The Université de Moncton will introduce eight new positions for French-speaking medical students beginning in the autumn of 2026, bringing the total to 40 seats for Francophone students. John Dornan, the provincial health minister, emphasized the importance of providing appropriate healthcare access to New Brunswickers, especially those who only speak French. The Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick in Moncton, a collaboration between the Université de Moncton and Université de Sherbrooke, currently offers 32 seats in each incoming medical class.
The expansion aims to balance the number of French and English seats for future doctors, aligning with Dalhousie University Medicine New Brunswick’s capacity in Saint John. The addition of these seats is estimated to cost approximately $77 million. In addition to the new medical student positions, the provincial government will fund eight additional medical residency seats for post-graduate training in specialized fields, increasing the total Francophone residency seats in the province from 18 to 26 by 2030.
The government is planning to allocate $1.8 million this year and $3.6 million annually in subsequent years for the residency seats. The new seats will be distributed among family medicine and specialty teams. Cynthia Leger, a fourth-year medical student from Dieppe, expressed her desire to work within the Francophone community upon graduation. Leger, who is proficient in both French and English, hopes that the increased opportunities will encourage more Francophone medical professionals to remain in the province. Additionally, the province will allocate $4 million for infrastructure enhancements at the Université de Moncton to accommodate more medical students in the future.
