This timeline serves as a tool for knowledge translation. The easily scrollable events are practical for use by students, educators and fellow researchers. Additionally, some events provide links to secondary websites that offer a more in-depth discussion of the event. As we are continuously working to improve our tools for knowledge translation, we welcome your feedback and will respond to any questions, concerns or comments via email at spheru.timeline@uregina.ca.;xNLx;
The events of this timeline are separated into categories which adhere to a specific colour code. Please refer to the attached image for the category legend.
The search bar is located at the bottom right of the screen, click the grey wrench to make the search bar appear. To search all fields throughout the timeline, type in your desired search term in the search box. To search tags, type in “tag:” then add your desired tag. Alternatively, click on the desired tag to highlight all stories that contain the tag. Example - tag:Tuberculosis -Stories with results that match your search term or tag will be highlighted for easy findability as you scroll through the timeline.
Fur trading community, Cumberland House, organizes itself a “de facto” field hospital for First Nations as an outbreak of small pox spreads over the winter of 1781-1782. William Tomison and his predecessor Matthew Cocking, recognized that smallpox was contagious, and that surviving the illness provided long-term immunity afterwards. The quarantining of new arrivals, isolation of symptomatic individuals, and the use of disinfectant resulted from lower than average mortality rates.
With medical diplomas easily attainable (even by mail) there are valid concerns about the general competence of many medical practitioners. The explicit purpose of the establishment of the AMA is to exclude “diploma doctors” and streamline the criteria needed to practice medicine in the United States.
Formerly the British North America Act, the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 on March 29th established Canada as an independent nation. The Act outlines the division of powers between the Federal and Provincial governments. Under the Constitution, Provincial governments are allotted the authority over “The Establishment, Maintenance, and Management of Hospitals, Asylums, Charities, and Eleemosynary Institutions in and for the Province, other than Marine Hospitals”, while the Federal government retains power in the areas of quarantine and the establishment/maintenance of marine hospitals. To view the most recent consolidation of the Act, click "Find out more".
The College is organized to control the licensing of medical practitioners in the province and professionalize the field of medicine. This excludes alternative practitioners and healers, such as herbalists and midwives, from the realm of officially accepted medical care.
Treaty 2 was signed on August 21, 1871, in Manitoba and includes three First Nation communities located in Saskatchewan. The treaty ceded a large area of land in exchange for reserves, each providing 160 acres per family of five. Indigenous leaders likely saw the treaty as an agreement to share the land, while the government negotiaters framed it as a surrender. Terms included promises of schools, gratituties, and a liquor ban on reserves.
Three Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) - sisters Agnes, Boucher, and Pepin - begin the formal operation of the first permanent hospital in the region.
Treaty 4, signed on September 15, 1874, at Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, was a treaty between the Cree, Saulteaux, and Assiniboine peoples and the British Crown, ceding Indigenous territory in exchange for payments, provisions, and rights to reserve lands, primarily in southern Saskatchewan. The written terms of Treaty 4 included: reserves of one square mile for every five persons; annuities of $25 for a chief, plus coat and medal, a $15 annuity per headman, and a $5 annuity for each individual; a suit of clothing every three years per chief; blankets, calicoes and British flag (given once); $750 worth of powder, shot and twine annually; two hoes, a spade, scythe, axe and seed per family; a plough and two harrows per ten families; oxen, a bull, four cows, carpenter’s tools, five hand saws, five augers, a crosscut saw, a pit saw and a grindstone per chief; there was to be a school on the reserve; no liquor was to be allowed; and hunting, fishing and trapping rights would be respected.
During the 1800’s it becomes common practice for food wholesalers and retailers to add contaminants to food for profit gains. The federal 1874 Adulteration Act is intended to maintain the quality of the national food supply by protecting consumers from “adulterated” food. Operating under this Act, Canada’s food safety system is formed by the early 20th century.
A building is set aside as a hospital during the construction of the North-West Mounted Police barracks at Fort Walsh. This is the first documented permanent hospital in the region that is not affiliated with a religious institution.
Treaty 5, signed in 1875, included three Saskatchewan First Nations: Cumberland House, Shoal River, and Red Earth. Treaty 5 dealt mainly with the Manitoba area, and was unique in the fact that the Treaty Commissioner dealt individually with regional bands rather than with a large treaty area. Water was an important issue because the geographic region covered Lake Winnipeg as well as portions of several important rivers. During the negotiations of Treaty 5, Treaty Commissioner Morris used the strategy of separating the general idea of treaty from the issues of establishing specific reserves. In exchange for access to an area of approximately 100,000 square miles, the Indians of Treaty 5 were to receive reserves of 160 acres per family of five, annuities of $5 per year, clothing and medals, articles for cultivation, education, and the right to hunt, fish and trap; they were to ban alcohol and to keep peace and order.
Treaty 6, signed in 1876, provided more agricultural assistance than other treaties, which included additional farming tools, animals, and supplies to support communities in agriculture. A unique aspect of Treaty 6 was the "medicine chest" clause, which Indigenous leaders interpret as a continuing federal obligation to provide health care services. This treaty also included a "famine and pestilence" clause, committing the government to provide aid, such as food rations, during periods of extreme hardship, such as disease outbreaks.
Canadian physician and professor, Dr. William Osler, reports the first cases of multiple sclerosis in Canada. Dr. Osler presents clinical and pathological observations of three cases to Montreal’s Medico-Chirugical Society. He believes these cases represent the early, advanced, and end-stages of the disease.
Dr. R.G. Ferguson marked the beginning of the Tuberculosis Epidemic as 1884, primarily effecting the Indigenous peoples of Saskatchewan. Rarely, sporadic cases of Tuberculosis would be recorded throughout the 1850s and 1860s, though they did not begin to spread rapidly until the 1870s.
Passed by the Canadian Parliament requiring all doctors across the country to register their practices. Within a decade, the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Ontario gains control of licensing procedures across Canada.
Frederick David Shaw officially registers as a dental practitioner with the North West Territories government becoming the first to do so in the land soon to become the province of Saskatchewan. Shaw applies in Regina for permission to open a practice and previously served in what are now Fort McLeod, Pincher Creek, and Lethbridge.
The Tuberculosis Epidemic reached its peak in 1886, with a death rate of 90 out of every 1,000 among the Qu'Appelle Indigenous people. The death rate began to drop after 1890, and by 1901 there were 2,000 deaths for every 100,000.
Residents of the city of Regina that require hospital care are initially forced to go east to Brandon or Winnipeg for service. In 1889, the first general hospital in the Northwest Territories (at Medicine Hat) opens with “forty beds and a $5 hospitalization (insurance) option.” By 1895, patients from Regina account for 1,623 days of in-patient care.
Created in Regina, the Northwest Pharmaceutical Association acts as the legal and professional council in the prairies with regard to drugs and their medical dissemination.
The first public hospital opened in the settlement of Saltcoats, near the present-day Manitoba border, in 1897. However, the Hospital was a short-lived enterprise. On January 4th, 1898, a coal oil lamp accident left a nurse with significant injuries which soon after claimed her life. By the end of the year, the Hospital had provided 374 days of free care and had only treated 49 inpatients, leading to its closure in 1899.
After relying on the Mary E. Truesdell Nursing home as a location to provide basic medical care in Regina, the Saskatchewan Branch of the National Council of Women begin to raise money for the construction of a more adequate facility. Thanks to this fund-raising effort the Regina Cottage Hospital opens its doors in 1898, staffed with nurses from the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON).
The Victoria Hospital began operations in Prince Albert in 1899. Among contributions for the new hospital were nightshirts, a tablecloth, and food for the patients. By the end of the year (1899), there were two hospitals with seven beds each.
Signed on June 21, 1899, Treaty 8 was an agreement between First Nations and the Crown, intended as a partnership based on peace and friendship. Covering approximately 840,000 km², it includes 41 First Nations across Northern Alberta, Northwestern Saskatchewan, Northeastern British Columbia, and the Southwest Northwest Territories. Government policies later divided Nations by provincial funding rules, leading to the formation of Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta. This political assembly works to protect and uphold the True Spirit and Intent of Treaty 8, ensuring the recognition of Inherent and Treaty Rights for future generations.
Planning for the 25-bed Victoria Hospital began in 1899, and was officially opened by Lady Minto, wife of the Governor General, in September 1901. The hospital was taken over by the City of Regina in 1907, and is now known as the Regina General Hospital.
The Queen Victoria Hospital opened in Yorkton in 1902, and received a $3,000 contribution from the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). The Hospital was home to the second School of Nursing.
Smallpox epidemic ensues in Red Deer, Island Lake, and Little Hunter’s Reserve. A quarantine is enforced and full rations supplied by the government agents in the area. Clothes are also burnt and replaced by local mission.
Nearly three hundred and fifty practicing dentists - approximately twenty percent of all dentists in Canada - gather in Montreal to create a formal constitution for the institution of the Dominion Dental Council, later known as the Canadian Dental Association.
William Morris Graham, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1902 that the general health of Piapot’s band is “wonderfully good.” Graham also reported that the general health of neighbouring Muscowpetung's Band is fairly good. Some suffer from scrofulousness and consumption, but Graham "thinks[s] [that] these diseases are fast disappearing”.
William Morris Graham, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1903 that Piapot, Muscowpetung, and Pasqua bands are all in good health.
R.L. Ashdown, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1904 that Piapot’s band health is good, and that Muscowpetung’s band health is not that good. Consumption is the leading cause of sickness, although Ashdown reports that sanitation is good.
On December 13th 1905, Saskatchewan held its first provincial general election.
As Saskatchewan’s first Premier, Walter Scott uses the co-operative model to assist farm families and to build and maintain the rural telephone system and the Saskatchewan Co-operative Elevator Company. The Scott government also implemented government-controlled liquor stores, the first step towards full prohibition. Less well-known is that during his time as Premier, Scott suffered from depression. Click on "Find out more" to hear Brad Wall, Saskatchewan’s 17th Premier, elected in the November 2007 election, discuss Scott’s hardships in dealing with mental illness.
W. M. Gordon, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in August 1905 that the population of Piapot is 152 and the general health of the band is good. Gordon reports that sore eyes and colds are the main ailments, along with “the usual lung troubles”. Gordon reports that Muscowpetung Band’s general health is “not nearly as good as that as the Piapot Indians. The proportion of the old people is greater and quite a few of them are affected with scrofulous, consumption and eye trouble”. Gordon reports that Pasqua Band’s general health is good, with File Hills in "particularly good health".
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier visits Regina on “Inauguration Day”, September 4, 1905 to celebrate Saskatchewan’s entry into Confederation.
Treaty 10 was a pact between the Government of Canada and the Saskatchewan Indigenous population. The Treaty called on the Indigenous populations, predominantly Cree and Chipewyan peoples, to surrender the lands they inhabited. In return, the Government would provide them with reserve land, education and farming supplies. They were also permitted to hunt, trap and fish freely with no restrictions. Additionally, the agreement stated that all band members would receive an annual cash payment of $5. Over a hundred years later, band members still receive the agreed upon amount of $5/year, forever linking past to present.
An Act respecting the Medical Profession was enacted in 1906. The 1906 Statutes of Saskatchewan states: “there shall be a college of physicians and surgeons for the Province of Saskatchewan hereinafter called “The College,” and the members of the said college shall be a body corporate under the name of “The College of Physicians and Surgeons” of succession and a common seal with power to sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with and to acquire, hold and dispose of real estate and chattel property for the purposes of the said college” (Chapter 28, p.2)
The Moose Jaw General Hospital opened in 1906 with 28 beds, just in time to serve those afflicted by the Typhoid epidemic. In 1953 the hospital was renamed the Moose Jaw Union Hospital, and was later closed by the Government of Saskatchewan in 1970.
W. M. Gordon, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in July 1906 that the Piapot Band is healthy with some of the usual lung and eye complaints. Gordon reports that Muscowpetung band’s health is “not nearly so healthy as the the Piapot Indians. Many of the older members are affected with consumption, scrofulous and sore eyes”. Pasqua Band’s health is good and more advanced and progressive than those of Piapot or Muscowpetung Bands. Gordon reports that File Hills general health is very good, still “several severe cases of scrofulous and consumption have caused deaths”.
With a deadly epidemic of typhoid ravaging the population of Saskatoon, the eight beds of the Nurse Sisley Nursing Home quickly fill up and cots are set up in the surrounding buildings and open grounds. This obviously inadequate response leads, in part, to the construction and opening of Saskatoon City Hospital (with 56 beds) in April of 1909. The hospital, along with further additions, lasted until 1993 when it moved to its present location.
Prior to relocating to Saskatchewan, Dr. Seymour completed his medical degree at McGill University in 1879 and subsequently became one of the first physicians in Canada to receive a diploma in public health from the University of Toronto. Determined to bring public health awareness to Saskatchewan, Dr. Seymour travelled across North America studying issues related to public health, hospital construction, and hospital management. He went on to spend the rest of his professional life in charge of public health in Saskatchewan.
At this point, the population of Saskatchewan is 257,763, with 48,462 residents living in urban centers (18.8%) and 209,301 residents living in rural areas (81.2%).
Dr. Peter Bryce – medical officer for the Department of Indian Affairs – reports that 69% of those individuals who previously attended the File Hills residential school on the Little Black Bear Reserve are dead, the majority from tuberculosis. Residential schools were a prominent means for the transmission of disease, especially tuberculosis. Since schools were funded on a per capita basis and due to the ubiquity of tuberculosis within the schools, children were only sent home upon impending death; consequently spreading disease to the reserve.
W. M. Gordon, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in April 1907 that Piapot’s Band is healthy but still has some of the usual ailments. Muscowpetung's Band is not as healthy as those on Pasqua & Piapot Reserves - “there is considerable consumption and sore eyes”. Some of the older band members live in unsanitary conditions. Gordon reports that Pasqua Band is more advanced than Piapot or Muscowpetung, and that File Hills general health is very good "although considerable scrofula and consumption exist”.
In 1907, the Grey Nuns Hospital was established in Regina by the Sisters of Charity of St. Boniface. It is now known as the Pasqua Hospital, and is located on Dewdney Avenue in downtown Regina.
Regina’s Dr, David Low is sent by Saskatchewan Premier Walter Scott in 1907 to visit mental hospitals in Eastern Canada and the United States for the purpose of providing recommendations on the provision of mental health care in the province. Upon his return in 1908 Low recommends small, humane psychiatric hospitals (dubbed the “cottage system”) but is overruled by Toronto psychiatrist Dr. C.K. Clarke, another advisor to Premier Scott. Low’s proposal is deemed too revolutionary for its time. Instead, contrary to Low’s advice, two large-scale institutions are constructed in North Battleford and Weyburn.
With the exception of the Dakota population who remain outside of treaty, the entire First Nations population in Saskatchewan is now officially under treaty.
The province's second general election is held on August 14th, 1908
W. M. Gordon, superintendent of Qu'Appelle Indian Agencies, reported in April 1908 That Piapot and Pasqua bands are both in good health. Gordon reports that Muscowpetung and File Hills Bands suffer from considerable scrofulous and consumption.
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