Keith LePoudre, Davidson's mayor, said he's happy to hear his community has been added to the Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive list in an effort to bring in more health-care workers. April 13, 2026. (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

‘It’s positive’: Communities happy to be added to health-care incentive list

By Lisa Schick Apr 14, 2026 | 6:53 AM

Leaders in several Saskatchewan communities are happy to hear they’ll be able to offer a major incentive in an effort to lure more health-care workers to rural parts of the province.

Nine communities were added to Saskatchewan’s Rural and Remote Recruitment Incentive list this week: Beauval, Buffalo Narrows, Carlyle, Creighton, Craik, Davidson, Ituna, Montmarte and Macklin. The list now includes 82 communities around Saskatchewan.

Health-care workers in certain professions who take a full-time job in those communities are eligible for up to $50,000 in bonuses in exchange for three years of work. The high-priority positions include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, medical lab assistants, and x-ray techs, among others.

Bruce Fidler, the mayor of Creighton, called it a positive and welcome announcement on Tuesday.

“We’ve had a shortage of nurses for a long time – but not only in our area, but all of northern Saskatchewan, so any communities that can be added to this for their recruitment project, absolutely it’s positive,” he said.

Fidler couldn’t say exactly how many positions need to be filled in Creighton, but said it’s a “never-ending” list.

Keith LePoudre, the mayor of Davidson, said he’s happy to be part of the program as well. He said the population of the town is growing, but it’s also aging.

“We need health-care workers in the hospital to help look after all of our needs in our community, and we need to look at all the needs (around) our community, not just the needs of the smaller communities. We need to look at the bigger area,” LePoudre said.

He said when health-care workers leave school, they’re attracted to the cities and it’s hard to bring them into smaller communities.

LePoudre said it’s also now harder for small communities that aren’t part of the incentive program to recruit workers.

“We were competing with other communities that had this program, and it’s hard to attract people if you don’t have the same program they have,” he explained.

In Ituna, the primary concern is the community’s long-term care home, which has a health centre attached. Kevin Krett, a town councillor, said the facility has seen staffing shortages for a number of years, and has had to resort to hiring more expensive contract nurses.

“It’d be a welcome news into the community and for the facility to see some of these vacant positions finally filled, and with some long-term employment,” said Krett.

“We need staff that are going to stay, and the more staff, the better it is for the rest of the staff, because then they’ll be able to get their holidays and it won’t be so so much stress on the system itself.”

When the health centre isn’t open or a patient can’t get help in town, he said they typically have to drive anywhere from 50 to 70 kilometres in order to access care.

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill speaking to reporters on April 13, 2026 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill said he expects more communities to be added to the list in the coming months. He said the communities added to the list this week are having challenges filling full-time positions, and have been relying on contract staff.

Cockrill said the program has filled 530 positions across the province over the last three years, including 95 positions in his home community of the Battlefords, where Cockrill said the extra workers have made a dramatic improvement.

“I’m looking forward to these communities seeing that same benefit as we fill the positions in their communities,” the minister said.