With Saskatchewan struggling to keep up with breast cancer care, an initiative sending patients to Calgary to receive care is bringing down the wait list by 87 per cent.

The NDP says Saskatchewan needs to put in more effort for residents to receive care at home.

“When you’re paying upwards of 10 times as much money to send someone out of province for basic breast diagnostics, it’s very concerning and it speaks to me about the fact that this government is not prioritizing health care and not prioritizing health care for women in this province,” said Vicki Mowat, Sask. NDP deputy leader.

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But Breast Cancer Canada CEO Kimberly Carson says having the alternative of out of province care is a step in the right direction.

“It’s maybe not ideal, but at least tackling the program and finding a solution that’s working, and it’s showing the difference in the results right now,” Carson said. “So, I applaud any province that tries to deal with wait times, tackling these big issues. It can’t be easy.”

With the province adding more diagnostics and lowering the age of access for a mammogram, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill says he doesn’t want to take his foot off the gas.

“I’ve said it in the house: we will turn over every rock we need to, to make sure patients get the timely care they need,” Cockrill said.

While Carson says getting out of province care isn’t ideal, it can still be life-changing.

“We know that the health care systems across the country are having a hard time keeping up,” Carson said. “So, anything that we can do to make sure that patients are screened and screened early and properly and that they have access to treatment as quickly as possible, those outcomes are so much different.”

Watch above for more on the Saskatchewan breast cancer wait list decreasing.

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At the beginning of 2026, the Saskatchewan government lowered the breast cancer screening age from 45 to 43, with plans to further drop it to 40 by June. While many applaud the move, they say something has to be done about wait times.

With pressure on the system, wait times to get a mammogram in the province can stretch to almost a year.

Breast cancer survivor Tammy Haas was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma triple negative in April 2025. She says she was able to get in for a mammogram at the end of March due to a cancellation and believes her story would have ended differently had she not been seen when she was.

“At the time that I had the mammogram, the mass was measuring at five centimeters. By the time I started cancer treatment six weeks later, it was already measuring over eight centimeters, so in the span of about six weeks, it had grown quite significantly,” Haas says.

In an ideal world, Haas says, all tests would be completed within six weeks, adding that it is unfair and frustrating that patients have to fight to be seen sooner by a doctor.

“We shouldn’t have to push for our health-care system. We pay for it. That’s one of the joys of being Canadian. I shouldn’t have to… fight my way through it to try to get what I need from a medical standpoint,” says Haas.

Patient advocate and breast cancer survivor Lisa Vick was diagnosed in September 2023. She says that despite good efforts made by the government, communication is still lacking.

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“We’re dealing with enough as a cancer patient, you shouldn’t be calling your doctor to follow up or you shouldn’t have to be calling the Breast Health Center to say, ‘Hey, when am I going to get in? When’s my biopsy? Where am I at on the wait list?” Vick says.

Vick is hopeful for improvement after being invited to tour the new breast center in Regina. She believes it will be a great resource for women in southern Saskatchewan.

“We got to see where the mammograms are done, the biopsies, the ultrasound. Then they told us that they have surgeons that come in every week. They see you pre- and post-surgery. They have a social worker on site and nurse navigator that walks you through the process,” Vick says.

“Once (the center) it’s up and running at full capacity and we can get these women through there faster and more streamlined, it’s just a fabulous process and I love the ideas of it,” says Vick.

Women in northern Saskatchewan are referred to the breast health center in Saskatoon.

In response to concerns over mammogram wait times, the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) told Global News that referrals are dependent on individual clinics and personal risk factors.

“Diagnostic breast imaging, including mammography and ultrasound, requires physician referral and is dependent on an individual’s clinical indications and personal risk factors. SHA offers diagnostic breast imaging in several communities including North Battleford, Yorkton, Moose Jaw, and Swift Current, and prioritizes booking based on urgency. Wait times at SHA locations can vary between one week and 11 months,” SHA states.

Additionally, the SHA says mammogram screening is also offered through the Breast Check program.

“This program is available to women across the province, aged 43 years and older who have no breast health symptoms, are not currently in active follow-up for breast cancer and have been breast cancer free for more than five years.

“Wait times vary from two weeks to four months, depending on preferred location.”

Regardless of how long the wait, anxiety lingers for patients wondering what to do next.

In hopes to help more women understand what they are going through, and how to advocate for themselves, WeyStrong Cancer Support Services Inc. offers supports through their Facebook page.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.