The four Atlantic premiers met over the long weekend to discuss a number of issues including a new regional registry for physicians and surgeons.

During a news conference in Charlottetown on Monday, Prince Edward Island premier Dennis King, meeting host and chair of the Council of Atlantic Premiers, said the registry will officially launch on May 1st.

Physicians can opt-in to the Atlantic registry and will be able to practice seamlessly in all four provinces without any additional licensing requirements.

“To improve mobility within the region and to cut down on the unnecessary red tape and administrative burden for physicians who want to work within the region in any of our health care systems,” said King.

Immigration was also on the agenda as King noted how the region can build on the successful Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program.

“The four of us see continued opportunities to extend this program for an expedited pathway for foreign health care workers and other areas for streamlining the immigration process.”

The premiers will be contacting federal Immigration minister Sean Fraser to join a planned Atlantic Immigration Summit to discuss further opportunities.

Also during their meeting, the premiers talked about the need to increase the supply of housing in the region, collectively supporting those who are experiencing homelessness, the importance of reliable and affordable regional air routes and how critical it is to have a resilient 911 system given the recent Bell outages.