July 16, 2018, marked as the first day of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program’s new Expression of Interest System for its Express Entry and Occupation sub-categories. Unlike the first-come, first-serve model, which accepted an allotted number of applications; the new EOI system is accessible to anyone who meets the eligibility requirement.

The new system will provide an opportunity to people who wish to compete for Provincial Nomination through many sub-categories wherein they don’t require a job offer in order to become eligible. This comes as welcoming news for interested candidates with lower CRS scores as there is no such minimum CRS score requirement in Saskatchewan’s EOI system. Anyone eligible for the Express Entry pool can submit an Expression of Interest and this can help them to obtain an Invitation to Apply if they have work experience in one of the targeted list of occupations in-demand. However, candidates who receive an Invitation to Apply through the EOI system will have 60 days to submit their application.

This model is far more user-friendly compared to the previous first-come, first-serve model, which usually opens for only a few hours.  Sixty days to apply is a lot longer than 60 minutes.