Manitoba's premier and health minister say $19.5 million will be used to create many more nursing student spots across the province.

Premier Heather Stefanson says this is part of a two-year plan to add close to 400 nursing seats across Manitoba, expanding the number of nursing spots by roughly 50 per cent to more than 800 seats.

"The new seats will be located throughout the province in addition to campuses in Winnipeg, Brandon, and Thompson, another five communities in rural and northern Manitoba will benefit from these new nursing seats closer to home," Stephenson says.

stephansonManitoba's premier is thanking healthcare workers for their work during the pandemic. (Screenshot: Government of Manitoba/YouTube)

The University of Manitoba will see the largest increase in seats, set to get 120 new spots.

At Université de Saint-Boniface, where the Wednesday press conference is being held, will get 15 more bachelor of nursing and licensed practical nursing seats. President Dr. Sophie Bouffard says this is important for francophone and bilingual Manitobans, allowing there to be more French-speaking nurses to offer service in the language.

Other schools such as Assiniboine Community College in Portage la Prairie will get more practical nursing spots (55), and Brandon University in Brandon (32) will see more registered nursing and registered psychiatric nursing spots.

"Our government is committed to building a better healthcare system for all Manitobans, that includes a strong nursing workforce that is able to care for our health needs with skills and compassion now and into the future."

Echoing the premier almost word for word, Health Minister Audrey Gordon says "our government remains committed to creating a better healthcare system for all Manitobans, and that healthcare system will include a strong nursing workforce,"

Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration Minister Wayne Ewasko says there have been issues recruiting and retaining nurses for the past two decades, hoping the new spots help with this.

Gordon says they will be introducing the province's first undergraduate nursing employee program and have added 60 new ICU nursing positions to hospitals in Winnipeg and Brandon, including at the Health Sciences Centre.