The Manitoba Government is kick-starting the province's Rural Doctor Recruitment Fund. It's all part of the NDP's healthcare investments highlighted in its inaugural budget on Tuesday.

"I was at Boundary Trails within the past couple of weeks and (I'm) excited to see that expansion continuing. We're committed to that, along with others at Bethesda and Portage and Brandon and Neepawa. So, we know that there's going to be a huge need, as these new facilities come online, to have the staff," explained Premier Wab Kinew.

According to the Premier, previous cuts to the program put pressure on municipalities to put their own funding packages together in order to entice physicians to work in their communities.

"So, we've decided to reverse that cut. We're adding money to the Rural Doctor Recruitment Fund and the hope is not only is that going to bring more physicians to the larger centers, whether that's BTHC or Steinbach or Portage, but also that when a smaller community like Carberry or Melita needs to put out an offer to recruit a physician to come to town, that the province is going to be there as a partner and we're going to have money to help entice those people to come work in your local community."

Overall, the Province plans to hire 100 doctors, 210 nurses, 90 paramedics and 600 health care aides over the next year, with investments to retain and train even more.

"People are asking, how? It's straightforward. This is the amount of people we have in training programs across the province right now, whether they're medical, nursing, or healthcare professional programs," explained Premier Wab Kinew on Friday's edition of the Premier Report. "We're going to put a job offer in each of these people's hands, and hire them on the frontline."

Also in Tuesday's budget, a commitment to make communities healthier and safer with a $116 million investment in building and maintaining social and affordable housing.

Premier Kinew says his government is making $80 million dollars available this year to build and maintain social and affordable housing throughout Manitoba.

"We've got $70 million for the Manitoba Housing units that the government runs ourselves, to build new units and then also to fix up old ones or ones that are currently closed. So, that's going to affect thousands of housing units this year."

A second fund, worth $10 million, will be made available to municipalities and other local organizations to either acquire old buildings and fix them up to be new housing units, or to just build new rentals.

"And so, that $10 million stream, the door is open for a community like Winkler and others across the region and across Manitoba, to be able to use those funds to build new housing units," added the Premier.

The NDP Government also announced plans to help address the labour shortages in Manitoba by issuing 9,500 skilled worker nominations through the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) this year. This is a goal where the previous PC government fell short.

"Let me say at the outset how important immigration is to our economy and to the fabric of our society," said Kinew. "And when you look at the areas where Golden West broadcasts, the Pembina Valley, Steinbach, across a huge chunk of the province, these are also the areas that are seeing huge immigration levels coming to Manitoba. So, we know it's a big priority."

"We looked back at that number last year and why Manitoba wasn't able to hit that target, and it really came down to the staff who process the MPNP applications," added the Premier.

As a result, the Manitoba Government has set aside $1 million in the budget to hire additional staff to process more applications.

"We know that there's all sorts of challenges, both in terms of recruiting skilled workers and making sure we turn around the provincial nominee applications in time," said Kinew. "Plus, the federal government has handed down a whole bunch of changes with international students that's also causing a lot of uncertainty for people. But, what I would say, the long and short of it is we're investing in the staff who can ensure that we're going to hit the targets that we need to hit when it comes to immigration. That will benefit local communities. That will benefit local employers."

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