Health Care Directive Saskatchewan

What a Health Care Directive Covers

A health care directive in Saskatchewan lets your parent put their medical treatment preferences in writing and appoint a proxy to make healthcare decisions if they can no longer communicate. It's governed by The Health Care Directives and Substitute Health Care Decision Makers Act, 2015.

This is completely separate from a power of attorney. An enduring POA covers finances, property, and personal care decisions like housing and daily living. But it carries zero authority over medical treatment. If your parent is in a hospital bed and the surgical team needs consent, they won't accept a property or personal POA — they need either a health care directive with a named proxy or they'll fall back to the statutory hierarchy.

If you're coming from Alberta, note that Saskatchewan doesn't use a single "personal directive" document. Instead, the system splits into a personal POA (non-medical daily living under The Powers of Attorney Act) and a health care directive (medical decisions under the 2015 Act). You need both to cover the full range.

Execution Is Deliberately Simple

Saskatchewan designed the health care directive to be accessible. Anyone 16 or older with cognitive capacity can create one. If your parent can physically sign and date the document themselves, no witnesses are required. No lawyer, no notary, no Form E — just a written, signed, and dated directive.

Witnesses only become necessary if your parent is physically unable to sign (due to injury or illness) and another person signs on their behalf. In that case, one independent witness — who cannot be the named proxy or the proxy's spouse — must be present and sign.

This is a sharp contrast to the power of attorney, which always requires either a lawyer witness (Form D) or two non-family adult witnesses (Form E).

Appointing a Proxy

The directive itself can include specific treatment instructions (comfort measures, life support preferences, organ donation wishes) and it can name a proxy who makes medical decisions when your parent can't communicate. The SHA provides Form SHA 0326 for the proxy appointment.

The proxy's authority is limited to healthcare decisions. They can consent to or refuse surgery, approve diagnostic testing, direct end-of-life care, and manage treatment plans. They cannot authorize medical assistance in dying (MAiD) or any illegal procedure, and they cannot manage finances or housing — those require a separate POA.

The Statutory Fallback: Nearest Relative List

If your parent ends up in the hospital without a health care directive and without a court-appointed personal guardian, doctors don't just guess. Section 15 of the 2015 Act establishes a strict hierarchy of substitute decision-makers:

1. Spouse or common-law partner
2. Adult son or daughter
3. Parent or legal custodian
4. Adult sibling
5. Grandparent
6. Adult grandchild
7. Adult uncle or aunt
8. Adult nephew or niece

Saskatchewan adds two specific tiebreakers within each tier: the eldest person is legally preferred, and a relative of whole blood takes priority over half blood (adoptive relationships carry the same weight as biological ones).

If multiple adult children exist, the eldest available, willing, and capable adult child makes the medical calls unless your parent has named a proxy in a health care directive. This is exactly the kind of default rule that creates sibling conflict — and exactly why naming a specific proxy in advance matters.

Day-to-Day Treatment Exception

There's a practical carve-out for routine care. If the primary substitute decision-maker is unavailable, a designated caregiver can consent to non-invasive "day-to-day treatments" — physician visits, routine lab tests, foot care, physiotherapy, wound care, and basic dental work. This keeps minor healthcare decisions moving without requiring the primary decision-maker to be reachable at all times.

Putting It All Together

A health care directive handles the medical side. An enduring POA handles finances and personal care. Together, they cover your parent's full range of needs. Getting both in place while your parent has capacity is a single-afternoon task.

The Saskatchewan Power of Attorney & Personal Directive Kit walks through both documents together, including the SHA's advance care planning resources and how to store the directive so emergency responders can find it.

See more Saskatchewan guides →