The Saskatchewan government introduced the Hard-To-Fill Skills Pilot initiative on 25 November to meet acute labour supply and recruitment issues in the province. The new program will operate as a pilot under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) which will provide a low-skill immigration track comparable to that of the SINP International Worker – Employment Offer Stream.
The Pilot will specifically target low-skilled occupations in the province that are difficult to fill.
Trades support, farming, hospitality, health care, and retail will be the emphasis of the Pilot. The Government of Saskatchewan’s Backgrounder contains a complete list of the Pilot’s qualifying occupations. Because this is an employer-driven stream, foreign workers must have an official job offer and a SINP job permission letter before being accepted into the Pilot.
Eligibility Requirements of the Program
According to the present phrasing, the Pilot will give companies access to worldwide workers who are not already residing in Saskatchewan and have no prior work experience in Canada. Employers who already have qualifying low-skill workers in Saskatchewan will have new alternatives to keep them and prevent a revolving door of Labour Market Impact Assessments.
Applicants for the Hard-to-Fill Skills Pilot program must meet the following requirements:
- Have a job offer that is full-time and permanent.
- Have a SINP job letter of approval from a registered Saskatchewan employer for an eligible occupation.
- Meet a minimal level of proficiency in a Canadian Official Language.
- Meet the minimal educational and work experience criteria, which include at least one year of experience in the same occupation as the job offer or six months in that position in Saskatchewan.
Employers who want to participate in the program must be able to show the following:
- They have made a concerted effort to employ domestically for the role before implementing the program.
- There is a need and a benefit to their organization.
- They have met particular conditions for providing relocation assistance to the workers.
In many circumstances, low-skilled foreign workers who have formed a business in the United States do not have access to permanent status.
Furthermore, firms facing labour shortages for some low-skilled jobs do not have accessibility to a consistent labour pool. If successful, this Pilot will relieve employer labour pressures while also offering foreign nationals a path to permanent residency in the province.
The pilot program will begin in December 2021.
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