Saskatchewan has been hard at work to develop a response plan for the healthcare shortage in the province. 

One key factor in filling the gap was the recruitment of qualified employees from overseas. 

As a part of the Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan, a recruitment mission, led by Saskatchewan’s Health Minister, Paul Merriman, was recently overseen in the Philippines. 

In total, 161 job offers were made to Filipino healthcare workers;138 Registered Nurses, 21 Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) and two Medical Lab Assistants.  

One CCA from the Philippines has already started working in Moose Jaw. 

Conditional employment offers were made by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) to 129 qualified candidates from in-person interviews. This includes 128 Registered Nurses and one Continuing Care Assistant. 

Additional interviews were conducted virtually with Filipino Registered Nurses, resulting in another ten conditional offers being extended. 

"Our government is committed to strengthening and building a more robust healthcare workforce in Saskatchewan, and it's critical that we work closely with our partners here in Saskatchewan and overseas to ensure progress continues," Health Minister Paul Merriman stated in a provincial press release. "I want to thank Mr. Zaldy Patron, the Consul-General of the Philippines to Canada, for his continued leadership with this initiative. I look forward to seeing more of our ambitious plans followed up with actions in the New Year."   

Eligibility for the Saskatchewan Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000 was also recently extended to provide more opportunities for healthcare professionals. 

The incentive is available to new employees in nine high-priority positions in rural and remote areas, including SHA employees who have completed an education program in one of these priority classifications. 

"Our plan is delivering on what we have been hearing from front-line health care workers," Minister of Rural and Remote Health Everett Hindley said. "They wanted to see more permanent jobs, more full-time work and we are seeing progress in many centres across Saskatchewan by bolstering resources. I'm pleased our Rural and Remote Incentive is generating a lot of interest, and I look forward to more progress in this area." 

Through this initiative, the SHA has hired 84 positions.  

As of December 9, 24 more positions are in the hiring process and 55 are posted. Approximately 75 per cent of these positions have been filled by casual, temporary or part-time staff. 

As of late November, the Ministry of Health has received over 600 applications from internationally educated healthcare workers within Saskatchewan and Canada.  

Options are being considered for bridging and educational programs for these candidates. 

Further details on the action plan are available on the government’s website.