Newfoundland and Labrador offering expat doctors $100,000 to come home to practise
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is offering up big money in an effort to entice doctors, nurses and paramedics working outside the province to move back home.
Doctors who were born, educated, trained or who had previous practices in the province are eligible for $100,000 if they agree to return to Newfoundland and Labrador to work for at least five years. Nurses and paramedics meeting the same criteria will qualify for a payment of at least $50,000 if they commit for three years, the government announced Tuesday.
"If they've got a connection, they're more likely to stay," Health Minister Tom Osborne told reporters.
"This is a recruitment incentive," Osborne added. "There are also retention issues that we're working on."
Like many provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador's health-care system is buckling under the weight of labour shortages. Emergency rooms in rural parts of the province have been intermittently closed throughout the summer and fall as the province struggles to find doctors to keep them open.
Polling from the province's medical association estimates that nearly a quarter of residents are without a family doctor.
The province calls the latest recruitment initiative Come Home 2022. The name comes from its Come Home Year 2022 tourism campaign launched last year to encourage those who have moved away to come home for a visit.
Though the main thrust of the campaign is to lure expatriate Newfoundland and Labrador health-care workers, there are incentives for professionals without connections to the province. Doctors in that group can qualify for $50,000 if they agree to the five-year commitment, while nurses and paramedics can get up to $30,000 for three years, depending on their credentials, Osborne said.
"It is in addition to any other incentive," he said. "We've done this to make us the most competitive."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.