Documents Needed for Long-Term Care Admission in Saskatchewan

The Documents You Actually Need Ready

When the Saskatchewan Health Authority calls with a bed offer in a special-care home, you won't have days to pull files together. SHA policy gives families a four-hour window to accept or decline the placement. That means every document on this list needs to be gathered, photocopied, and organized before the call comes.

Here's the complete document set for a Saskatchewan long-term care admission:

Legal authority documents:

• Enduring Power of Attorney for Property (Form B or C) — the original or a high-quality photocopy, with signed Form E witness certificates or Form D lawyer certificate attached
• Enduring Power of Attorney for Personal Care (Form A or C) — same original-or-copy requirement
• Health Care Directive with proxy appointment — no witness certificates needed if the parent signed it personally

Healthcare identification:

• Saskatchewan Health Services card
• Federal health card or veteran identification (if applicable)
• Medication list from the parent's pharmacy or physician
• Most recent hospital discharge summary (if transitioning from acute care)

Financial documents for the SHA Financial Package:

• The parent's most recent Canada Revenue Agency Notice of Assessment
• Line 15000 of the parent's preceding year's income tax return — this is the number SHA uses to calculate the income-tested resident charge
• If married, the spouse's Notice of Assessment as well (SHA splits combined income equally for couples)
• Pension statements: CPP, OAS, employer pension, RRIF or annuity income documentation
• The completed SHA Institutional Supportive Care Financial Package

Why the Financial Package Matters So Much

The SHA subsidizes roughly 80% of the actual cost of care in a special-care home. The resident pays an income-tested monthly charge based on their tax return. For 2026, the minimum resident charge is $1,401 per month, and the maximum is capped at $3,489 per month.

The calculation uses a formula: the base charge plus 57.5% of the portion of the parent's income between certain thresholds. If the parent's income is modest, the monthly charge stays near the minimum. If it's higher, it rises toward the cap.

Here's the critical deadline: if the completed SHA Financial Package isn't returned within 60 days of the admission being approved, SHA automatically assesses the maximum rate — $3,489 per month — until the paperwork arrives. That means incomplete or delayed tax documentation can cost a family over $2,000 per month in unnecessary charges.

Which POA Does What During Admission

This is where families get tripped up. Saskatchewan splits decision-making authority across two separate legal tracks, and a special-care home admission requires both.

A personal attorney (or personal care attorney under Form A or C) has the authority to choose the care home, consent to the placement, and sign the admission agreement. This is the person who says "yes, we accept the bed offer."

A property attorney (under Form B or C) handles the financial side — signing the SHA Financial Package, authorizing CRA income disclosure, arranging monthly payment of the resident charge, and managing the parent's bank accounts to ensure the bills get paid.

If the parent used Form C (which combines both personal and property authority into one document), a single attorney handles everything. If they used separate Form A and Form B documents naming different people, both attorneys need to be involved in the admission process — one for the care decision, the other for the financial arrangements.

What If There's No Power of Attorney

If the parent has already lost cognitive capacity and never signed an enduring EPA, no family member has automatic legal authority to complete the SHA Financial Package; the care decision follows a separate statutory or proxy route.

For the care decision itself, if there is no applicable proxy or personal guardian, Saskatchewan's statutory nearest relative hierarchy kicks in under Section 18.1 of The Health Care Directives and Substitute Health Care Decision Makers Act, 2015. The nearest relative — typically the spouse, then eldest adult child — can apply to admit the person to a long-term care facility.

For the financial side, there's no equivalent shortcut. The family would need to apply for property guardianship through the Court of King's Bench under The Adult Guardianship and Co-decision-making Act, which takes one to three months and costs $200 in court filing fees plus potential legal fees of $2,000 to $5,000.

The care and financial processes can proceed on different tracks, but until the financial package is complete, the resident charge may be assessed at the maximum monthly rate.

Involuntary Separation Designation

When married partners end up living in separate dwellings because one spouse moves into a special-care home, the couple can apply for a Designation of Involuntary Separation. Once granted, only the resident spouse's individual income is used for the charge calculation, shielding the community spouse's income entirely.

This is worth pursuing early — ideally before or during the admission process. Without it, SHA calculates using the combined household income divided equally, which can push the monthly charge significantly higher than necessary.

The Saskatchewan Power of Attorney & Personal Directive Kit includes a pre-admission document checklist and walks through the entire SHA Financial Package process, including how to secure the involuntary separation designation.

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