July 31, 2024

Dear Dr. Manitoba,



I’m reaching out to share exciting news about new and expanded benefits and rebates available to you at Doctors Manitoba. 

A year ago, we landed a new and historic Physician Services Agreement with the Manitoba government, with significant funding increases for medical services. This includes an expansion of existing physician benefit and rebate programs, including a bigger and better rebate for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) expenses, and a new benefit to recognize ongoing service in rural and northern communities. 

You will be able to claim the new rebates next month when you renew your membership with Doctors Manitoba. Also, your Board of Directors has approved freezing membership rates for this year, helping to keep our professional association fees among the lowest in the country.

CPD Rebates

As physicians, we never stop learning. Times have changed, however, and how we pursue our ongoing education has changed as well. 

The Board recently approved a major redesign of our traditional Continuing Medical Education (CME) rebate to offer a bigger and better option to all fully licensed members of Doctors Manitoba. Based on feedback from members, we are simplifying the rules about eligible expenses, improving the claims submission process, and increasing the overall total members can qualify for each year. 

Starting this year, you will be able to claim up to $5,000 combined from two new CPD rebates:

• A $1,000 CPD Credit Rebate, claimable by any fully licensed physician who has completed their minimum annual CPD requirement.
• A CPD Expenses Rebate of up to $4,000 to cover the costs of expenses incurred primarily to support your continuing education.

You can claim your $1,000 CPD Credit Rebate in August as part of your annual membership renewal with Doctors Manitoba. We will send details on the CPD Expenses Rebate this fall, but I want you to know we have tried to reduce the administrative burden while helping more physicians claim larger rebates on their expenses. 

Here’s a quick summary of how the new CPD rebates offer improvements over the existing CME rebate:

If you are a member of a collective agreement, we are working on transitioning your CPD expense claims to Doctors Manitoba. You are eligible for the new $1,000 CPD Credit Rebate like all other physicians, on top of your current CPD expense limits. We will be in touch with you about this later this year. You will not see your current expense limits reduced with this transition.

Rural and Northern Retention Benefit

Another new benefit for physicians is our Rural and Northern Retention Benefit, with an anticipated payment of at least $25,000 for three years of continuous service. While the first payments won’t come until late 2026, after the first three years of service, you can start claiming your annual credits towards this new benefit next month. 

As part of our new renewal process, physicians will be able to confirm their eligibility for the first year of the Rural and Northern Retention Benefit. 

Keep an eye out for your Doctors Manitoba membership renewal letter in early August, because starting this year it pays to renew.

Sincerely,

Dr. Randolph Guzman, M.D. FRCSC, FACS, RVT, RPVI, ICD.D

President