Government, Medical Society ratify new five-year agreement

The provincial government and the New Brunswick Medical Society have ratified a new five-year Physician Services Master Agreement that will help ensure New Brunswick is competitive with other provinces with respect to physician recruitment and retention while improving access to primary care.

“This agreement is great news for New Brunswickers,” said Health Minister Dorothy Shephard. “It contains provisions for yearly increases in salary and fee-for-service of eight per cent over five years in addition to 3.5 per cent in targeted funding distributed over the same five years to address joint priorities and specific clinical areas in which physicians were significantly behind their counterparts in Atlantic Canada.”

The new agreement is retroactive to April 1, 2020, and expires March 31, 2025.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the province,” said society president Dr. Mark MacMillan. “Physicians are in high demand across the country, and this agreement ensures New Brunswick is competitive compared to our neighbouring provinces. It also sets the stage for innovative steps to improve primary care access across the province. Physicians are eager partners in the improvement of health care in New Brunswick.”