REGINA – Expansion is happening for the province’s primary care Nurse Practitioner program.
In a news release Monday, the government said the primary care Nurse Practitioner contract initiative is opening another round of intakes, which the government said is “as a result of the overwhelming support received from both patients and providers in 2025.”
The province says that any NPs who want to deliver publicly funded primary care services are invited to apply, with this intake closing on March 30. The province says those successful will then enter a contract with the Ministry of Health to provide primary health care to patients. There is no limit to the number of contracts the ministry may enter through the March 2026 intake.
The province has touted the initiative as creating more opportunities for Saskatchewan families to access publicly funded primary care, delivered by NPs.
"Nurse Practitioners will play a vital role in ensuring every Saskatchewan family has access to a primary care provider by the end of 2028," Minister of Health Jeremy Cockrill said in a statement. "We look forward to seeing more Nurse Practitioners providing primary care in Saskatchewan communities as we work together to put patients first."
The first intake was well received with the province receiving 40 applications and signing contracts with 23 NPs as of Feb. 2026.
Those nurse practitioners will deliver primary care services to a minimum of 18,000 patients across the province, according to the government’s news release.
“Today the Government announced an expansion of the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (NP) Contract Program (PCNPCP). This is an exciting next step for primary care, and NPs, in Saskatchewan,” said Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners (SANP) President Toni Giraudier in a statement.
“We are incredibly proud of the work of the Saskatchewan Association of Nurse Practitioners (SANP) Executive and the Ministry of Health, in the creation and implementation of the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Contract Program…
We are excited by the continued investment in Nurse Practitioners in Primary Care in our province with the expansion of the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Contract Program, and look forward to seeing more Nurse Practitioners providing consistent, high quality primary care to Saskatchewan residents. SANP will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health on successful implementation and evaluation as PCNPCP expands.”
In speaking to reporters Monday, Rural and Remote Health Minister Lori Carr noted the expansion of interest in the program, and in particular what led to the decision to lift the cap on the number of contracts that are to be handed out..
“Yeah, so we've actually handed out some nurse practitioner contracts already. We started with six contracts, and then we saw the interest, so we moved that up to 30.
We're just in the process of filling that 30, but we see that there's great interest. So what we're doing is we're lifting the cap, but the primary goal is to ensure that individuals have access to that primary care right across the province.”
As for how people can get information on where the nurse practitioners are, Carr noted those are listed on the Saskatchewan Health Authority website and other practitioners are working to get the word out.
“In my home community of Estevan, we have a practice there,” said Carr. “I mean, they did a huge social media campaign saying we are open for business, and I tell you what, it didn't take long for people to flood the gates.”
Carr also added that they are still looking to hire more primary care doctors, but said “we're looking at this from all of the above approach because when we talk about access to a primary care provider, it doesn't necessarily need to be a doctor.
It can be a nurse practitioner. It might even be your pharmacist. We've expanded scope of practice there. You know, not all communities have a doctor or a nurse practitioner, but quite often they will have a pharmacist. So just ensuring that there are many access points as possible closest to home for patients so they can have that care that they need.”
In speaking to reporters, NDP Health Critic Meara Conway said much more had to be done beyond bringing on board new nurse practitioners.
“So slow clap for this government,” said Conway. “They are finally recognizing the value of nurse practitioners.”
But Conway also noted that she was “very disappointed” to see the news of the closure of the Gardens Community Health Centerfield in Regina, during the same week that the government announced some of the nurse practitioner appointments.
“We saw the same week over 5,000 people lose access to primary care in the same breath,” said Conway. “This is not going to cut it.”
