Canadian province of Saskatchewan seeks special immigration independence

At the beginning of August 2022, the Saskatchewan government issued a statement that it was seeking greater control over its immigration system.

The announcement came on the same day that Saskatchewan Immigration Minister Jeremy Harrison attended a meeting in New Brunswick with other Canadian immigration ministers, including his federal counterpart Sean Fraser.

The most important outcome of the meeting was the ministers’ agreement to develop a multi-year PNP allocation plan by March 31, 2023. This would allow each province and territory to allocate PNP funds over three years, which would help them plan ahead to support their economic development goals.

A number of provinces say such efforts are still not enough to promote local economic development.

Saskatchewan is asking for a new bilateral immigration agreement with the federal government, similar to the one Quebec has. Because of its unique French-speakingness in Canada, the province of Quebec has the most control over the immigration system of all ten Canadian provinces and three territories. Under the Canada-Quebec Agreement signed in 1991, the province has the power to set its own levels of immigration, to select all economic class immigrants, to control the admission of temporary residents, and to have a say over classes of families and refugees.

Saskatchewan is currently allocating 6,000 principal applicants for 2022, but the province believes that 13,000 places would be a fair number, as it is Saskatchewan’s proportionate share of all immigration to Canada.