It means the province will receive about $1.2 billion a year over the next decade, instead of $1 billion — an increase of $200 million, Higgs told reporters.

That increase falls short of what Higgs and other premiers were hoping for, but the provinces have little leverage to refuse what's on offer.

The premiers "will accept that we've got something here that is far less than what we'd asked for, but we need to move forward," he said.

"There's a need to get on with it, because we've been at this for two and a half years." 

New Brunswick spends about $3.6 billion on health care each year. The increase to the Canada Health Transfer will pay for about two additional weeks per year of health care, Higgs said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flipped open a briefing book titled 'Working Meeting of First Ministers On Health Care,' as he met with Canada's premiers in Ottawa on Feb. 7 in Ottawa. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

"This doesn't begin to reflect the needs in the health-care system." 

But he said the limited amount is also a reflection of the fact that money alone won't solve the problems in the system such as staff shortages. He said major changes are also needed. 

Provinces will now look for one-on-one bilateral agreements with Ottawa that the Trudeau government has proposed that would involve additional funding in specific areas.

Those bilateral deals would earmark money for areas that each province deems a priority — but the federal government says those must include family health services, health workers and backlogs, mental health and substance use, and modernizing the system.

"I think there's going to be a pretty easy agreement on what type of priorities need to be set," Higgs said.

"The list that was provided would certainly be ones we would all agree to, so I don't think that's going to be difficult at all."

The provinces must also agree to track progress on how the money is being spent and what results it's getting, a commitment Higgs has always been willing to make.

He expects his government will meet with federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc next week to work on those deals.

"It'll be very clear in terms of what we land on, what amount goes where and how do we measure what's achieved by that, and are we getting better?" Higgs said.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said he doesn't think Ottawa will offer anything further and it's time to move forward with the agreement.

"We know the reality. The money that's there is there, so no point in dragging the feet. We're just interested in moving forward," Houston said in a separate interview on Power & Politics.

Stefanson said she's concerned about the timeframe and pointed out that there's no guarantee the funding will continue to flow after 10 years. Houston suggested the timeframe would be addressed further down the line.

"We don't want to see that drop-off and I'm sure the federal government doesn't want to see that either," Houston said. "When the time comes, we'll have to address that."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested to his colleagues at the Monday meeting that they ask Trudeau to extend those deals beyond the 10 years.

In a statement, his office said the recommendations would allow for sustainable funding that is "data-driven based on performance." Ford met with Duclos and LeBlanc last week and the statement from his office Monday said he was "confident" Ottawa would accept his proposal.

Ottawa preparing for spring budget

Ottawa intends to sign one-on-one agreements with every province and territory to tailor the deal to their unique needs. Duclos and LeBlanc have met already with officials from the Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador governments to start working toward those agreements.

LeBlanc said they will be in British Columbia on Tuesday, followed by stops in the territories and the Prairies before the end of the week.

The federal Liberals want the broad strokes of the agreements in place before the next budget, which is expected sometime in March or early April.