Saskatchewan Delegation Preparing for National Health Care Worker Recruitment

Released on September 7, 2023

Full-Time Permanent Employment Opportunities And Affordable Living To Help Draw New Recruits

The Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency (SHRA) and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) will kick off its first National Health Care Recruitment Tour later this month to promote employment opportunities, benefits and incentives available in the province.

"As part of our recruitment efforts, we will continue to promote our province as the great place it is, offering a lower cost of living, excellent wages and benefits, plus strong health care teams and wonderful communities to join," Health Minister Everett Hindley said. "With the health care career opportunities and incentives in place, there has never been a better time to consider a move to Saskatchewan."  

The newly established SHRA, led by CEO Erin Brady, will be joining SHA recruiters for the first time to meet with health care professionals, students and post-secondary institutions in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland from September 22 to October 6. 

"I look forward to being a part of the team to recruit professionals from various in-demand health-care occupations to meet current and future resourcing needs, as well as showcase Saskatchewan," SHRA CEO Erin Brady said.

Current trends indicate young adults, families and new graduates are interested in moving to or returning to Saskatchewan due to the many advantages the province has to offer including more affordable living, opportunities for full-time employment and higher health care wages. 

Two large career fairs and multiple on- and off-campus meet and greets will be held in Toronto, Montreal, St. John's, Charlottetown and Halifax. Friends or family currently living near these cities are encouraged to register and attend one of these interactive, informative events.

At the one-year milestone since launching Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan in September 2022 to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers, progress continues to be made in key areas.

"The HHR Action Plan announced one year ago has achieved remarkable success with hundreds of new hires coming onboard that will serve to bolster and strengthen our current and future workforce," Mental Health and Addictions Minister Tim McLeod said. "Saskatchewan is a place of great opportunity with hundreds more educational training seats added; financial loans, bursaries and scholarships available to students; competitive incentive packages for rural and remote locations, and many other avenues to build on your health care career."

HHR Progress Update Highlights

• New nursing pathway improvements have now taken effect for Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) to accelerate timeframes and offer more options and supports for overseas nurses. The first cohort of 25 IENs for the Transition to Registered Nursing in Canada (TRNC) 14-week pathway started in late August.
• To date, 411 conditional offers have been extended to IENs. A total of 119 IENs are now involved in the bridging program, which includes the 25 that began the shorter pathway. 
  • 85 IENs from the Philippines and nine local IENs are active in the nine-month bridging program. 
  • 15 of these IENs arrived in Saskatchewan since July and are in various stages of clinical bridging. Once clinical training is complete, these RNs will be eligible for licensure and ready to begin working in Saskatchewan's health system.                 
• 168 individuals, including IENs and Internationally Educated Health Care Professionals, have registered interest in pursuing their respective licensure pathway. Of those, 148 have initiated specific action plans and are in various stages of their licensure pathway. 
• 19 Continuing Care Aids (CCA) and two Medical Lab Assistants from the Philippines are working in communities across the province with an additional CCA planning to come to Saskatchewan this fall.
• New nursing grads hired from Saskatchewan and out-of-province since December 2022 are now at 637 hires.
• The Final Clinical Placement Bursary continues to see interest with five new applications this week, for a total of 143 applications received since April 1, 2023. The deadline to apply for this training incentive is September 30.
• The Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000 is seeing success with 137 incentives conditionally approved to date in 54 communities. 
• For the 250 new and enhanced position postings, there have been 196 hires. These positions are targeted to stabilize staffing in rural and remote areas of the province.
• The SHA presented at Ukrainian Congress on August 29 to discuss employment opportunities with newcomers.

Details on health care opportunities, how to access them and more information on the province's HHR Action Plan are available at saskatchewan.ca/HHR.

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