By Cheryl Jahn

RDFFG passes resolution around vet training

Mar 2, 2022 | 2:06 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – A Labour Market Study by the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association predicts there will be a shortage of 100 vets per year in BC.

“The shortage of vets right now, we’re looking at possibly 80 to 100 a year retiring in BC. And we’re training 20 and maybe a handful more at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan,” says Lara Beckett, Director with the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. “That’s just not enough”

Currently, the Province of BC sponsors 20 students to attend the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and covers their tuition, save $11,000. Twenty new seats have come available, but the Province refuses to help with tuition. Tuition for those unsponsored seats is $69,000 per year.

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“So rather than getting the next 20 of the list, there are 12 who are able to take on what will amount to about $300,000 of debt when they graduate as opposed to just over $50,000 of debt,” says Corey Van’t Haaff, Executive Director for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. “So then it becomes an issue of ‘will they come back to practice in smaller communities or Northern Communities?’,”

That lack of response is why the Regional District of Fraser Fort George and the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District are submitting a resolution to both the Union of BC Municipalities and the North Central Local Government Association. It calls on the Province to fund those additional 20 seats.

The Ministry of Advanced Education issued a statement:

“Given the shortages we’re facing, we’re continuing to work hard with our partners to attract more veterinarians to B.C. through domestic migration and international recruitment and find ways to encourage B.C. grads to practice in high-demand regions and specialties.”

The provincial budget highlighted the need to address a looming shortage of skilled labour. Something vets are.

“Absolutely they are skills professionals. These are doctors of veterinary medicine. They’re highly skilled professionals. They have undergraduate degrees,” says Van’t Haaff.

And while the intake window for the fall session has passed, the fight will continue. And there are more plans.

“We need to look at recruiting internationally,” says Beckett. “There are rules in place, qualifications and that kind of thing that make that a bit of a challenge. So what can we do to assist international vets to come here? I think, in the longer term, we need to think about training vets in BC. We have a fabulous institution here.”