What It’s Like to Build a Life in Saskatchewan as a Healthcare Professional
Building a Life in Saskatchewan
When you think about moving somewhere new for a healthcare career, the first questions are likely practical ones.
What is the practice or job like? What opportunities are available? What is the community like? What will life outside of work look like? (You can find those answers here.)
They’re all important questions, yet after spending time with healthcare professionals in Prince Albert and La Ronge, I found myself thinking about a different question.
What Does it Actually Feel Like to Build a Life in Saskatchewan?
Over the past several months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet healthcare professionals who have chosen to make Saskatchewan home.
Through my work with the Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency (this post is created in partnership with them, but as always, these are my own thoughts and experiences), I’ve been visiting communities, talking with people about their careers, and asking what keeps them here.
What struck me most was how genuine and passionate their answers were — not just about healthcare, but about their communities, their families, and the lives they’ve built outside of work.
The Outdoors and Healthcare in Northern Saskatchewan
When I met Dr. Dan Irvine in person, it wasn’t in a clinic or hospital. It was in a gravel parking lot with a canoe tied down on the roof of his truck. He was taking me out to paddle a whitewater section of the Montreal River near Air Ronge.
It’s a typical way for Dan to spend his time. After work, he might take his kids out on the water, go mountain biking, or head out for a picnic on an island on the lake.
READ MORE: The Top Canoe Trips in Saskatchewan
Dan grew up in La Ronge, left Saskatchewan for medical school, and worked in northern British Columbia. When he was ready to settle somewhere long-term, La Ronge was the place that felt like home. He came back to work with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
His father is also a physician in La Ronge. As a kid, Dan watched people around the community thank his dad for caring for their families. He experienced firsthand the impact a physician can have in a small northern community.
LEARN MORE: Community of La Ronge
The connection between the outdoors and medicine carried into my afternoon. Dan leads wilderness medicine simulations for resident physicians and I had the chance to sit in on one. It was a perfect example of how the things that make La Ronge such an interesting place to live can also become part of the work itself. New resident physicians are even welcomed into the community with an outdoor wilderness trip their first weekend in town.
Professionally, Dan’s work is equally varied. He might work in clinic, emergency, inpatient care or obstetrics, provide transport medicine, or travel to more remote communities. He describes La Ronge’s healthcare team as close-knit, with colleagues who support one another both at work and outside it.
For a healthcare professional looking for a broad scope of practice, La Ronge and other remote communities in Saskatchewan offer the chance to do meaningful work while building a life connected to the community and the outdoors.
Work and Life are Connected in Prince Albert
I met Dr. François Rossouw on the cross-country ski trails at Little Red River Park in Prince Albert. It might seem an unusual place to meet an emergency physician, but for François, it’s a fitting introduction to his life in the city. He skis here in the winter and runs and hikes through the park in the summer. Access to the outdoors like this is one of the perks of living here.
READ MORE: The Best Cross-Country Ski Trails in Saskatchewan
François and his wife, Maralien, moved to Saskatchewan from South Africa 23 years ago. They initially planned to stay for just six months. But his love of the city isn’t just about access to the outdoors. He talked about how welcomed they both felt when they first arrived, and how that community helped make a new country feel like home.
LEARN MORE: Community of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Maralien‘s career evolved alongside her life in Prince Albert. She initially worked as a physical therapist before opening Fearless Pilates studio. She found a way to combine her healthcare background with an activity she was passionate about, launching a business that allowed her to connect with and improve the lives of others in the community.
Together, they have built careers, raised their family, and become part of the Prince Albert community. It’s why they have chosen to stay here for more than two decades.
READ MORE: A Guide to Prince Albert National Park in the Winter
Building a Life in Saskatchewan
Perhaps that’s the part of moving to Saskatchewan for a healthcare career that is hardest to understand until you experience it yourself. A career can bring you to a new community, but the people you meet, the things you love to do outside of work, and the life you build along the way are what make somewhere feel like home.
If you’re considering a healthcare career in Saskatchewan and imagining your own life here, the Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency’s Health Careers Saskatchewan website is a great place to start. You can create a profile, explore healthcare opportunities, communities and resources to help you take the next step.
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