The number of people in Saskatchewan waiting longer than two years for surgery has been “nearly eliminated,” according to Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill, but the waitlist for surgeries has increased.
The province has been focusing on long-waiting patients, Cockrill said, with the number of people waiting over one year for surgery also down over 24 per cent.
The government released numbers for surgical wait times between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, on Wednesday. They showed that 92 per cent of people received surgery in under eight months during that period.
The target was 90 per cent, Cockrill said.
“We exceeded that goal.”
Cockrill attributed the progress to recent spending on the health-care system. In March, Saskatchewan committed $15.1 million in its 2025-2026 budget to helping reduce wait times for patients.
The province has previously struggled with long surgical wait times, especially for knee and hip replacement surgeries. Saskatchewan had the longest wait times in Canada for those procedures in 2023.
Province performs record number of surgeries
The province said it performed more than 100,000 surgeries in a fiscal year for the first time, but a change in how they are counted contributed to that increase.
“This year’s surgical reporting includes procedures performed outside of traditional operating rooms,” Cockrill said, adding that procedures done in specialized treatment spaces like cardiac cath laboratories and interventional radiology suites are now counted as surgery, unlike in previous years.
The province made the change after the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), a national not-for-profit health organization, started counting those types of procedures as surgery, Cockrill said.
“Including these types of procedures in our count gives a more accurate picture of the full scope of surgical care provided across the province,” he said.
In a statement Wednesday, the Opposition NDP highlighted the change in how procedures are counted.
“We’re not surprised that the figures are inflated,” the NDP statement said.
Total number of people on wait list higher than last year
The Opposition also pointed to the fact that the number of people waiting for surgery has increased in the province.
While surgical wait times in Saskatchewan are improving and the government is achieving its targets, 30,308 people are still waiting for surgery in the province as of March.
According to the government, Saskatchewan’s wait list has increased by “about 2,236 cases since March 31, 2024.”
“Today is about progress, but it’s also about perspective. We continue in the surgical program to see the impacts of the pandemic slowdowns, which dramatically increased surgical wait times and wait lists,” said Dr. Michael Kelly, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s provincial head of surgery.
