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Vet Staffing

‘It is a good step’: $194M to vet school welcomed, but Sask. vets say staffing crisis persists

May 23, 2025 | 5:13 PM

A renewed investment in veterinary education is being welcomed in Saskatchewan, where clinics are grappling with staff shortages, growing caseloads and long wait times — and where people in the industry say solving the problem will take more than just funding.

“There’s a shortage of veterinarians right across Canada… with COVID, pet populations doubled approximately, but the number of vets has only changed marginally,” said Dr. Peter Surkan, a Prince Albert-based veterinarian and co-owner of Park Range Veterinary Services.

“So it’s created burnouts and long wait lists.”

On Thursday, the governments of Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba announced a five-year, $194-million agreement to fund the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) in Saskatoon. WCVM is one of five veterinary colleges in Canada and the only regional institution serving Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia and the northern territories.

The school currently trains 88 students each year — with 25 seats funded by Saskatchewan, 20 by Manitoba and 40 by British Columbia.

Saskatchewan increased its number of funded seats from 20 to 25 in recent years to help meet the province’s growing demand.

Dr. Gillian Muir, dean of WCVM, said the college expanded its class size from 78 to 88 in 2020 but has since hit its limit.

“We don’t have the physical space to actually expand our program and graduate more veterinarians right now,” she said. “So that’s a challenge that I’ve been working on. I mean, this funding helps us continue to do the work that we do.”

The WCVM building is now 60 years old, and Muir believes modernization is key to support future expansion. For that to happen, a feasibility study is now underway to determine what kind of infrastructure, equipment and resources would be required to grow.

Currently, all WCVM seats are reserved for domestic students.

“We don’t have the space to take international students, unfortunately,” Muir said.

She added that while expansion remains a long-term goal, the college is confident it is fulfilling its core mandate.

“Certainly we do know that across Western Canada, 80 to 85 per cent of our students of the graduating class will stay in Western Canada,” she said. “So we feel confident that we’re accomplishing what we need to do, which is to produce veterinarians for Western Canada.”

Still, Muir said demand for veterinary services continues to rise — not only from pet owners but also livestock producers, regulatory agencies and academic institutions.

“It’s really being driven by the increase in the number of pets that people have. There’s enormous demand out there for animal healthcare,” she said. “This overall shortage has put demand in those areas as well as in regulatory medicine… food inspection, academic veterinary medicine.”

Hiring instructors has also become more difficult.

“To get veterinarians to come to academia and teach our students is a challenge,” Muir said.

Surkan, who has practised for decades, said expectations in the field have risen dramatically.

“Forty years ago, it would be unusual to do complex dental work on animals and now… It’s something every day we do on small animals,” he said.

He said limited staff capacity doesn’t just affect clinics — it delays treatment for sick animals and increases frustration for pet owners.

He believes funding is a necessary step, but cautions the results won’t be immediate.

“It costs money to train, but that’s certainly the root of the issue… we’re being a little bit late in adapting the numbers of vets that we graduate out of the college,” Surkan said. “The benefit of some of these announcements… could be four to six years in the making.”

He also emphasized that recruitment and retention, especially in rural areas, depend on more than education — they require incentives and community ties.

“If a Saskatchewan graduate decides to practice in our province, they can end up having, you know, a percentage of their student loans forgiven each year over the next four years,” he said. “That’s a really valuable tool in retention.”

“Usually to get people to come to centres like ours, you have to almost grow up here,” he added. “We’ve got a few that are in the college right now that are Prince Albert kids that have expressed interest in moving back home.”

Surkan remains cautiously optimistic about the long-term impact of the renewed agreement.

“Hopefully within a few years we might be able to double our vet population in Prince Albert and get rid of some of our wait lists get a little more prompt service for people,” he said. “Those are all steps in the in the right direction… but there’s a lifetime that happens.”

Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com