Non-DVM wages: Less is not necessarily better

With inflation running at a 3-year high (1), many veterinarians will be examining wage rates closer than ever before, in an effort to determine the best course of action in 2011. The data from the 2010 Practice Owners Economic Survey (2) reveal that lowering wages is not always the most advantageous approach for a veterinary hospital. Provinces with the highest non-DVM wages in 2010 were able to manage their staff in a way that resulted in lower employment costs. Through a combination of managing non-DVM staff per veterinarian and increasing output, provinces with higher wages were able to outperform those with lower wages, while maintaining reduced employment expenses.

The results of the 2010 Practice Owners Economic Survey provide provincial statistics for staff wages, categorized by employment type, seniority, and region of the province. This information, published by each province annually, can be obtained through the provincial VMA or the CVMA Economic Hub http://canadianveterinarians.net/national-economic-report-hub.aspx The present article explores provincial comparisons, and examines the relationship between wages, the number of staff per doctor, and productivity.

Average wages

Wage data for non-DVM employees are presented by province in Figure 1. The data reflect 2010 figures and include companion animal, mixed and large animal practices, and equine-only practices in all provinces. For each province, the “average wage” is a weighted average calculated using a staff mix that reflects the average companion animal practice in Canada.

Figure 1.

Average non-DVM wages by province.

Before adjusting for the cost of living, the highest wages in the country for 2010 were found in Alberta. The average veterinary receptionist in Alberta earned $15.00 per hour in 2010, 28% higher than receptionists in lower paying provinces such as New Brunswick and Newfoundland. Non-registered technicians in Alberta earned wages that were on par with wages earned by registered technicians in eastern Canada.

Wages in British Columbia were the second highest in Canada, running roughly $0.50 less per hour than in Alberta for clinical staff, and slightly less for administrative staff. Average wages in British Columbia were almost $1.00 less per hour than in neighboring Alberta.

Central Canada posted middle-of-the-road wages compared with the rest of Canada; Ontario and Quebec had similar receptionist wages and average wages in the $14.50 per hour range. Wages in Quebec were significantly lower than Ontario for registered animal health technicians, but higher than Ontario and all other provinces for non-registered technicians. Manitoba wages came in behind Ontario and Quebec for most staff types with the exception of animal health technologists who earned slightly higher wages than their Ontario counterparts.

Eastern Canada had the lowest non-DVM wages in 2010. Newfoundland Animal Health Technologists and receptionists in Prince Edward Island earned higher wages than in most other provinces, but other non-DVM staff in the eastern provinces earned lower wages compared with the rest of Canada.

Nationally, non-DVM wages were tilted from west coast to the east coast, with the west generally having higher wages and the east coast lower wages; central Canada rested in the middle. This trend dissolved after the cost of living adjustment was applied to wages. Instead of tilting from left to right, average cost of living adjusted wages looked more like an urban skyline with random peaks. Quebec had the highest cost of living adjusted wages, and the two richest provinces, Alberta and Ontario had the lowest. In other provinces, the balance between cost of living and wage rates ebbed and flowed with no obvious trends. Theoretically, all provinces should have similar cost of living adjusted wages, but the veterinary industry is less reactive to the cost of living. Generally speaking, provinces with a lower cost of living in the east have higher than average cost of living adjusted wages, and the provinces with the highest cost of living have lowest adjusted wages.

Wages and employment costs

Plowing through the data from the 2010 Practice Owners Economic Survey, there was no clear relationship between wages and employment costs. In fact, paradoxical results prevailed. In many practices and within various provinces, higher wages did not lead to higher employment costs. In every province, there were examples of practices that showed higher wages led to more productive staff, higher revenues, and lower overall employment costs.

There are three factors that affect employment costs in veterinary hospitals. Wage rates are the first that comes to mind; higher wages will affect employment costs. Even more important is the number of staff and staff productivity. Higher wage rates can lead to increased employment costs, but if fewer, higher paid staff can be employed, expenses can actually go down. This is precisely what happened in the provinces at either end of the pay ranges. The provinces with the highest cost of living adjusted wages, Quebec and Prince Edward Island, employed fewer staff per veterinarian and were able to hold their employment expenses (staff wages as a percentage of gross revenue) down to the lowest levels of all the provinces. The provinces with the lowest cost of living adjusted wages employed more staff per DVM and had average or higher than average employment expenses (Table 1). Ontario and Alberta show that lower cost of living adjusted wages do not automatically make for lower employment expenses. These provinces posted average or higher employment expenses even though their wages were the lowest.

Table 1.

Cost-of-living adjusted hourly wage, number of staff per DVM, and total employment expense by province

	Cost of living adjusted wage	Staff per DVM	Employment expense
QC	$16.69	2.5	19%
PEI	$15.25	1.8	15%
MB	$14.65	3.6	20%
NS	$14.64	3.3	22%
BC	$14.47	3.0	21%
NB	$14.39	2.7	19%
SK	$14.02	2.6	24%
NF	$13.86	3.3	26%
ON	$13.26	2.8	20%
AB	$12.88	3.0	21%
CANADA	$14.35	2.8	20%

With inflation running at the highest level since the beginning of the recession, there will be pressure to increase wages for 2011. Before you dole out the raises, make sure your hospital has the right complement of staff. Controlling this will have more of an impact on the bottom line than changes in wage rates. If employment expenses are above the average, the solution may not be in holding wages back, but rather, the reverse. Increasing wages, employing fewer, better-trained and more productive staff may be the solution.

Figure 2.

Cost of living adjusted average non-DVM wages.