Sixteen more communities, including several in west-central Saskatchewan, are now eligible for the province’s Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive (RRRI) program, expanding the initiative to a total of 70 locations across the province.
The incentive offers up to $50,000 over three years to new, full-time permanent hires in nine high-priority health care roles in rural and remote areas experiencing or at risk of service disruptions due to staffing shortages.
Communities in the West Central region added to the program include Elrose, Kerrobert, and Cut Knife. Other newly eligible communities are Arborfield, Balcarres, Beechy, Candle Lake, Carrot River, Central Butte, Foam Lake, Grenfell, Maryfield, Pinehouse Lake, Raymore, Spiritwood and Wakaw.
West Central communities that were already eligible for the RRRI program include Beechy, Biggar, Kindersley, Leader. Lloydminster, Maidstone, North Battleford, Outlook, Rosetown, Unity and Wilkie.
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“Through these robust recruitment and retention initiatives, we are continuing to stabilize local health care services in rural communities," Saskatchewan Health Authority's Vice President Integrated Rural Health Brenda Schwan said. "The expansion of this incentive will help us provide long-term solutions and ensure support is available to provide appropriate and equitable care as close to home as possible."
Since its launch, the RRRI program has helped fill more than 420 hard-to-recruit positions, with the goal of improving access and stability in rural health care services. Saskatchewan Health Authority Vice President of Integrated Rural Health, Brenda Schwan, said the expansion supports long-term staffing solutions.
The province has allocated $8.7 million to the program for 2025-26, including $1.8 million for a new intake of up to 180 applicants and $6.9 million to support those already in the program.
The RRRI program is part of Saskatchewan’s broader Health Human Resources Action Plan, which also includes initiatives to recruit and retain physicians, specialists and other health professionals across the province. In total, $13 million has been committed to health care recruitment incentives in the upcoming health budget.
Information on eligibility, occupations and how to apply is available at saskatchewan.ca/HHR.