Revised data show jump in paramedic vacancies

Staffing shortages for entry-level paramedics in southwestern Manitoba were significantly higher in December 2025 than Shared Health recently reported, updated data show.

There were 78.5 full-time-equivalent primary-care paramedics working in rural Westman in December last year, with 60 unfilled positions, resulting in a vacancy rate of about 43 per cent, according to an amended response by the provincial health agency.

Shared Health provided the Sun with a revised breakdown of the staff vacancies for solely primary-care paramedics for the west zone in a letter on March 26.

The data reflect a drastic jump from the initial numbers the Sun received from an access-to-information request on Feb. 23, which showed a vacancy rate of 28 per cent in December 2025.

The provincial health agency said it erred while collecting the data.

Its initial response to the access-to-information request “contained data for all designations of paramedics operating in the West Zone for Shared Health Emergency Response Services,” a Shared Health spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday.

Shared Health previously reported there were 48.5 vacancies for full-time equivalent primary-care paramedics in December last year, which was later revised to include all paramedic designations.

Now the data show there were 60 vacancies for primary-care paramedics alone for that same month.

The revised data also show the vacancy rate increased from about 30 to 43 per cent from December 2023 to December 2025.

Jason Linklater, president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, said Shared Health needs to develop a workforce plan so that Manitobans receive accurate information.

“It’s astonishing that Shared Health, who is the organization responsible for emergency medical services and provincial workforce planning, can’t give clear, consistent answers to basic questions about paramedic staffing,” he said.

“If you don’t know and aren’t confident in your numbers, how are you possibly putting together a workforce plan for the future?”

Both data-sets show rural Westman had a net loss of about 15 full-time-equivalent primary care and nine intermediate and advanced-care paramedics between December 2023 and December 2025.

Despite a loss of both entry-level and experienced paramedics, Shared Health added approximately three full-time-equivalent primary-care paramedics in that time, the data show.

Linklater said experienced paramedics are leaving Westman because Shared Health has done “nothing to retain them.”

“We’ve put forward solutions to government to retain, train and recruit paramedics, but they have not been listening so far,” he said.

The union, which represents 700 paramedics across the province, wants Shared Health to ensure all vacant positions are posted, expand primary-care paramedic training seats and make training accessible for people in rural areas.

There’s a greater chance of retaining paramedics who are from Westman because they’re more likely to remain in the community long-term as opposed to those who aren’t who may choose to leave after a few years, Linklater said.

The union also recommends that tuition costs for paramedic training should be covered, which includes emergency medical responders who are interested in advancing their skills.

Emergency medical responders don’t have the same scope of training compared to paramedics. For example, they can’t diagnose a patient’s illness or injury, give fluid or medications through an IV, inject a needle into muscle or provide medication for pain, heart attacks, psychosis or seizures, the union said.

Linklater said rural Manitobans deserve the level of care that paramedics offer.

This year’s provincial budget said 100 new paramedics are expected to graduate and join the workforce, but Linklater said there aren’t enough students in the pipeline and most of these graduates will work in Winnipeg.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said the recruitment of all paramedic designations, specifically primary-care paramedics in western Manitoba, remains a priority.

“We continue to explore a range of approaches to strengthen paramedic recruitment in western Manitoba, including targeted strategies for areas that are more difficult to staff,” Shared Health said.

The provincial agency said it continues to work with staff from the Health Care Retention and Recruitment Office, who have prioritized filling vacancies for the Westman area and are actively recruiting students.

Linklater said the number of primary-care paramedic vacancies is scary for the patient population in rural southwestern Manitoba, especially seniors and people with serious medical conditions who are concerned with how long it could take for an ambulance to arrive.

He said he hopes this won’t discourage people from calling 911 during an emergency.

“When you’re injured and you’re in rural Manitoba, you need to call 911 because paramedics will come,” Linklater said.

In a statement to The Sun on Wednesday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara reiterated the provincial government’s focus on strengthening the paramedic workforce, particularly in rural and northern Manitoba, where paramedics are often the first point of care in a medical emergency.

“We are actively working to grow the workforce communities rely on by expanding training, supporting students and creating clearer pathways into the profession,” Asagwara said.

The minister said the province is developing an emergency medical responder initiative as an “entry point” that will stabilize local response capacity and create a “clear pathway” for people to advance into primary-care paramedic roles.

Asagwara didn’t address why there was a discrepancy in the vacancy rates provided by Shared Health or whether the province plans to invest in financial incentives for primary-care paramedics.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com