Government and doctors have signed a memorandum of agreement which the deputy premier says will make Newfoundland and Labrador a more attractive place for medical graduates not only from Memorial University but from other parts of Canada and abroad.

Siobhan Coady, who’s also the President of Treasury Board, says the agreement brings all disciplines of physicians to competitive levels, provides increased pay for some emergency departments, creates a new payment model to increase access to community primary care, and increases the benefit package for all doctors.

Dr. Cynthia Slade, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, says the new agreement is a major step in stabilizing the physician workforce. She agrees with Minister Coady that it will help keep MUN graduates here at home and attract both Canadian and internationally-trained physicians from abroad.

The pact, retroactive to the fall of 2023, expires in the fall of 2027.