Saskatchewan ended October with another big draw for immigration candidates in its Express Entry and Occupation In-Demand sub-categories.

The 858 invitations issued October 31 continued a six-week string of major draws through these popular Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP) pathways, neither of which requires a job offer in Saskatchewan or Canadian work experience in order to be eligible.

The SINP’s Express Entry sub-category is linked to the federal Express Entry system, which manages the pool of candidates for Canada’s three Federal High Skilled immigration categories — the Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class and Canadian Experience Class.

The draws follow the SINP’s adoption of a new approach to the occupations that are considered eligible under the two sub-categories. Both require at least one year of work experience in an in-demand occupation in Saskatchewan that is related to their field of study, among other criteria.

The SINP’s move away from a limited In-Demand Occupations List to an Excluded Occupations List in mid-September dramatically expanded the number of eligible occupations from 19 to more than 200.

The October 31 draw issued invitations to candidates in 58 occupations such as human resource professionals, Information systems analysts and consultants, Database analysts and data administrators, Drafting technologists and technicians, and Aircraft mechanics and aircraft inspectors.