Health & Healthcare

Health staffing platforms

Here's what the 2025 Newfoundland & Labrador election parties are promising.

Liberal
  • Create a dedicated crown corporation to recruit and retain health professionals, including providing them with wraparound settlement supports

    "A re-elected Liberal government will establish a dedicated crown corporation tasked with health professional recruitment, retention, and workforce planning.

    This organization will work directly with NLHS, provincial and federal government departments, as well as labour organizations and licensing bodies to address vacancies across all health care disciplines. It will focus on local education and training capacities, international recruitment, credential recognition, and immigration support. Wraparound settlement support will also be coordinated – ensuring housing needs, spousal employment assistance and community integration. This strategy will be informed by the health human resources plan, as well as the core staffing review currently underway."

    — nlliberals.ca, retrieved 2025-10-02

  • Cover tuition costs for practicum courses for NL nursing students

    "To support our next generation of nurses and provide them certainty, we will cover the costs of tuition associated with all practicum courses for Newfoundland and Labrador nursing students. This will reduce the costs associated with studying for future nurses who sign a two-year return to service agreement. This will apply to those studying for RN, LPN and NP licensure, and we will work with other high-demand health professions to ensure they are supported in their studies as well." — nlliberals.ca, retrieved 2025-10-02

  • Offer all graduating nurses full-time permanent positions in NL

    "This year, we offered all nursing students a full-time permanent position in the province. We will continue this with a commitment to offer all graduating nurses full-time permanent positions in Newfoundland and Labrador." — nlliberals.ca, retrieved 2025-10-02

  • Introduce a permanent nurse travel locum programme to serve rural, remote, and underserved communities

    "Building from the success of pilot projects, a re-elected Liberal Government will also introduce a permanent travel locum program that will benefit all regions of the province. This will help address nursing shortages and improve access to care in rural, remote, and underserved communities." — nlliberals.ca, retrieved 2025-10-02

  • Establish an Independent Health Sector Safety Council

    "Our government will also establish an Independent Health Sector Safety Council to provide oversight to protect health care workers and patients." — nlliberals.ca, retrieved 2025-10-02

  • Show 2 more promises...
  • Work with labour organisations to ensure safe working hours for healthcare workers
  • Work towards eliminating mandated overtime for healthcare workers

PC
  • Provide paid work terms for students training in medical and healthcare professions
  • Add 50 more spaces to the MUN School of Nursing

    "Add 50 seats to our nursing school. We will train, recruit and retain more local nurses so that we can end the reliance on costly out-of-province travel nurse agencies." — For All of Us, retrieved 2025-10-08

  • Double the size of the Nurse Practitioner programme
  • Provide job offers to healthcare students at the beginning of their studies, if they're training in a programme where there are staff shortages

    "Recruit additional healthcare workers by providing every student, training in a program where there are staff shortages, an offer of employment at the beginning of their studies." — For All of Us, retrieved 2025-10-08

  • Refund tuition for healthcare workers who work in the province after finishing their studies
  • Show 3 more promises...
  • Increase the number of seats at the MUN medical school, to train more doctors

    "Double the size of our province’s nurse practitioner program and train more doctors by increasing the number of seats in our medical school." — For All of Us, retrieved 2025-10-08

  • Create and follow a Health Human Resource Plan, publicly outlining the mix of healthcare providers needed, and where and when they're needed

    "Create and follow a Health Human Resource Plan. This will publicly outline the mix of health- care providers who are needed, where they are needed, and when they are needed. Health- care workers themselves will be involved in creating this plan." — For All of Us, retrieved 2025-10-08

  • Provide overhead support and incentives to nurse practitioners and family doctors from other provinces who come to NL

    "Bring nurse practitioners and family doctors here — and keep them here. We’ll make Newfoundland and Labrador the place they want to build their careers, with overhead support and incentives to help them set up clinics and help patients." — For All of Us, retrieved 2025-10-08

NDP
  • Recruit an additional 1,000 healthcare workers over four years

    "We’ll launch our NL Cares health plan to recruit an additional 1000 healthcare workers over four years – bolstering our frontline staff and getting patients the care they need, when they need it." — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Ensure paid work terms for NL healthcare students

    "We’ll ensure paid work terms for NL healthcare students – integrating our healthcare students into our healthcare system early on in their careers." — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Work with front-line healthcare staff to develop effective safe hours legislation
  • Set up an independent council to address health and safety issues in the healthcare sector, including workplace violence

    "Set up an independent Health Sector Safety Council to deal with workplace violence and other health and safety issues specific to the healthcare sector" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Give healthcare workers greater power to self-schedule, where appropriate

    "Make shift flexibility a reality by giving healthcare workers greater power to self- schedule (where appropriate)" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Show 9 more promises...
  • Review the Job Evaluation System applied to allied health professionals

    "Commit to a review of the Job Evaluation System applied to allied health professionals in 2015" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Prioritise recruiting allied health professionals

    "Reduce the burden on healthcare within the system by making it a priority to recruit allied health professionals and others to reduce workloads" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Expand the nurse travel locum programme province-wide to provide primary care in rural and remote areas
  • Create 20 new seats at Memorial's Medical School
  • Implement support and mentorship systems for new health profession graduates
  • Restore the full-time recruiter position in the MUN Medical School for physicians, and hire one dedicated to nursing schools and another dedicated to allied health professionals

    "Restore the full-time recruiter position in the MUN Medical School for physicians, and hire one specifically devoted to nursing schools, and one for other healthcare professionals and other identified worker positions in the healthcare system" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Merge all medical recruiters into a single Office for Medical Professional Recruitment

    "Merge the new recruiters and those in the regions of NLHS into a single Office for Medical Professional Recruitment to avoid duplicating effort, to work together on common goals, and to share expertise and resources" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Start recruitment initiatives in medical and nursing students' first years

    "Start recruitment initiatives early, by building relationships with medical and nursing students in their first year" — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

  • Create bursaries and accommodations allowances to ensure vacant seats in smaller nursing schools are filled every year

    "Create bursaries and accommodations allowances to ensure that vacant seats in smaller nursing schools outside St. John’s and Corner Brook are filled every year." — A Better Deal for People in Newfoundland and Labrador, retrieved 2025-09-27

Looking for the parties' positions on other topics?

See our full 2025 Newfoundland & Labrador election platform comparison