Home care and long-term care in Saskatchewan — how the system works

Saskatchewan has one of the simpler provincial care systems in Canada. Since 2017, a single body — the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) — has administered almost all publicly funded home care, adult day programmes, and long-term care across the province. There is no patchwork of separate regional authorities to navigate. The SHA is your entry point for everything.

How to get started

Call 811 — the provincial health line, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They will connect you to the SHA home care team in your area and can advise you on what level of support may be appropriate before a formal assessment is arranged. No GP referral is required to request an assessment. Anyone can call on behalf of a family member who cannot call themselves.

Home care

The SHA provides home care services directly to clients based on assessed need. Services include personal care (bathing, grooming, dressing), nursing assessment and care coordination, therapy services, and respite for family carers. There is no income or asset test for eligibility assessment — the assessment is purely based on care need. This is a meaningful difference from some other provinces.

There is no set maximum number of home care hours — the hours allocated depend on the assessment and on regional availability. Professional services such as nursing assessment, care coordination, and therapy are provided without charge. Personal care services may carry a subsidised fee based on income; clients can apply for a reduction if cost is a concern.

Adult day programmes

Adult day programmes in Saskatchewan provide structured social and health support outside the home for people who need it, and meaningful respite for family carers. The cost is $11.05 per day including a meal. Transport is the individual's responsibility, though some areas have transport assistance — ask at assessment. Access is through the SHA home care programme.

Long-term care — Special-care Homes

Long-term care facilities in Saskatchewan are called Special-care Homes — not nursing homes or long-term care homes. The SHA operates 157 Special-care Homes across the province, housing over 8,200 residents. Some homes are owned and operated directly by the SHA; others are affiliated facilities operating under SHA contract.

The process for placement:

• A Care Needs Assessment determines that a Special-care Home is the appropriate level of care
• A healthcare provider — home care case manager, hospital discharge planner, nurse, or social worker — submits a Long-Term Care request to the SHA placement team
• A consent form is completed with you and/or your Substitute Decision Maker (SDM)
• When a bed becomes available at your preferred home, you have 24 hours to accept or decline

You can select a preferred Special-care Home, and the SHA will place you on that home's waitlist. Wait times vary by home and region — homes in larger centres such as Regina and Saskatoon typically have longer waits than rural homes. You can request transfer to your preferred home if you accept an interim placement elsewhere.

If hospitalised

If your family member is in hospital and cannot safely return home, ask to speak with the Acute Care Discharge Planner — they can initiate the Long-Term Care request and manage the placement process directly from the hospital. Hospital-based applications are typically prioritised. Do not wait until discharge day to raise this: start the conversation as early in the admission as possible.

Urgency

If the situation is urgent, say so explicitly when you contact the SHA. Under urgent conditions, the SHA can act quickly, including facilitating transfer of personal belongings to the new home. The placement team assesses urgency as part of the placement process — specific clinical details about why the situation is unsafe at home carry more weight than general statements.