Yellowknife, N.W.T. - The latest round of negotiations between the GNWT and an employment association has ended with a new deal.

The NWT Medical Association has agreed to a four-year deal with the territorial government after both sides ratified the deal May 8.

This new deal is retroactively applicable as of April 1.

The deputy minister for the Department of Health and Social Services, Debbie Delancey, said four years is what the GNWT was looking for in the new deal.

"It gives them stability, it gives the ability to plan and certainly in the discussions with the medical association I think they were amenable to that,” she said.

The new deal contains pay increases from one per cent in year one to three per cent in the final year and also includes better benefits for parental leave, among other things.

"In the histories of our departments’ negotiations with the medical association, I'm not sure if this is the fastest an agreement has ever been reached, but if it is not a record, it's certainly one of the speediest processes we've had," said Delancey.

In a press release, NWTMA president Doctor Peter Mcarthur said the agreement was "fair and reasonable."

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