racialized newcomer women. Those perceived barriers include purported gender and race-based discrimination, unstable employment, and lack of affordable childcare.

The Vancouver YWCA is only one of many organizations offering programs through the RNWP.

“We are delighted to receive a two-year extension of the YWCA Tech Connect employment program from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (IRCC),” said Erin Seeley, chief executive officer of YWCA Metro Vancouver.

“This grant will enable our program to support more newcomer women to secure rewarding careers in the tech industry.”

Women Who Immigrated From 128 Countries Were Offered RNWP Services In 2019 – 2020

During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, more than 2,500 women who had immigrated from 128 countries participated in activities related to the RNWP. Most of them were between 25 and 54 years old and had lived in Canada for less than five years.

“Canada can only reach its full potential if everyone in it reaches theirs,” said then-Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino in 2019. “These important projects will help racialized newcomer women lay the cornerstone of success: finding a good, well-paying job.

“This is both the right thing to do for our society and the smart thing to do for our economy. By breaking down barriers faced by racialized newcomer women, we’re helping them make even greater contributions to their communities and country.”

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The funding announced earlier this month and last year for the pilot program is in addition to the $31.9 million committed by the federal government in 2018.

The RNWP, previously called the Visible Minority Newcomer Women Pilot, attempts to help immigrant minority women land jobs in IT by:

  • continuing relationships with non-traditional organizations and recipients to develop new approaches to increase employment opportunities for these women, and;
  • testing and evaluating the effectiveness of employment-related services for racialized newcomer women through ongoing service delivery.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrant women who had recently arrived in the country were the most likely to lose their jobs, Statistics Canada figures reveal.

Natural And Applied Sciences Fields Were Top Jobs For Canada Express Entry 2022

Colin Singer
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Natural And Applied Sciences Fields Were Top Jobs For Canada Express Entry 2022

The latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals professionals working in natural and applied sciences were the most likely to land jobs in Canada and get permanent residence through Express Entry last year.

In 2022, a year which saw Express Entry draws put on hold for more than six months, the number of people who got their permanent residence in Canada through the Federal Skilled Trades (FST), Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) programs fell by 25.4 per cent, from 155,850 in 2021 to only 116,230. 

Despite the drop in those getting permanent residence through Express Entry programs last year, those programs still helped 81.9 per cent more foreign nationals to immigrate to Canada than the 63,890 in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Last year’s performance for the Express Entry programs was also just a bit over six per cent more than the 109,600 new permanent residents to Canada under these programs in 2019, before the start of the pandemic. 

By far the most sought-after occupation offered by employers looking to hire foreign nationals through the Express Entry system in 2022 were those professional occupations in the natural and applied sciences, categorized in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) under the code 41400. Last year, 14,505 new permanent residents to Canada used these programs to fill such jobs.

Canada Accepted 6,185 Candidates In Business And Finance Fields

In the number two spot of the top 10 most popular jobs for foreign nationals coming to Canada under the Express Entry programs last year were those professional jobs in business and finance, which attracted 6,185 applicants.

There were 5,475 service supervisors and specialized service occupations filled through the Express Entry system last year, 5,230 administrative and financial supervisory and administrative positions, and 5,130 specialized middle management occupations. 

Canada welcomed 3,390 new permanent residents filling jobs in the technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences, 2,980 retail sales supervisors, 2,845 pros in the educational field, and 2,185 who went to work in law or social and community and government services.

There were 2,180 middle managers in retail and wholesale trade and customer service workers who came to Canada under Express Entry last year.

Here Are The Top 10 Jobs Under Express Entry In 2022

Occupation – NOC code Number of Admissions under Express Entry
Professional occupations in natural and applied sciences (NOC 41400) 14,505
Professional occupations in business and finance (NOC 00012) 6,185
Service supervisors and specialized service occupations (NOC 72011) 5,475
Administrative and financial supervisors and administrative occupations (NOC 10019) 5,230
Specialized middle management occupations (NOC 11201) 5,130
Technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences (NOC 22310) 3,390
Retail sales supervisors and specialized sales occupations (NOC 62010) 2,980
Professional occupations in education services (NOC 40012) 2,845
Professional occupations in law and social, community and government services (NOC 41300) 2,185
Middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services  (NOC 10022) 2,180

Express Entry program applications dropped last year due to a temporary pause in these draws which started in mid-September 2021 and lasted until July 6 last year as the IRCC tackled a growing backlog of applications.

IRCC Now Has Enough Staff To Process Applications In A Timely Manner

In its bid to reduce that backlog, Ottawa pumped an extra $85 million into the IRCC last year to reduce application processing times, hired 500 new employees, digitized applications, and implemented technology-based solutions such as digital intake and advanced analytics.

Earlier this year, Canadian parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux reported that the IRCC now has more than enough staff to meet its application processing goals for the next three years.

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“Current staffing levels at the IRCC are expected to be more than sufficient to meet the processing time goal for all years of this costing,” noted Giroux in a report.

“In fact, for 2022 – 23, IRCC is estimated to have 65 per cent more staff than would be required to meet the goal. This percentage will decline each year as the number of applications increases, ultimately reaching four per cent in 2026 – 27.”

With the backlog of applications at the IRCC already starting to come under control in July last year, the IRCC began  issuing Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to skilled worker candidates both already in the country and from overseas. Since the fall 2021, ITAs had been issued only to Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidates.

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