After closing nominations for certain sectors in June, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has now approved an additional 1,136 nominations for 2025 to be allotted through the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP). Further, 25% of these additional nominations will go to the trucking, accommodations, food services and retail trade sectors, which were previously closed for nominations.
Despite this welcome increase, which now amounts to a total of 4,761 nominations for 2025, the number remains significantly reduced from previous years. SINP, which was dramatically changed in March 2025 to remove eligibility from some industries while capping nominations in the hospitality, food services, retail trade and trucking industries to 25% of total nominations, is reporting its lowest numbers since 2009.
Background on provincial immigration programs
The provinces, in partnership with the federal government, work in collaboration to run provincial immigration programs which allow the provinces to nominate individuals for permanent residency based on their ability to fill province-specific immigration needs. Examples of these programs include the BC Provincial Nominee Program, the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program, and SINP. Each year, the federal government allots each provincial program a certain number of nominations to be distributed amongst applicants across the province. However, as part of the increased restrictions on immigration introduced in recent years, nomination allocations to the provinces have been significantly reduced. The federal government has reduced nominations numbers for all provinces, with each provincial nomination program being cut by 50%. This reduction has been applied equally across all provinces. However, pressure on these provincial programs has recently been somewhat relieved, with Ottawa loosening restrictions and providing additional nominations to each of these programs.
Curbed nomination allocation numbers have been particularly felt across western Canada. From 2024 to 2025, SINP was reduced from 8,000 nominations to just 4,000. In Manitoba, the reduction was from 9,500 to 4,750. Alberta saw their numbers reduced from 9,942 to 4,875. Finally, British Columbia's allocation went from 8,000 to 4,000. With Canadian employers increasingly relying on the foreign workforce to fill labour market gaps, these changes are quite substantial.
Understanding SINP
SINP is Saskatchewan's provincial permanent residency nominee program. Its purpose is to provide a path for foreign workers living and working in Saskatchewan to obtain permanent residency and address labour shortages. With employer support, foreign workers in certain occupations can apply to be "nominated" by the province for permanent residency. They can then use this nomination to make a permanent residency application, as well as an application for further temporary working status while their permanent residency application processes.
SINP plays a critical role in supporting Saskatchewan's growing economy and labour needs, with more than 90% of Saskatchewan's economic immigration being facilitated through the program.
In reference to Saskatchewan, the provincial government has implemented allocation capacity within SINP to ensure strategic distribution of nominations across various economic sectors. The rationale behind these limitations is to help ensure sectors that have historically received a disproportionate number of nominations allow other high-priority sectors to benefit from the program as well.
Nomination allotment impacts
Reductions to provincial nominee program allocations in 2025 by the federal government has required Saskatchewan to adapt their SINP intake strategy to continue to meet the province's labour market needs as best they can while remaining within increasing constraints on temporary residence in Canada. Although this is the case, employers may now be able to enjoy a small sigh of relief as some capacity is added to the 2025 nomination budget. Employers should act quickly to ensure their workforce and business can benefit from these changes, and to continue securing long-term labour stability through assisting their foreign workers in obtaining permanent residency.
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