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Press Release

Friday, April 12, 2019

Reaction by the Université de Moncton and the University of New Brunswick to Provincial Government Cutbacks to Nursing Programs

The following statement is by Dr. Jacques Paul Couturier, Interim President and Vice-Chancellor of the Université de Moncton, and Dr. Eddy Campbell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick, following the decision by the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour to eliminate $8.7 million in funding for nursing programs.

The funding reduction announced by the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour puts an end to funding agreements for nursing training programs with the Université de Moncton and the University of New Brunswick that have been in existence since 2005.

A major portion of the funding under these agreements supported the clinical training associated with the delivery of our nursing programs. Another aspect of these agreements provided support to our institutions for recruitment and training of more students (funding for additional seats). Due to various factors enrolment numbers have not attained the targets in recent years, so neither institution has been able to benefit fully from this portion of the funding.

Recent statements made by the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour that the agreement was used only to fund additional seats for students at our institutions is incorrect. In fact, a major portion of the funding was used to fund the costs of clinical training for all students in the nursing programs.

The hundreds of students that our universities graduate each year are contributing to ending the province’s nursing shortage. The government’s decision to eliminate the funding of university nursing programs in New Brunswick creates significant risk that our institutions will not be able to continue to help in this regard.

We agree with Minister Holder when he says that it is important to develop a nurse recruitment and retention strategy and our universities have been engaged in that process along with other stakeholders. We also believe that part of the solution has to include adequate funding for universities, so that we can provide a top-quality university education for New Brunswickers. We encourage the Minister to build on existing strengths of our nursing programs and work with us to develop a funding solution that will enable us to assist in solving the nursing shortfall.


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