HSC, St. Boniface, Grace vacancy rates between 25% and 42%, less than baseline staffing on many shifts
January 20, 2026
WINNIPEG – Respiratory therapists (RTs) at Winnipeg’s acute care hospitals are stretched beyond the breaking point due to a province-wide staffing shortage, according to the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP). RT vacancy rates have reached dangerous levels at Health Sciences Centre (25%), St. Boniface General Hospital (36%) and Grace General Hospital (42%), while both workloads and patient acuity have increased.
“Respiratory therapists are running across the hospital to attend life-threatening situations in ICUs and ERs because they are so short-staffed,” said MAHCP President Jason Linklater. “In some cases they must make life-and-death decisions that they shouldn’t have to make when there aren’t enough respiratory therapists on shift.”
An estimated 50 RT positions are vacant at Winnipeg’s three acute care centres alone, with many more vacant positions at smaller hospitals and in community programs. Recent schedules have shown hundreds of shifts open. Respiratory therapists are trying to fill these gaps with overtime, but many shifts still do not meet baseline staffing requirements, according to frontline reports. Recently obtained data from WRHA and Shared Health show nearly 90,000 overtime hours worked by respiratory therapists in the past two years.
According to Manitoba Association of Registered Respiratory Therapists annual reports, 347 RTs were registered in 2019 and 346 were reported last year, a net loss of one RT in the last six years. While the number of funded training seats at the University of Manitoba’s respiratory therapy program has grown, those seats are not filled. Only 12 graduates are expected this spring, and only 23 students are currently in the first year of the three-year program, out of 40 seats.
“There are not even enough new respiratory therapy graduates in the pipeline to backfill looming retirements, let alone to fill dozens more open positions in Winnipeg and across the province,” said Linklater. “Manitoba needs a well-resourced plan to retain and incentivize respiratory therapists, to fill all the training seats, and to make sure graduates stay here in Manitoba where they’re needed.”
MAHCP is calling for:
- Full-time incentive for full-time respiratory therapists;
- ICU/Emergency Department/Urgent Care premium for respiratory therapists and other allied health professionals, as negotiated in spring 2025, but not implemented;
- Incentives for night shifts to encourage coverage during the hardest-to-fill period;
- Financial incentives, such as scholarships/bursaries with Return of Service Agreements to encourage enrolment and a commitment to practice in the profession in our province.
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About MAHCP
MAHCP is a member-driven, democratic union of more than 7,500 allied health professionals (and growing). We are the only labour union in Manitoba solely dedicated to professional/technical and paramedical occupational groups. Our members deliver high-quality patient, client, and resident care in 50+ distinct professions across hundreds of classifications, and working in diagnostics, assessment, rehabilitation, treatment, and therapy, in labs, hospitals, clinics, long-term care, and community settings. www.mahcp.ca