REGINA — Opposition New Democrats went on the offensive again Tuesday on the province's allocations under the Saskatchewan Immigration Nomination Program.
At a news conference at the Legislature, NDP Immigration critic Noor Burki called for a “fair deal” on SINP allocations from Ottawa to “reach to our full potential.” He also was critical of the Sask Party government’s handling of the issue.
“It's ironic that although Premier Scott Moe and his ministers branded themselves as fighting for Saskatchewan against Ottawa, they can't get a fair deal,” said Burki.
Burki was reacting to the recent news that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had approved an increase in the province’s allocation under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program of an additional 1,136 nominations for 2025, boosting the total from 3,625 to 4,761.
But Burki felt the increase was not enough. He pointed to New Brunswick securing an extra 1,500 nominations for their program under their deal.
He also pointed to Manitoba having secured a two-year extension for work permits in that province, while “Saskatchewan has still failed to do so.”
Burki also pointed to sluggish provincial population growth, noting that according to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan’s population growth in the second quarter of 2025 was the lowest since the pandemic. The second quarter population stood at 1,253,569, a gain of 2,660.
He also said Saskatchewan has lost over 54,000 people through net inter-provincial migration since Premier Moe took office in 2018.
“Losing people to other provinces for 28 consecutive quarters. Friends, this is not how we built a bright future for Saskatchewan,” said Burki.
“Failing to secure fair treatment on immigration puts our province's future at risk, especially since our population growth has stalled and we lose thousands of people to other provinces each and every year. We must fix this. We need a better deal with Ottawa on immigration. We need a provincial government that actually does its jobs and focuses on building a bright future for Saskatchewan.”
Burki was asked by reporters about the effect this might have on post-secondary students wanting to come to study in our province. He noted a number of students were at the Legislature during the session who were protesting the situation.
“They were looking for (a) work permit extension and they were looking for hope to call this place home. We heard that from them a lot, loud and clear,” said Burki.
As for what he would like to see in a better deal, he pointed again to New Brunswick’s allocation and said “I think we deserve not only 1,100, we should do more.” He also cited the need to attract immigrants for economic growth.
As for why this disparity with other provinces is happening, Burki thought the provincial government has been slow in responding to the issue.
“Well, this government, they should have to be taking action at the time when it was needed,” said Burki. He said Manitoba’s work permit extension happened “a few months ago, like almost four or five months ago. And New Brunswick, they did before us as well.”
Burki also said they had heard from many businesses of immigrants finding opportunities in other provinces and leaving, and that those businesses are struggling.
“If we are not providing workers to the business, eventually they will be shutting down the business, and we don't want that. Then it's not economically better for our province as well.”
Province responds
The Sask Party government provided a statement in response to the NDP news conference in which they noted that they have been "continually advocating for an increase to the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program allocation since the federal government announced cuts to all provincial nominee programs earlier this year."
"As a result of our government’s continued efforts Saskatchewan has recently received an additional 1,136 nominations for 2025, which represents a 31 per cent increase from our initial allocation and 11 per cent of the total additional allocations distributed to provinces and territories."
The province also noted that Saskatchewan received this additional allocation with no strings attached, while other provinces, such as New Brunswick "received additional nominations by agreeing to support federal humanitarian initiatives and accept asylum claimants over the next two years."
The province stated:
"Asylum claimants, historically, have a significantly lower level of attachment to the labour market than traditional economic migrants and require significant provincial supports. Our government does not believe that Saskatchewan citizens should bear the cost of solving an asylum crisis created by the federal government.
"First and foremost, the Government of Saskatchewan works to ensure that Saskatchewan residents are the first to benefit from the jobs created by our strong and growing economy. Immigration is used to fill gaps in the labour market that cannot be filled by local Saskatchewan workers. With the lowest unemployment rate among provinces and one of the highest recorded job vacancy rates among provinces, significant job openings exist that cannot be filled by Saskatchewan residents."
