Is there really a shortage of veterinarians in Canada? If so, what are we going to do?

There has been incessant clamor that there is a shortage of veterinarians in Canada. However, this has been mostly anecdotal, based on conversations with veterinarians looking to hire veterinarians, or through perusal of classified sections of professional publications. Evidence to support such a case has been largely lacking until the recently completed 2020 CVMA Workforce Study (1). The shortage is claimed to be in every sector of the veterinary profession and across Canada. I will leave Quebec out of this discussion, because of its unique situation.

Despite a lack of credible evidence to support the case for a shortage of veterinarians, there are many solutions being offered to address the issue. For example, a proposed panacea is to increase enrollment in veterinary colleges in Canada. After a long pause in the creation of a new veterinary college since the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) was established (more than 150 years ago), Canada has opened 3 new colleges since the 1960s, with each opening roughly 20 years apart. This has expanded the annual number of graduating veterinarians by nearly 160, in addition to those from the OVC. Alberta’s funding of 50 veterinary seats singlehandedly accounts for nearly 1/3 of non-OVC enrollment in Canada.

The other source of veterinarians in Canada has been through immigration, mostly by graduates of veterinary colleges not accredited by the Council on Education (COE) of the American Veterinary Medical Association. These veterinarians undergo a series of examinations to gain a Certificate of Qualification (CQ) from the National Examining Board (NEB) of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, to become qualified as veterinarians in Canada. According to NEB data, from 2007 to 2020, a total of 1150 CQ have been issued to graduates of non-COE accredited colleges (average: 88/year). This is more than the annual combined number of graduating veterinarians from the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) and the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM). Therefore, Canada has benefited substantially from well-crafted immigration policies that attract educated professionals, in this case veterinarians, to Canada, to grow our economic enterprise and provide services for agriculture and companion animals.

In addition to immigrant veterinarians, a growing number of Canadians are pursuing veterinary medical training in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, or the US in colleges accredited by the COE. Whereas a total of 437 such veterinarians obtained CQ from the NEB from 2007 to 2016 (average: 43/year), there has been a major increase from 2017 to 2019 (average: 144 CQ/year). This has made a substantial contribution to the supply of veterinarians in Canada.

Taken together, annual contributions of graduates of non-Canadian veterinary colleges to Canada’s veterinary supply averaged approximately 156/year from 2007 to 2019, equal to the combined annual output of AVC, the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM), and the UCVM. Although we will not know for some time, perhaps this robust supply of veterinarians is starting to mitigate the perceived shortage and will eventually balance out the demand and supply scenario.

However, if we take the argument at its face value that there is a shortage of veterinarians across all the sectors and the growing supply of veterinarians from non-Canadian veterinary colleges has not and will not mitigate the shortfall, what shall we do?

First, should another college be opened, considering many Canadians go to COE-accredited veterinary colleges in other countries? I believe there is a case to be made for that, especially in light of the success of the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The UCVM stands as an example of an innovative and courageous pedagogic model, now copied by many other colleges. It also stands out as a unique experiment in partnership with the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association and the broader veterinary community in Alberta, in the education of veterinary students. Second, addition of a college adds dozens of highly specialized basic and clinical veterinary specialists to the research and innovation sector who can work with other health professionals to solve “wicked” problems such as antimicrobial resistance, food safety, and environmental health. Yes, we do gain some efficiency by adding more students to existing programs, but that does not expand infrastructure which creates more capacity for research and disease surveillance. Lastly, co-location of veterinary medical programs with medical schools, as done at Calgary, or with other programs such as public policy or environmental sciences creates cutting-edge interdisciplinary programs.

Second, while the long-term idea of opening a new veterinary college is deliberated, provincial governments could add more seats to the existing veterinary colleges. Based on the demand for veterinarians across western Canada, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba could easily add 20 seats to the program at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and Alberta could fund an additional 10 seats at University of Calgary. Arguably, British Columbia should add 20 additional seats to the veterinary program in Saskatoon; despite having a population similar to that of Alberta, that funds 50 seats, it has traditionally funded only 20 seats per year. Therefore, the time has come for British Columbia to take its responsibility of funding veterinary medicine more seriously, considering ownership of a large number of animals, including thriving dairy and poultry industries.

Lastly, I have personally observed both passive and active reluctance of Canadian veterinary colleges to create any education programs for Canadian immigrants who are graduates of non-COE accredited veterinary programs; this needs to change if not for the reason of helping immigrant veterinarians then to address the issue of shortage of veterinarians. The time has come for Canadian veterinary colleges to create a training program for Canadian immigrant veterinarians, especially in light of recent changes to the licensure pathways for veterinary medicine. This would rapidly expand the supply of veterinarians. For example, one could envision enrolling these candidates into the 4th year of a DVM program, after they have passed their two required theory examinations. If each veterinary school were to open 5 spots for such a program, the 4 colleges in English Canada could graduate a total of 20 additional veterinarians each year.

In summation, we need a combination of approaches to alleviate the long-standing and growing shortage of veterinarians. To attain the long-term annual growth of 3.5% to 4% in the supply of veterinarians recommended in the CVMA Workforce Study (1), there is a need for close and active collaboration among provincial and federal governments, the professional veterinary organizations, and the veterinary colleges.