Canora Ambulance Care has new owners. Ryan and Curtis Monette officially took over the business on May 31 from previous owners Wally and Mary Huebert.
The Monette brothers plan to continue operating the business from Canora and Preeceville locations, much like in the past.
Between the two of them, Ryan and Curtis have 29 years of EMS experience as paramedics.
“Our goal for the past number of years has been to make the transition from employees to ownership,” said Curtis.
For the past seven years, they have been the owners of RCM Safety in Yorkton, which focuses on industrial health and safety.
They were quite familiar with Canora and Canora Ambulance care previously, especially after Ryan was employed there for a number of years as a paramedic. Both said they thoroughly enjoy their work.
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you see something new,” said Ryan.
“There are always new challenges and we meet new people just about every day,” added Curtis. “We deal with people of all ages. In the same day we might deliver a baby in the morning and then be called to a car accident involving older and younger people.”
They presently have a staff of 12 between the Canora and Preeceville locations, and expect that number to remain the same for the foreseeable future.
Canora Ambulance Care offers pre-hospital emergency care as well inter-hospital transfers, mostly to Yorkton, Regina and Saskatoon.
“The previous owners had the operation in good shape, with excellent equipment and great staff. We didn’t have to make any staffing changes at all,” said Ryan.
This allowed the new owners to focus more on the future. In general, EMS is constantly changing with new methods and new techniques, said Curtis.
“Things are constantly evolving and we want to stay at the forefront of it, especially when it comes to educating ourselves and our staff,” said Curtis. “I recently completed the STARS Air Ambulance Critical Care and Transport Academy course in Calgary. Now I can bring what I learned back to the staff here, which is a nice ripple effect.”
Both Ryan and Curtis are qualified instructors for a number of EMS courses.
They are presently in discussions with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, working toward the future goal of expanding pre-hospital services.
They said that being brothers and business partners has worked out well.
“It’s easy to be honest with each other without hurt feelings. We’re always ready to bring up new ideas to each other,” said Curtis.
“The main thing is to make sure things get done,” added Ryan. “We each have our own area of responsibilities, but sometimes we can get the job done better together rather than working alone.”
The Monette brothers grew up in Yorkton, where Curtis, who is single, still lives and works. But he said he plans to spend more of his work days in Canora in the future.
Ryan and his wife Melissa live near Canora with their eight-year-old daughter Aubrie.
“Canora is a really nice town with friendly people, very good for raising children,” he said.
In their spare time, Ryan and Curtis said they enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including barbecuing, golfing, fishing and snowmobiling in winter.
