Source: Government of Canada regional news
Government of Yukon and Yukon Medical Association entering negotiations on next Memorandum of Understanding
jlutz
March 17, 2025 – 11:45 am
The Government of Yukon and the Yukon Medical Association (YMA) will soon begin negotiations for a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), reaffirming their commitment to collaboration and strengthening the sustainability of the Yukon’s health care system.
The negotiations will focus on key priorities, including improving access to quality health care services across the territory, representational rights for physicians and any necessary legislative changes and ensuring fair and sustainable compensation. These discussions will also support broader system sustainability efforts, such as recruiting and retaining physicians, making it easier for Yukoners to find a family doctor and strengthening team-based care so people can see the right health care provider when they need it.
These negotiations will also help align future agreements with the shift towards a territorial health authority, called Shäw Kwä’ą / Health and Wellness Yukon / Santé et mieux-être Yukon. This includes reducing administrative burdens for both physicians and government, ensuring health care information is accurate and reliable across the system and ensuring initiatives support the recommendations outlined in the Putting People First report.
The Yukon Medical Association and the Government of Yukon have agreed the current MOU will remain in effect beyond March 31, 2025, until a new agreement is negotiated and ratified. The current MOU has contributed to improving equity in health care services and enhancing physician supports in the territory.
The Government of Yukon is looking forward to beginning negotiations with the Yukon Medical Association. We are pleased to have a negotiating mandate that provides an opportunity to strengthen our partnership and advance key priorities, including representational rights and necessary legislative changes, to ensure a strong, accessible and sustainable health care system for all Yukoners.
Minister of Health and Social Services Tracy-Anne McPhee
The Yukon Medical Association looks forward to collaborating with the Government of Yukon to establish a new Memorandum of Understanding. By working together, we can prioritize improving access and attachment to family doctors, ensure sustainability of medical services and achieve equity across payment models. The YMA is confident that supporting representational rights will advance these priorities and improve medical care for Yukoners during the transformation of our health care system.
President of the Yukon Medical Association Dr. Derek Bryant
Quick facts
-
The Yukon Medical Association represents physicians across the territory, advocating for professional standards and the delivery of quality health care.
-
The current three-year Memorandum of Understanding, in effect from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2025, includes initiatives such as the Attachment and Attraction Program, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Learning Program and commitments to collaborative maternity and early years care.
-
The upcoming negotiations will focus on issues such as sustainable health care service delivery, representational rights and necessary legislative changes, and fee structures.
Media contact
Laura Seeley
Cabinet Communications
867-332-7627
laura.seeley@yukon.ca
Nigel Allan
Communications, Health and Social Services
867-332-9576
nigel.allan@yukon.ca
News release #:
25-117
Related information:
Yukon Medical Association
Shäw Kwä’ą / Health and Wellness Yukon / Santé et mieux-être Yukon