The province of Saskatchewan has called for professionals working in the tech industry. It has launched its new Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program to invite tech workers across the world.
This tech talent pathway is aimed at solving the shortage of tech workers in the city. Through this stream of Canadian permanent residency available for tech professionals, the province would be able to attract more talented professionals which will help in the growth of the province.
The Immigration and Carrer Training Minister, Jeremy Harrison has mentioned how the tech industry will play an important role in reviving the economy post-COVID. Further, this program will be beneficial for the employers of Saskatchewan because it will provide them with a systematic stream to hire skilled professionals.
This will also help in hastening up the immigration procedure for both the workers living within Canada and outside Canada.
The President of SaskTech, Dr. Aaron Genest had spoken about how the Saskatchewan economy is dependent on the ability of the province of welcoming and inhibiting the skilled immigrants in the province. Although this program is competitive for the province it will also benefit by retaining high skilled workers and creating new and innovative inventions that can be further sent out to other countries.
The applicants should meet these below requirements in order to apply for this Tech Talent Pathway
- The applicant should have a valid letter of approval in an employer-specific SINP job under the tech sector.
- The candidate who is not working in Saskatchewan should have at least CLB level 5 in the official language while applying or a CLB level 7 while applying through the Express Entry system.
- The candidate should either have a year experience of working in the required field out of 5 years of working in the province for 180 days.
- Should pass the eligibility for Saskatchewan professional licensing.
- Tertiary education.
The SINP has cleared that the information submitted at the time of application on the government portal will be used even if the criterion gets changed.
It has also mentioned the number of invitations for nominations is set and no guarantee for nomination is promised.
List of eligible occupations
The workers whose occupation falls under the below-mentioned list by NOC code are eligible to apply for this tech talent pathway
- Technicians for information system
- Technicians for customer support
- Technicians for computer networking
- Programmers and media developers
- Software engineers and designers
- Data analysts and administrators
- IT consultants and analytics person
- Desktop engineers
- Electrical engineers
- Electronic engineers
- Managers for IT and desktop
Additional requirements to be eligible
Candidates living external to Canada, or possessing a legit status in the Canadian province except a refugee recognition can apply for this program.
All the candidates either applying through the Express Entry system or SINP for the tech talent pathway have to show a valid job offer of a full-time or part-time job based in Saskatchewan. With that, the candidate has to also attach a valid letter of job approval and their intention of moving and working in Saskatchewan.
Candidates who are applying for the program and reside in Saskatchewan must have full-time work experience for about 6 months and should also be currently working. According to the government, full time refers to working for a minimum of 30 hours each week.
If the candidate does not qualify for the above requirement, then he/she should have a minimum of 1-year of work experience out of 5 working years in the specified occupation.
If the applicant stays outside of the province, he/she should have a minimum of a year experience out of 5 working years in the specified job.
Professionals who are still working will need to meet the language requirement specified by the employer. And if the applicants who are currently unemployed will have to show the language ability with at least CLB 5 in either French or English.
Professionals working as a computer, electrical and software engineers, etc. will need to match the eligibility standards for Saskatchewan licensing.
- The Geoscientists of Saskatchewan and The Association of Professional Engineers granted a letter considering the applicant as an engineer in training.
- A valid letter showing that they have been confirmed for giving the Confirmatory exam.
Additionally, the applicant also requires a tertiary degree showing that complements the job they have applied for. This includes Graduate and postgraduate programs, 3-year degree, 2-year diploma completed at the school or university.
Eligibility criteria for candidates applying through Express Entry stream
Candidates applying to this stream through Express Entry will have a distinct procedure to follow. Applications received through IRCC are preferred for Canadian PR. The ideal processing time is 6 months or less but the IRCC is facing delays due to COVID. The online portal of IRCC will be updated with relevant information in a short duration as said by the immigration minister Sean Fraser.
Following are the eligibility criteria of applicants who are residing external to Canada without refugee recognition applying through Express Entry.
- Have a legit profile number in the Express Entry and a Job Seeker Code
- A valid test of language proficiency that matches the language requirements of the Express Entry system.
The candidate has to qualify the eligibility criteria of other programs that are controlled by the IRCC in order to create a profile in the Express Entry system. The tech worker usually prefers getting qualified through FSWP and CEC. While their least preference is for FSTP.
