The Saskatchewan government will offer up to $200,000 over five years to bring in more emergency medicine specialists, including both specialist physicians and family doctors who complete extra training in emergency medicine.
“By attracting highly sought professionals with specialized skill sets who train here in our province, we are addressing current needs and supporting our physician workforce into the future,” Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said. “This investment reflects our commitment as part of our province’s ambitious Health Human Resources Action Plan to recruit and retain the health professionals we need and enhance access to care for our residents,” he said.
The incentive is available to physicians who have finished their final year of emergency medicine training since June 2024 and are meeting minimum practice requirements in the province, as well as to emergency doctors relocating to Saskatchewan, according to the government. Similar incentive packages of up to $200,000 over five years are also being offered to several hard-to-recruit specialties, such as anaesthesia, psychiatry and certain paediatric subspecialties.
‘Foundation’ of the health-care system
Andrew Will, chief executive officer of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said the province’s health-care teams “are the foundation of Saskatchewan’s health system.” “Their dedication and expertise are essential to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care across the province,” he said. Will added that partnering with educational institutions and health system stakeholders supports recruitment and retention efforts.
Medical residents in their fourth and fifth years of emergency medicine, anaesthesia and diagnostic radiology programs will receive up to $60,000 over two years, or $30,000 per year, if they commit to working in Saskatchewan after graduation, the government said.
The province introduced a separate incentive in September 2024 to attract final-year students in health-related programs who train in other provinces but whose seats were purchased by Saskatchewan. That initiative has resulted in 20 approved applications so far in occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, diagnostic medical sonography and nuclear medicine technology, the government said.
More than 400 IEPs from the Philippines have come to province
The government also provided updates on its broader human resources efforts. Since June 2024, 426 internationally educated health professionals from the Philippines have arrived in Saskatchewan, and 389 are now working in communities across the province, the government said. It reported 378 hard-to-recruit positions have been filled through the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000 over three years. The province said it has nearly met its target of adding 250 new and enhanced permanent full-time positions in high-priority areas for rural and northern staffing needs.
In addition, 46 out of 65 new or enhanced registered nurse positions in rural and remote locations have been filled, 11 new nurse practitioners have been hired since June 2024, and 164 of 181 applications for the Final Clinical Placement Bursary have been approved, the government said. It also reported receiving 146 applications for the Rural Physician Incentive program, with 74 approved for payment and 72 conditionally eligible.
Two respiratory therapists are now practising at the Dr. F. H. Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw and the Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current, according to the government.
