The number of people on Nova Scotia’s Need a Family Practice Registry has dropped to its lowest since 2022, with 145,114 individuals still waiting to be connected to a primary care provider as of early October.

This marks a decrease from 164,489 in September.

In September, 11,501 people found a primary care provider, the highest monthly connection rate since the registry began.

Nova Scotia Health attributes additional reductions to updates confirming that some residents already had providers or had moved out of the province.

Premier Tim Houston expressed cautious optimism, noting the arrival of about 10 new family doctors this month. “What were seeing now is the result of investments we’ve made and now we are starting to see some of that progress,” Houston said.

The province is expected to provide another update on the doctor’s waitlist at the start of November.