Alberta's College of Physicians and Surgeon's say there are 247 more doctors practicing in Alberta as of the end of September as compared to the same time last year.

Those numbers fly in the face of opposition claims of doctors fleeing the province in droves because of the UCP's current dispute with doctors.

Of the new doctors, nine returned to Alberta, while 13 left the province, while nine either gave up their licenses or were suspended, 22 retired and three died.

142 are newly licensed doctors, who were trained in Alberta, 139 are newly licensed in the province but were trained somewhere else, and four are doctors who had their names reinstated.

Overall there are 11,152 doctors in Alberta.

Broken down by gender there was a net gain of 173 female doctors and 73 male doctors.

In a release Health Minister Tyler Shandro says he's not surprised at the increase reported by the College.

“This report shows that doctors continue to choose to live and practise in Alberta in impressive numbers – and for good reason. Alberta pays more than any other province, has lower taxes, and now has the most attractive compensation package available for rural and remote doctors in Canada.”

Read the full report HERE.