This article originally appeared in the Government of Saskatchewan website on March 20, 2024.

In 2024-25, the Government of Saskatchewan is investing $793 million in the province’s post-secondary sector, representing a 3.7 per cent increase from the previous year. This year’s budget provides for increased funding within the multi-year agreement, health training programs and seat expansions, and capital for key infrastructure projects.

“Our government is focused on ensuring that sustainable funding, programs and opportunities are in place for Saskatchewan’s post-secondary students,” Advanced Education Minister Gordon Wyant said. “This will deliver a future workforce that is responsive to the needs of our rapidly growing province and economy.”

Saskatchewan is providing a one-time, $12.0 million increase to its current multi-year funding agreement with post-secondary institutions, representing a 2.2 per cent increase in operating funding. This increase will help institutions remain responsive to the needs of students, communities and the labour market. The 2024-25 Budget represents the fourth and final year of this historic multi-year funding agreement and sets the foundation for negotiating a new agreement.

The Ministry of Advanced Education continues to expand health training programs in support of Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resources Action Plan. This budget includes $3.5 million in new funding to create 66 additional training seats in programs for Registered Nurses, Registered Psychiatric Nurses and other hard to recruit health care professions.

A further $7.9 million will support continued implementation of the significant seat expansions in high demand health training programs announced previously. Some programs include Licensed Practical Nursing, Medical Laboratory Assistant, Continuing Care Assistant, Primary Care Paramedic, Pharmacy Technician, Clinical Psychologist, Physical Therapist, and Mental Health and Addictions Counsellor. This budget also supports the continued expansion of eight Undergraduate Medical Education seats, providing $1.4 million toward training future physicians in the province.

In addition, government is providing funding to develop new opportunities for students to train in health sciences programs in Saskatchewan. Approximately $11.4 million will be invested to create Saskatchewan-based Occupational Therapy, Speech Language Pathology, Respiratory Therapy and Physician Assistant programs.

More than $19.8 million in operating grants directly supports Indigenous post-secondary education, including targeted funding to increase Indigenous student recruitment, retention, engagement and achievement. Indigenous Language Teacher Education Programs and Indigenous language scholarships are also receiving funding to support the preservation and revitalization of Indigenous languages in the province.

Saskatchewan students will see new supports for their post-secondary education. Students will benefit directly from $46.5 million in financial supports, including a new grant for low-income students with dependents under age 12 (or over 12 with a permanent disability). Other key student supports include $34.4 million for the Student Aid Fund, which provides repayable and non-repayable financial assistance to more than 22,000 students each year; and $12.2 million for scholarships and bursaries.

Students will continue to receive benefits after their studies through the Graduate Retention Program, which provides up to $20,000 in tax credits to post-secondary graduates who live and work in Saskatchewan. To date, more than 81,600 graduates have benefited from this program.

Saskatchewan’s post-secondary institutions will receive approximately $724.0 million in operating and capital grants, including:

• $492.7 million to the University of Saskatchewan, University of Regina and federated and affiliated colleges;
• $193.8 million to Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies, and Gabriel Dumont Institute/Dumont Technical Institute; and
• $37.1 million to Saskatchewan’s regional colleges.

Key capital investments include:

• $610,000 for the Student Health Centre Expansion at the University of Regina;
• $8.7 million for electrical and mechanical upgrades at the University of Saskatchewan;
• $7.8 million to support implementation of three new domestic programs at the University of Saskatchewan: Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Language Pathology;
• $6.3 million for cooling tower replacement at the University of Regina;
• $6.0 million toward Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Saskatoon Campus Renewal project; and
• $2.6 million for continued and new expansions in health human resource programs.

In total, Saskatchewan has invested approximately $14.4 billion in post-secondary institutions and student supports since 2007.

SAC is pleased that the Saskatchewan Provincial Government recognizes the need for additional post-secondary seats, but we continue to advocate for an in-province S-LP and audiology program.

This article originally appeared on the Saskatchewan website on August 3, 2023.

The Government of Saskatchewan continues to incentivize health care training opportunities for Saskatchewan students and graduates as a main pillar of the four-point Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan.

The 2023-24 academic year will increase access to educational opportunities for students interested in a healthcare career by providing approximately 550 new training seats in 18 high-demand health occupations, an expansion announced earlier this year. This initiative builds upon the addition of 150 nursing seats announced in 2022.

“Saskatchewan is a great place to train and build a career in health care,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said. “As we prepare for the upcoming school year, our government continues to prioritize enhancing opportunities to train more healthcare professionals here at home and help them succeed.”

New training opportunities are being offered to Indigenous students including a Phlebotomy (blood collection) Program and an Indigenous Birth Support Worker Program now available at Gabriel Dumont Institute. Further, the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies is offering more seats in 2023 for the Health Care Aid Program in Prince Albert.

The College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan recently announced expanding the upcoming fall 2023 intake of medical students to the undergraduate program by four seats. This will increase the total number of seats from 100 to 104, with further plans to reach 108 seats next year.

Financial supports are available to domestic students and graduates pursuing a career in health care, including forgivable loans, bursaries and recruitment incentives to stay in Saskatchewan following graduation.

The Final Clinical Placement Bursary program available to students in eligible health disciplines has seen a high uptake, with 100 bursaries approved since April. Applications are open until September 30, 2023.

Training bursaries were recently announced for students and new graduates of paramedic programs who commit to joining Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Saskatchewan.

Additional educational opportunities include seats secured through interprovincial training agreements. Saskatchewan students will be able to access 15 seats at the University of Alberta in the Speech-Language Pathology program and four seats secured at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in the Environmental Public Health program.

Work is ongoing on multiple initiatives of Saskatchewan’s HHR Action Plan to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more healthcare workers with progress being made in key areas.

HHR Progress Update Highlights

• The Saskatchewan Health Authority has had great success connecting with nursing students and recent graduates to promote employment opportunities. Since December 2022, the SHA has hired more than 560 new graduates from the province and across Canada.
• Almost 170 positions are now filled of the 250 new and enhanced permanent full-time positions targeted to stabilize staffing in rural and remote areas of the province.
• The Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive of up to $50,000 available to new employees in nine high-priority classifications in 53 rural and remote areas continues to see much interest, with nearly 140 incentives conditionally approved to date.
• In late August, Saskatchewan will begin implementing an accelerated, streamlined pathway for internationally-educated nurses that shortens licensure timeframes from months to 14 weeks.
• Nurse recruits from abroad will be supported through the process, from recruitment to their work placements and settlement in a new community.
• The first 10 of the 400 Registered Nurses (RNs) with conditional offers from the Philippines arrived in Saskatchewan in July and are participating in clinical training. Once clinical training is complete these RNs will be eligible for licensure and ready to begin working in Saskatchewan’s health system.
• Nineteen Continuing Care Assistants (CCAs) and two Medical Laboratory Assistants (MLAs) from the Philippines arrived earlier in 2023 and are working in communities across the province, particularly rural and remote locations.

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.