Dr. John Dornan
Minister of Health for New Brunswick
Health care professionals choosing New Brunswick benefit from competitive recruitment incentives, collaborative models, and an exceptional quality of life.
Canada is facing a well-documented shortage of health care workers, and New Brunswick is addressing the challenge with a recruitment strategy designed to attract and retain health care talent. Our rapidly aging population has increased demand, many in the health workforce are approaching retirement, and burnout is common among practicing physicians due to crushing workloads. A 2024 report showed that 5.7 million Canadian adults didn’t have a regular health care provider.
“We realize that we’re in a competitive environment,” says Dr. John Dornan, Minister of Health for New Brunswick.
In response, the Government of New Brunswick has developed a recruitment plan that’s attracting health care professionals by offering competitive compensation and addressing their core needs, including sustainable careers, work-life balance, and supportive practice environments.
“We polled our health care providers and asked them, ‘What do you need to make this a place where you’d want to come and practise?’ And they responded. We took their responses as our marching orders,” says Dr. Dornan.
A collaborative care clinic model
After consulting physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and allied health professionals, the province had a clearer idea of their challenges and what they were looking for in a practice environment.
“Many primary care practitioners run a business,” says Dr. Dornan. “In addition to their patients, they have to look after overhead expenses, management expenses, employment responsibility, and paperwork. Many said this weighs them down and makes them want to retire early.”
Physicians wanted support, and with solo practice becoming less attractive, they also wanted to be able to share their clinical care with other health care providers, including nurse practitioners, nurses, other physicians, pharmacists, social workers, and dietitians.
New Brunswick’s collaborative care clinics will directly address these challenges, offering more supportive, sustainable, and team-oriented workplaces.
Collaboration, flexibility, and peer support
Team-based health care is good for health care providers, and it benefits patients as well. Collaborative care clinics can improve access to care, continuity of care, and care quality. The integration of electronic medical records, which are linked to the provincial health care system, further supports seamless, high-quality patient care.
The model is attracting new graduates and practitioners who value collaboration, flexibility, and peer support. “Modern physicians and new graduates want to be able to share and discuss cases with their colleagues,” says Dr. Dornan. “It’s a level of reassurance and cross-education. The days when a practitioner sat in a solo practice and didn’t talk to other people, we feel that those days are yesteryear.”
Driving the expansion of the collaborative care clinic model, New Brunswick offers competitive compensation packages and recruitment incentives, along with a new physician services agreement that provides one of the most attractive packages in the country.
Appealing incentives and compensation packages
Health care providers stressed the importance of appropriate remuneration in the poll, Dr. Dornan shares. “As a result, we’ve negotiated a physician services agreement that gives our colleagues one of the best rates in Atlantic Canada, if not the best rate,” he says. The new agreement also provides flexibility, with options for both salaried and fee-for-service physicians, and includes programs for parental leave and wellness.
New Brunswick offers one of Canada’s most competitive physician compensation and incentive programs. Recruitment incentives range from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on practice location.
“The recruitment incentives aren’t new in New Brunswick,” notes Dr. Dornan. “What’s new is the type of practice they can join: the collaborative care clinics.”
Building a life in New Brunswick
Beyond professional growth, New Brunswick gives health care professionals the opportunity to enjoy a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle. The province boasts a more affordable cost of living, shorter commutes for working professionals, friendly and connected communities, great schools, and a beautiful natural environment with abundant recreational activities available.
“Lifestyle is good, but lifestyle means nothing if you don’t have a good job or one that makes you happy at the end of the day,” says Dr. Dornan. “In New Brunswick, you can have both.”
Health care practitioners are already choosing New Brunswick. “Our medical school graduates are electing to stay and do residencies here, and when people are finished their residencies, they’re still staying,” says Dr. Dornan. “Physicians are joining us from other parts of the country including Ontario and Quebec, from the U.S., and even internationally.” New Brunswick’s status as Canada’s only officially bilingual province also appeals to many practitioners.
Discover how New Brunswick can help you build a rewarding health care career while enjoying an exceptional quality of life. Visit nbhealthjobs.ca to explore current opportunities.