The New Brunswick government has signed an agreement to fund training seats for allied health programs in Nova Scotia, with the hope students will return post-graduation. The $21-million deal over five-years with the Nova Scotia government will fund 57 English-language training seats for New Brunswick students in nine allied head programs at Halifax’s Dalhousie University, including: None of the training programs are currently offered in New Brunswick. This is the first time New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have signed a formal seat agreement for allied health programs. “Which means we then have New Brunswickers, who haven’t gone too far away from home, that we can bring back into our healthcare system,” said Premier Susan Holt at an announcement in Fredericton on Tuesday. “This investment in the training for New Brunswickers is really going to help us fill the critical vacancies we have in our healthcare workforce today.” There’s no specific commitment in the agreement for students to work in New Brunswick once they have finished their studies in Nova Scotia. Jean-Claude D’Amours, minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour, said he was confident students would return to the province post-graduation. “We will work closely with those students to be sure they have a place and an offer to work in New Brunswick,” said D’Amours. “The first step was really for us in the province to have an agreement with the government of Nova Scotia, and having seats for our students.” Kelly O’Donnell, owner of Foundation Health Centre P.C., said it’s been a challenge in recent years to hire staff at the Fredericton-based clinic. “Ensuring that we have enough seats, and are guaranteed seats, then hopefully that’s going to be our first step to ensuring we have more people coming back and helping with our community, to these excellent services that we can all provide,” said O’Donnell. Nova Scotia Advanced Education Minister Brendan Maguire said the agreement was an example of regional cooperation. “Working together helps remove barriers between our provinces, strengthens our collective health-care workforce, and ensures more students can train and build their careers in the communities that need them most,” said Maguire in a written statement. Altogether, the New Brunswick government will fund a total of 98 allied health training seats next fall, including 41 French language allied health training seats at universities in Quebec. The New Brunswick government announced in September it was working with Université de Moncton to create the province’s first physiotherapy training program. The four-year program will start accepting students from the 2027-2028 academic year. The government will phase out its funding of nine physiotherapy seats in Quebec and transition them to the Moncton program while creating three more for a total of 12. The government says, based on labour market forecasts, New Brunswick will need more than 200 physiotherapists over the next decade due to increased demand and retirements. -With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Sean Mott. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
