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Saskatoon’s urgent care centre is now 25 per cent complete and is expected to open in early 2027.
The project is currently being built on the former Pleasant Hill School site near St. Paul’s Hospital, with foundation work, waterproofing, concrete floor slabs and exterior studs now completed.
Read more:
- No timeline for Regina’s Urgent Care Centre to be open for 24 hours
- Moe hopes new urgent care centres will help struggling Sask. hospitals
- What you need to know about Saskatchewan’s first urgent care centre
The urgent care centre is partnered with Ahtahkakoop Cree Developments (ACD), and is designed to alleviate pressure from emergency rooms by providing care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries. It will also provide on-site diagnostic imaging, as well as pharmacy and lab services.
Additionally, it will provide mental health and addictions support through a separate intake space for patients.
Saskatchewan’s health minister, Jeremy Cockrill, said the mental health and addictions space within the urgent care centre is the “first of its kind” in Canada.
“(We’re) really trying to provide a safe opportunity for people to come forward in a stigma-free environment,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Its design follows the existing urgent care centre in Regina, which opened in July 2024. Since then, the space has treated more than 41,000 patients for same-day care.
It was initially announced that the urgent care centres would operate 24 hours, seven days a week, but Regina’s location has reduced its hours multiple times due to physician availability.
Cockrill said on average, Regina’s facility treats around 112 patients per day between 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., noting that operating 24 hours is not justifiable with limited staffing.
“We want to focus on where it’s going to have the greatest patient impact, (and) those are daytime hours,” he said.
Cockrill said instead of focusing on staffing one facility 24 hours a day, more facilities will be opened throughout the province.
Planning is currently underway for urgent care centres in Prince Albert, North Battleford and Moose Jaw, with additional locations to be added in both Regina and Saskatoon.
Premier Scott Moe says the province needs to be innovative in how health care is delivered in Saskatchewan / Mia Holowaychuk (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)
“We need to be much more innovative in how we deliver health care and how we attract, incentivize and train staff to join those that are on the front lines,” Saskatchewan’s premier Scott Moe said in response to staffing these facilities.
Moe called the urgent care centre’s partnership with ACD a step towards reconciliation, noting it will help increase services to families in the Saskatoon area, whether it be urgent care or addiction treatment.
“It’s not only an expansion of care and access to care on so many fronts, but it’s also an expansion to learning opportunities,” Moe said.
According to a media release from the province, “substantial completion is anticipated in fall 2026,” but Cockrill said the facility is expected to open early 2027.
