Saskatchewan Seeks to Raise Provincial Nominee Limit

The Government of Saskatchewan has appealed to Federal authorities for the right to raise the amount of immigrants the province receives each year.

Currently, Saskatchewan is allowed to accept 4,000 new immigrants each year through its Provincial Nominee Program. Saskatchewan Immigration Minister Robert Norris has recently been advocating that this cap be raised to 6,000.

“What we’ve said is that we’d like 6,000,” Norris says. “We can handle that. With more than 11,000 jobs open and available today, we see that there are broad-based needs. “

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney stated that raising the cap will not occur until more changes are enacted to bring PNP programs in line with Federal goals.

"Once we've seen improvements in the provincial nominee program and once we've reformed our federal programs, we'll certainly be open to looking at possible further increases to the provincial nominee allocation," Kenney stated.

Despite the current cap, Saskatchewan officials look forward to continuing to welcome new immigrants to live and work in their province.

“We know there are challenges associated with growth,” says Norris. “But those are challenges that we welcome”.