Sask. continues search for international physicians to specialize in family medicine

The province says it will continue recruiting doctors within Saskatchewan while also expanding efforts in international markets, Damian Smith reports.

While Saskatchewan continues to look for physicians provincially, the effort continues to recruit qualified international candidates.

To help with international recruits, the Saskatchewan Health Recruitment Agency (SHRA) was put in place in January 2024.

“We’re trying to promote our quality of life and certainly our cost of living, which is much more attractive in Saskatchewan than it is in other jurisdictions across Canada,” said CEO Terri Strunk. “We also promote our team based care, and the fact it’s very easy to meet people in this province and build relationships really quickly.”

The SHRA says the priority of physicians still remains on Canadian candidates, but are targeting countries like the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States. Others just below those three include Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The SHRA says that recruitment is not only a Saskatchewan problem.

“Everybody is trying to attract the same small number of physicians that can be licensed in their country,” said Strunk. “Our wages and our incentives are competitive, it’s just getting in front of those people, introducing ourselves and building that relationship.”

Strunk said that they saw an increase in American physician applications in early 2025. As of right now, three physicians have accepted a letter of offer. There are currently 15 American physicians in the application process.

“You need to be licensed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS); we try to target first those countries where we have the simplest licensing pathways,” said Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill. “We’ve been working very closely with the CPSS over many years to get those licensure pathways as streamlined as possible. Typically, Commonwealth countries fall into that category.”

As for Saskatchewan’s expansion, 20 seats will be added to the College of Medicine in the fall of 2026, as part of the provinces’ “Medical Residency Expansion in Northeast Saskatchewan.”

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Physicians say that family medicine is the practice that needs more recruitment in. Jason Hosain, the current president-elect of The Saskatchewan College of Family Physicians, says working in family medicine is “like playing a video game on hard mode.”

“We have to make sure those kids see family medicine as a viable potential career, because they can be whatever they want,” he said. “They can be surgeons, they can be internists, they can be pathologists. We have to make sure that they see family medicine as a really good option for them.”

According to the Canadian Resident Matching Service, the country has seen an eight per cent decline in their matching service over the past 10 years.

Before a hopeful increase in provincial recruits, physicians hope “administrative burden” can be improved, which is largely paperwork after a patient visits.

“The only thing patients see is the work we do with them in the exam room after they leave,” said Hosain. “I don’t think they realize what happens behind the scenes. For every hour that we spend in the exam room with patients, there’s about an hour of administrative work associated. That’s the reason some of us family docs are at work until five, six, seven at night, just trying to catch up with paperwork. ”

While physicians continue to work a busy schedule, the Saskatchewan Medical Association offers three programs for wellbeing and mental health. Those are the Physician Health Program, Workplace and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion programs.

The SMA also has six other ways with different organizations to keep physicians in Saskatchewan for the long haul.

• Rural and regional training and leave programs
• Rural and regional continuing medical education funding
• Family medicine resident bursary
• Rural travel fund
• Rural relief locum program
• Specialist bursaries and programs