Hundreds of Filipino nurses committed to joining Sask. workforce, ministry says

Saskatchewan is taking steps to add more nurses and health-care workers to the provincial workforce, and a recent recruitment mission to the Philippines has brought some success.

Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan’s health minister. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

According to the Ministry of Health, the province’s second in-person recruitment mission to the Philippines last month saw 236 more conditional job offers extended to registered nurses, bringing the total number of Filipino RNs committed to working in Saskatchewan up to 398.

For a week, the ministry said, representatives from the Saskatchewan Health Authority conducted interviews in Manila and Cebu, meeting with several hundred potential candidates interested in working in Saskatchewan.

The ministry said the 162 Filipino RNs who received conditional job offers in December are currently moving through the “RN Pathway,” which involves language training, education bridging and licensing.

Health Minister Paul Merriman said the international recruitment trips have been fruitful for the province.

“The second recruitment mission to the Philippines expanded on the success of our first mission last year by following up with many interested and qualified candidates that our Saskatchewan team had connected with,” Merriman said in a statement.

“Between the two missions, the SHA has extended nearly 400 conditional job officers to qualified Filipino RNs who are committed to working in Saskatchewan.”

The recruitment missions are part of the government’s Health Human Resources Action Plan, which aims to address Saskatchewan’s shortage of health-care workers, particularly in rural areas of the province. The recent provincial budget saw nearly $100 million allocated toward the plan.

Everett Hindley, minister for rural and remote health, said the efforts and investments are already paying off.

“Our aggressive Health Human Resources Action Plan is delivering results in rural and northern communities across our province,” Hindley said in a statement.

“We are continuing to make record investments to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more doctors, nurses, lab techs and other health-care professionals in Saskatchewan.”