Over 1,000 Nursing Grads Hired to Saskatchewan

Released on March 7, 2024

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to make significant progress on the goals and initiatives in Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan.

As part of this plan, Saskatchewan is dedicated to making strong investments in programs and initiatives that support the recruitment and retention of nurses in the province.

“Nurses and nurse practitioners are critical to the health of our communities and the future of the health care sector,” Health Minister Everett Hindley said. “We will continue to make significant investments in programs to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more nurses as we build a stronger, more resilient health care system for the people of Saskatchewan.”

To date, nearly 300 hard-to-recruit positions have been filled through the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive which offers up to $50,000 to new employees in nine high-priority health occupations. This incentive is available in 54 rural and remote communities across Saskatchewan. Over 75 per cent of these incentives have been awarded to nurses.

Nursing Training, Recruitment and Retention Updates:

• The provincial government recently expanded the Saskatchewan Loan Forgiveness for Nurses and Nurse Practitioners program to five additional communities. This initiative provides incentives to work in areas of the province with high recruitment needs. Nurses and nurse practitioners who start employment in designated communities may be eligible to receive up to $20,000 of Saskatchewan student loan debt forgiveness. Since the loan forgiveness program began in 2013, more than 550 nurses have received nearly $1.7 million in student loan forgiveness.  
• Since December 2022, 1,002 nursing graduates from Saskatchewan and out-of-province have been hired.
• 235 Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) from the Philippines are in the various stages of their transitioning pathway. Of these IENs, 178 are in Saskatchewan with 73 having commenced employment in communities across the province.

Progress is also being made on several other initiatives in Saskatchewan's HHR Action Plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers.  

Additional HHR Progress Updates:  

• The Final Clinical Placement Bursary, assisting students preparing for a career in health care, continues to draw interest with 180 approved for payment since
  April 1, 2023.
• To date, 223 of the 250 new and enhanced permanent full-time positions targeted in nine high-priority occupations to stabilize staffing in rural and remote areas of the province have now been filled. The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is targeting new graduates and internationally recruited nurses to fill the remaining postings. The SHA expects to have the remaining positions filled before the end of the fiscal year.
• The SHA will advance new mentorship programming; support continuous learning and development pathways; and create additional programming to support employee wellbeing and resiliency.
• Suncrest College will offer a new provincial Diagnostic Medical Sonography Advanced Diploma program in Yorkton beginning this fall. The program will launch with a six-seat intake for      Saskatchewan students wishing to help meet the demand for diagnostic services.

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.

-30-

For more information, contact: