The 2025 Physician Main Agreement (PMA) includes annual increases to provincial sessional and honoraria rates for physicians amounting to 12% over four years, starting on April 1, 2025:
- April 1, 2025: 6.0%
- April 1, 2026: 3.0%
- April 1, 2027: 2.0%
- April 1, 2028: 1.0%
At their June meeting, the JCC co-chairs approved parallel increases to the JCC physician sessional rates to align with the PMA.
As a result, the hourly sessional rates for eligible physicians when participating in JCC meetings, initiatives, projects, and activities, change as outlined:
- April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025: $176.18
- April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026: $186.75
- April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027: $192.35
- April 1, 2027 to March 31, 2028: $196.20
- April 1, 2028, to March 31, 2029: $198.16
Any physicians who have been paid JCC sessional or honoraria rates since April 1, 2025, will receive retroactive payments reflecting these yearly increases. These payments may come from multiple sources, depending on the activities, timeline, and program in question.
Background
The JCC sessional rate was established in 2020 as distinct from the clinical sessional rates. The JCC co-chairs and Physician Services Committee decided that family physicians and specialist physicians would be compensated for their time at the same rate, given all physicians bring equivalent leadership and strategic skills to the work.
The JCC rate is mandatory for all quality and system improvement activities (i.e., non-clinical work) on behalf of the JCCs. The JCC rate is not applicable for physicians’ clinical work or work funded by other organizations, such as the Ministry of Health.