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The Saskatchewan government is offering student loan forgiveness to nurses working in five communities where recruitment has been difficult.
On Friday, the Ministry of Advanced Education said nurses and nurse practitioners who started working in the Battlefords, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert, Swift Current and Yorkton on or before the start of 2023 could be eligible for as much as $20,000 Saskatchewan student loan debt forgiveness.
The loan forgiveness was previously only available to those working in designated rural or remote communities with populations under 10,000. Adding the five mid-sized communities comes as part of Saskatchewan’s plan to provide more incentives to health-care workers in rural and remote areas.
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Since that program started in 2013, more than $1.7 million in student loans has been forgiven for more than 550 nurses, the ministry noted.
Gordon Wyant, Saskatchewan’s advanced education minister, said the move will help with both recruitment and retention.
“We need every one of our nurses to serve the needs of residents across Saskatchewan, through their skill, their leadership and their compassion,” Wyant said in a statement.
Jeda Jones-Hancock, a second-year practical nursing student at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, said attending the school wouldn’t be possible for her without student loans.
“I’m from a rural community and my goal is to work in places like Rosthern or Prince Albert,” Jones-Hancock said in a statement.
“Knowing I’ll have less debt after I graduate eases the burden of academic and financial stress as I complete my studies.”
More information on the loan forgiveness program can be found on the provincial government’s website.