The Is have been dotted and the Ts have been crossed on the first contract between the government and doctors in five years.

The agreement includes $35 million a year in new funding, with a bonus program for remote sites and a provincial locum recruitment program.

More importantly, it puts physicians’ compensation here, on par with the other Atlantic provinces.

Health Minister John Haggie says work now begins on mending fences.

He says it allows the dust to settle, and for a reset of the relationship between government and the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association.

The new memorandum of agreement is for the period of October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2023. Compensation increases are retroactive to December 30, 2021.

It covers over 1,300 salaried, alternate payment plans and fee-for-service physicians in the province.