Effective January 1, 2026, the Innovation & Tech Talent stream has 32 eligible occupations instead of 16. More information in the guide below.
For 2026, the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) will allocate nominations based on the applicant’s sector of employment. A minimum of 50% of nominations is reserved for priority sectors, including Healthcare, Agriculture, Skilled Trades, Energy, Mining, Manufacturing, and Technology. Applicants in these sectors benefit from continuous intake, are not limited by work permit expiry timelines, and may apply from within or outside Canada.
A maximum of 25% of nominations will be allocated to capped sectors: Accommodations and Food Services (15%), Trucking (5%), and Retail Trade (5%). Applications in these sectors will only be accepted during scheduled intake windows in January, March, May, July, September, and November. Employers must have an identified candidate with six months or less remaining on their work permit to submit a Job Approval Form. Once sector caps are reached, no further applications may be accepted unless additional nominations are released.
The remaining 25% of nominations will be available to all other non-capped sectors, which are not subject to intake windows or work permit expiry restrictions. Saskatchewan’s initial nomination allocation for 2026 is 4,761, with potential for additional nominations later in the year at IRCC’s discretion. Sector caps and allocations will be reviewed throughout the year and may be adjusted to meet provincial labour market needs.
The guide below takes a deep look into the Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway (ITTP) stream of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP). The guide will go through an overview of the stream, its eligibility requirements, how it works, the documentation needed, its cost and processing times.
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Overview
The Saskatchewan Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway (ITTP) stream requires that the candidate hold a job offer from a Saskatchewan employer and previous work experience in specific tech occupations to be eligible.
When receiving a nomination under the one of the ITTP stream, candidates can then apply for Permanent Residence to the federal government of Canada.
The ITTP stream can be aligned with Express Entry, which means that candidates can take advantage of the 6-month average processing times of Express Entry. Processing times of Provincial Nominee Programs when not using the Express Entry system are usually longer and take at least 1 year.
There are other eligibility requirements that must be fulfilled regarding the candidate and the job offer.
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Eligibility
There are 4 main categories of eligibility requirements that we will summarize below. You can apply to the Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway stream (ITTP) 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 ITTP 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.
- NOC 20012 – Computer and information systems managers
- NOC 21100 – Physicists and astronomers
- NOC 21101 – Chemists
- NOC 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
- NOC 21109 – Other professional occupations in physical sciences
- NOC 21110 – Biologists and related scientists
- NOC 21112 – Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists
- NOC 21211 – Data scientists
- NOC 21220 – Cybersecurity specialists
- NOC 21221 – Business system specialists
- NOC 21222 – Information System specialists
- NOC 21223 – Database analysts and data administrators
- NOC 21230 – Computer systems developers and programmers
- NOC 21231 – Software engineers and designers
- NOC 21232 – Software developers and programmers
- NOC 21233 – Web designers
- NOC 21234 – Web developers and programmers
- NOC 21310 – Electrical and Electronics engineers
- NOC 21311 – Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
- NOC 21320 – Chemical engineers
- NOC 21322 – Metallurgical and materials engineers
- NOC 21330 – Mining engineers
- NOC 21331 – Geological engineers
- NOC 21332 – Petroleum engineers
- NOC 22100 – Chemical technologists and technicians
- NOC 22101 – Geological and mineral technologists and technicians
- NOC 22110 – Biological technologists and technicians
- NOC 22214 – Technological occupations in geomatics and meteorology
- NOC 22220 – Computer network and web technicians
- NOC 22221 – User support technicians
- NOC 22222 – Information systems testing technicians
- NOC 22301 – Mechanical engineering technologists and technicians
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.
Work experience
For Express Entry and non-Express Entry candidates:
- If you are currently working for the employer offering you the job, you must have worked 6 months of full-time (minimum 30h/week) work experience in the job with the employer. The work experience does not need to be consecutive.
- If you have not been working for the employer offering you the job, you must have at least one year of work experience in the job offer occupation within the last five years.
Remote out of Saskatchewan work experience is not eligible to be claimed as in-Saskatchewan work experience.
For Express Entry candidates:
- You must have a valid Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Code, and meet the requirements of the federal program you are applying for (you will need at least one year of work experience to be eligible to the FSW and CEC programs).
Education and training
You must have a post-secondary education that relates to the job you’ve been offered (Master’s or Bachelor’s degree, a three-year degree at a university or college, or a diploma that requires two years at a university, college, trade or technical school, or other post-secondary institution).
For Express Entry candidates, you will need to provide an Educational Credential Assessment (ECA) for non-Canadian education credentials.
If the occupation is in one of the following NOC does, you will need Saskatchewan licensing:
- NOC 21112 – Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists
- NOC 21310 – Electrical and Electronics engineers
- NOC 21311 – Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)
- NOC 21320 – Chemical engineers
- NOC 21322 – Metallurgical and material engineers
- NOC 21330 – Mining engineers
- NOC 21331 – Geological engineers
- NOC 21332 – Petroleum engineers
Language
For non-Express Entry candidates, you must take an approved language test, and demonstrate you have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level of 5 for each language skill, either in French or in English.
For Express Entry candidates, you must meet the requirements of the federal program you are applying for.
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Application Process
For a better understanding of the process, below is a list of the steps involved in obtaining Permanent Residence through the Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway (ITTP) stream.
For Express Entry candidates, they must:
- Meet the eligibility requirements of the federal FSW, FST, or CEC programs.
- Generate their Express Entry profile, and specify their interest in the province by selecting “Saskatchewan” or “All Provinces and Territories”.
- Qualify for the SINP stream eligibility requirements and apply to the ITTP stream by submitting their application through SINP Online (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Accept the Saskatchewan provincial nomination (after the SINP processes their application) within 30 days of receiving it on their Express Entry profile.
- Obtain an additional 600 CRS points in the Express Entry profile, and receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA).
- Apply for permanent residence through their Express Entry profile.
For non-Express Entry candidates, they must:
- Qualify for the SINP stream eligibility requirements and apply to the ITTP stream by submitting their application through SINP Online (filling in forms and uploading required documents).
- Apply for permanent residence to the federal government (IRCC) within 6 months of receiving the nomination (after SINP processes their application). Candidates will need to apply online to IRCC, and include the nomination documents received from the SINP.
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Application Fees
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Processing Times
Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway stream applications are processed on average within 6 weeks, based on the latest estimates (July 1 to September 30, 2025) from the SINP.
An SINP Job Approval Letter is processed within 4 weeks for the Health, Agriculture and Skilled Trades sectors, and 9 weeks for other sectors.
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – Latest News & Data
Saskatchewan | Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway – In-Demand Occupations?
Some streams target specific NOC codes, meaning that if you have experience in those in-demand jobs, you either (i) have more chances to be invited or (ii) that you can be eligible to the stream.
In the case of the Innovation & Tech Talent Pathway stream, there is a list of NOC occupations codes that are targeted by the stream, but a job offer is needed. You can find the list in the Eligibility section above.
You can find out about the other provinces’ in-demand jobs in our in-demand NOC codes article.
