UNB News
News and stories from one of Canada’s top universities

UNB and Province of New Brunswick enter 10-year nursing funding agreement

Author: UNB Newsroom

Posted on Mar 21, 2022

Category: UNB Fredericton , UNB Saint John

The University of New Brunswick and the provincial government have entered into a 10-year funding agreement focused on increasing the number of graduates from UNB’s bachelor of nursing programs.

Through the agreement with Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL), UNB will receive $35,000 for each nursing graduate above the current yearly baseline of 155, to a maximum of 206 graduates per year. This could result in $1.785 million in funding yearly.

“UNB and the Province of New Brunswick have a shared vision of solving the grand challenges of New Brunswick’s health care system and this agreement is a step in the right direction,” says Dr. Paul J. Mazerolle, UNB’s president and vice-chancellor. “Our nursing programs are on a path of growth and focus on meeting the needs of New Brunswickers. This is another example of how UNB and the provincial government are working together to provide a high-quality education and create additional opportunities to keep nurses in our province.”

The funding applies to seats in bachelor of nursing programs on UNB’s Fredericton and Saint John campuses, as well as its Moncton site. The agreement was announced on March 21 on the Saint John campus with representatives from UNB, the provincial government and Horizon Health in attendance.

UNB has already implemented several creative approaches to increase enrolment in its nursing programs, including the accelerated Advanced Standing Program and the “learn where you live” model, which brings the classroom to students in their communities.

“Our greatest source of new nurses is through our bachelor of nursing programs and we’ve made it a priority to work with our universities to increase enrollments and graduates,” said PETL Minister Trevor Holder. “We understand there is a cost associated with training new nurses and we’re pleased to partner with UNB and provide additional performance-based funding.”

“This is an investment in the future of our health care,” said Health Minister Dorothy Shephard. “These financial incentives will help our universities to recruit and engage the next generation of nurses towards fulfilling careers.”

The university will be required to submit reports to PETL on an annual basis, demonstrating and validating it has been able to increase the number of successful graduates above the baseline threshold, and to detail successes or barriers to meeting its goal.

The agreement is in line with the enhancement of nursing education in New Brunswick action item as part of the Nursing Resources Strategy released in 2019. It is also in line with the Auditor General’s 2019 recommendation that PETL provide funding only after desired outcomes or targets have been achieved.

Photo: (L-R) Trevor Holder, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour, Dr. John Dornan, Horizon Health president and CEO, Dorothy Shephard, Minister of Health, Dr. Petra Hauf, UNB’s vice-president Saint John, Dr. Kathy Wilson, UNB’s acting vice-president academic (Fredericton), and Dr. Paul Mazerolle, UNB’s president and vice-chancellor. Credit: James Walsh