Saskatchewan | Hard-to-Find Skills

There are 5 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Hard-to-Find Skills stream (HFS) if you, your employer, and your job offer satisfy to all the requirements below (remember that for each requirement, you will have to provide supporting documents).

Job offer

To be eligible to apply to the HFS stream, you must have a permanent, full-time job offer from a Saskatchewan employer, in one of the following occupations. You will need a valid SINP Job Approval Letter (your employer needs to apply for one) to show proof of this. 

Note: The occupations in red have reached a cap as of January 11, 2024 and are no longer accepted for this stream – Cap may be lifted after program review in Spring 2024

• NOC 14400 – Shippers and receivers
• NOC 14401 – Storekeepers and partspersons
• NOC 14404 – Dispatchers
• NOC 32109 – Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
• NOC 33102 – Nurse aides, orderlies and patient associates
• NOC 33103 – Pharmacy technical assistants and pharmacy assistants
• NOC 33109 – Other assisting occupations in support of health services
• NOC 44101 – Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations*
• NOC 64314 – Hotel front desk clerks
• NOC 65102 – Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers
• NOC 65200 – Food and beverage servers
• NOC 65201 – Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations
• NOC 65310 – Light duty cleaners
• NOC 65312 – Janitors, caretakers and heavy-duty cleaners
• NOC 73201 – General building maintenance workers and building superintendents
• NOC 73300 – Transport truck drivers
• NOC 73400 – Heavy Equipment operators (except crane)
• NOC 75101 – Material handlers
• NOC 75110 – Construction trades helpers and labourers
• NOC 84120 – Specialized livestock workers and farm machinery operators
• NOC 85100 – Livestock labourers
• NOC 85101 – Harvesting labourers
• NOC 85111 – Oil and gas drilling, servicing and related labourers
• NOC 94105 – Metalworking and forging machine operators
• NOC 94106 – Machining tool operators
• NOC 94120 – Sawmill machine operators
• NOC 94140 – Process control and machine operators, food, beverage and associated processing
• NOC 94141 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
• NOC 94204 – Mechanical assemblers and inspectors
• NOC 94213 – Industrial painters, coaters and Metal finishing process operators
• NOC 95101 – Labourers in Metal fabrication
• NOC 95106 – Labourers in food, beverage and associated Products processing
• NOC 95109 – Other labourers in processing, manufacturing and utilities

* This stream is not available for Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations (NOC 44101) who reside in the client’s residence or their place of work. 

The job offer must offer wages and working conditions that match Canadian standards in that occupation. It must also:

• Be addressed to you,
• State the job title, duties and responsibilities, wage, benefits, and company contact information,
• List the location (i.e. town/city) of your position in Saskatchewan,
• Be issued on the company’s letterhead, and
• Be signed by the employer.

In December 2021, the SINP launched a new International Healthcare Worker Expression of Interest (EOI) Pool. This is a a pre-application form that can be filled by healthcare workers (inside or outside Canada) in order to show their interest in working in Saskatchewan. This pool will be used to match eligible healthcare workers with healthcare sector employers. If the job offer is eligible for this stream, candidates may then apply. The pool is open a list of occupations that can be found here.

From May 2, 2024, some business types and occupations may no longer be eligible for steams that require a job offer. Please check the table below with the details of excluded occupations and possible exceptions.