CANADA, November 24 - Released on November 24, 2022

Saskatchewan Delegation Heads to the Philippines on Health-Care Recruitment Mission 

The Ministry of Health, Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) and partners continue to advance key initiatives under the four pillars of Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources Action Plan. As part of active recruitment efforts, a delegation is heading to Manila, Philippines tomorrow on a five-day mission to actively promote Saskatchewan's health care employment opportunities. 

Minister Merriman will lead the delegation and will be joined by government officials and representatives from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, Saskatchewan's two universities and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.  

"I am honoured to lead Saskatchewan's delegation on this important mission that builds on our province's strong and meaningful relationship with the Philippines," Minister of Health Paul Merriman said. "I look forward to connecting with leadership within the Philippine government and discussing how we can work together in health care and other areas. I'm also looking forward to meeting members of Saskatchewan's future health care workforce as our government works to strengthen health services across the province.

The minister will participate in targeted meetings with key officials from a number of partner agencies to reinforce the province's important relationship with the Philippines and explore innovative opportunities to strengthen the partnership. The mission will also advance long-term collaboration and exchanges between Saskatchewan and Philippine post-secondary institutions on curriculum, alignment of nurse training programs and the development of pathways to fast-track Filipino health sciences graduates into the Saskatchewan labour market. 

Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources (HHR) Action Plan continues to make progress in a number of important areas under the four pillars to recruit, train, incentivize and retain more health care workers in the province.

Recruit

• Mission to the Philippines, November 28 - December 2:
• The in-person mission will focus on recruitment of qualified health care workers including registered nurses, continuing care assistants and other high priority professions. 
• The delegation will host a series of information sessions for hundreds of Filipino health care workers interested in moving to Saskatchewan. Sessions will assist potential recruits with the licensing and regulatory process, immigration process, relocation supports and other information. 
• The SHA will conduct in-person interviews with the goal of extending conditional job offers to qualified candidates. 
• An interactive web page https://www.saskatchewan.ca/HHR-Philippines dedicated to the mission has generated a high level of interest among a Philippine audience. About 3,000 applications have been received for information sessions and over 1600 registrations have been confirmed to attend the information sessions. 
• Four Ukrainian newcomers have been hired into the health care workforce. 
• 20 offers have been extended by the SHA to candidates from the Philippines for Continuing Care Assistant positions and two for Medical Lab Assistant positions. 
• 70 Registered Nurse (RN) candidates from the Philippines have begun the process to join Saskatchewan's workforce. An additional 40 Filipino applicants are working through the process with the assistance of Saskatchewan experts and officials. 
• A Navigator has been hired to assist internationally educated health care workers with potential career opportunities, settlement and orientation. Three more navigators will join the team in the upcoming weeks. 

Train

• SHA has interviewed and provided conditional letters of offers to six internationally trained nurses (IENs) already in Saskatchewan who commenced the bridging program mid-November. 
• Thousands of students from across the province attended the "See Your Future" - Education and Career Fairs in Saskatoon in November to learn about careers and training opportunities post-graduation.

Incentivize

• Four health care workers have been awarded incentive packages of up to $50,000 over three years for a return-of-service agreement in Meadow Lake, Wilkie, Kamsack and Weyburn. This is part of the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive that aims to attract new employees to targeted positions in rural and remote areas. 
• The Ministry of Health has approved 111 Clinical Placement Bursaries for students in an eligible health discipline between April and November 2022. 
• The SHA engages regularly with nursing students by providing updates, creating connections, hosting in-person engagement events and more recently the new Grad Nurse Expression of Interest initiative.

Retain

• Progress has been made in implementing new full-time positions and expanding part-time positions to full-time positions in nine high-priority classifications in rural and remote locations experiencing service disruptions.
• 66 positions have been staffed.
• 64 positions are in the hiring process. 
• Watrous, Kipling and Big River have been added to the list of eligible locations. There are now a total of 50 rural and remote locations targeted for additional staffing.
• The peer-to-peer clinical support program and staff retention programs are currently being developed.
• Delegates and physician recruiters attended the national Family Medicine and Psychiatry recruitment fairs in Ontario in November.

"We're working aggressively to address the pressing need for more health care staff, especially in high demand occupations and rural and remote areas," Minister of Rural and Remote Health Everett Hindley said. "We're spreading the word far and wide that opportunities are available at every stage, from recent graduates to experienced professionals from here and abroad. Saskatchewan is a great place to build your career and enjoy a high quality of life."

An advertising and marketing campaign to promote available opportunities and attract health care workers started in September, and will continue into the winter with testimonials of several health care professionals who have built a successful career in Saskatchewan. A commercial aired during the Grey Cup reached a large national audience. 

Details on health care opportunities, how to access them and more information on the province's Health Human Resources Action Plan are available at saskatchewan.ca/HHR. The website has had over 100,000 views since it was launched in September. 

Saskatchewan's HHR Action Plan announced in September will invest over $60 million and add more than 1,000 health professionals into the health system over the next few years.

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