There are 337 Occupational Therapy positions in Saskatchewan and right now, 95 are vacant,, which is a 28 per cent vacancy rate. That’s according to Official Opposition Leader Carla Beck, citing numbers from the Canadian Institute of Health Information. A group of OTs travelled to the Legislature on Wednesday to call for action to hire more people and to advocate for a training program for OTs in Saskatchewan. Right now, Saskatchewan has 50 seats per year outside of the province. Beck says they want a school for Occupational Therapy in Saskatchewan. “They want students to be able to learn their profession here so they can provide care to people here in this province.”

Premier Scott Moe replied that he understand that a school is needed and the Minister of Advanced Education has been engaging with post-secondary institutions on that possibility. “This is a government that is committed, Mr. Speaker, to having those training seats, working with our post-secondary institutes Mr. Speaker, to bring those training seats closer to Saskatchewan and ultimately at the University of Saskatchewan.”