Lakehead veterinary program gets federal funding
The Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, or FedNor, is providing Lakehead University with a $1.5 million grant to help fund the school’s upcoming veterinary program.
The Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program is being developed in partnership with the University of Guelph as a way to help bring veterinarians into northern Ontario, where an acute lack of veterinary care has made pet ownership and livestock farming more challenging.
The facilities for the new veterinary program are currently under construction: two new buildings will house animals and their food, and other buildings will be expanded for the program’s labs, classrooms, and offices.
The $1.5 million FedNor investment will fund laboratory equipment.
“It’s an incredible contribution to this program,” says Lakehead University President and Vice Chancellor Dr. Gillian Siddall.
Siddall says that Lakehead will be ready to host its first class of veterinary students by Fall 2027.
Students will spend their first year at Lakehead before completing the remainder of their four-year program at Guelph.
In the future, the plan is for students to spend the first two years of the program at Lakehead before moving on to Guelph.
Siddall says the program will involve both “companion animals,” or pets, and large animals primarily involved in livestock agriculture.
She says the program has “a focus on northern and rural locations… with placements that reflect that.”
Minister for FedNor Patty Hajdu, who was present for the funding announcement, highlights the difficulties of finding veterinary care in northern Ontario.
“It’s hard to imagine living here if you can’t get a vet for your dog, or if you are a cattle farmer, you don’t have access to care for your cattle, for either preventative work, or for treatment of a disease… it really puts a high-risk factor in your business,” she remarks.
Hajdu says supporting the growth of veterinary care in places without sufficient access is necessary for strengthening Canada’s domestic food supply, to support the country’s new national food strategy.
“Farmers already have a very precarious set of economics,” she explains. “So we want to keep our farmers and our agricultural industry well-supported here.”
Lakehead’s new program will be the first new veterinary school in Ontario in decades: the development echoes the creation of NOSM University (The Northern Ontario School of Medicine) and the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law.
Siddall says Lakehead University understands that specialized education infrastructure is necessary to bring professionals into the region.
“Students who study in the north are much more likely to stay in the north, where they are very much needed,” she says.
