Nina McLellan thought she wouldn’t get another chance at following her mother’s steps and becoming a health-care worker, after dropping out from a nursing degree program years ago. 

But that all changed a few months ago.

The 28-year-old mother has been taking academic upgrading classes to be part of a new licensed practical nursing program based in her home community, Red Sucker Lake Anisininew Nation. 

“I didn’t think I would go back to school and I know for a fact I will now,” McLellan said. “I’m really excited. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.”

As part of its 2026 budget, Manitoba is committing to spend $1.8 million that will be used to train at least 20 health-care workers on a two-year diploma program.

It will be delivered by Assiniboine College and be taught directly in the northern Manitoba First Nation, about 525 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Students in Red Sucker Lake — McLellan among them — are now enrolled in a course needed to level up their knowledge. 

According to Assiniboine College, those classes formally began in the winter and are expected to wrap up in summer with the hope students can then join a pre-health science course — the final step before beginning the licensed practical nursing program in 2027.

I didn’t think I would go back to school and I know for a fact I will now– Nina McLellan

With the training comes the chance of a post-secondary education students wouldn’t have otherwise had without leaving their home community. 

“That is really important to us,” McLellan said. “More than half of the students in the group wouldn’t even be able to go out to the city to pursue nursing.” 

Addressing nursing staffing shortage 

The need for the health-care workers in the First Nation is significant and one of the core reasons the program was launched, said Red Sucker Lake Chief Sam Knott.

The remote community has faced increased challenges at recruiting nurses since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health-care workers come through on rotation but short staffing means they are often overloaded with patients or have their shifts extended beyond regular hours, which Knott said is feeding into a cycle of stress and a high turnover.

“It really impacts us. We noticed there is an uprising in the people [who are] not well,” he said.

“We desperately need the medical resources and the nurses in our communities.”

In hope of improving nurse retention levels, Knott said Red Sucker is looking at staffing the health-care centre with its own trained residents.

Knott is hopeful the delivery of services by local nurses will better match the needs of residents.

For instance, workers from out of the First Nation struggle to treat elders who don’t speak English. But nurses from Red Sucker will help remove this language gap by providing care in Oji-Cree. 

McLellan said local health-care workers will also have a more nuanced approach with patients. 

“We are dismissed a lot. We’re seen as addicts, we are sometimes not taken seriously,” she said. “I feel like having people in our own community being able to nurse them and take care of them … is a big plus.” 

McLellan said that’s the kind of work her mother did over 30 years working with diabetes patients at the nursing station. It’s a legacy she now wants to carry on. 

“Once we’ve completed the program that I want to stay home and be able to put my degree or diploma into work,” she said.

“It’s going to be better for our community because we know each other.”

Train local, stay local

Michael Cameron, community development dean at Assiniboine College, said First Nations in Manitoba have worked in the past to establish similar programs, which are also about helping students have a better chance of succeeding at school.

As soon as young adults leave their communities, some for the first time, they lose a support system that’s not easy to build elsewhere, Cameron said. 

But First Nations residents, like those from Red Sucker Lake, have a higher chance of staying home after completing their studies, especially when they complete their training within the community. 

“They want to be close to home, where the supports are,” he said. “They’re going to stay and give back.” 

That’s the case for 13 practical nurses who graduated from a similar program in Norway House Cree Nation and eight in Berens River First Nation last year. Almost all are now working in their respective communities, Cameron said. 

“The people stay in the community to build [it],” he said.

Chief Knott hopes future generations of students in Red Sucker Lake will feel inspired to pursue higher education after seeing it was possible for other residents, thereby training the workforce needed to eventually staff a hospital.

“It’s very exciting, you know, to build our team … you have to start somewhere, step-by-step,” he said. 

As for McLellan, she hopes three years down the line she is wearing scrubs every work day. 

“I see myself being the nurse in charge,” she said, laughing. “I see myself making a difference in the way people are cared for.”