The Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments are paying up to help address the ongoing shortage of veterinarians that is hitting rural areas especially hard.
The two provinces are increasing their funding to educate more students in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s (WCVM) Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program at the University of Saskatchewan, the university said in a release Thursday. The Saskatchewan government will increase its number of subsidized student seats at WCVM to 25 from the current 20 starting in 2023-24, while Manitoba announced plans to add five seats for a total of 20.
The WCVM accepts 88 veterinary students to its DVM program each year. Through the veterinary college’s Interprovincial Agreement (IPA) with Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia, each province has an annual quota of seats in the DVM program based on a cost-sharing formula.
“We welcome this commitment from our provincial partners that will help to address Western Canada’s urgent need for more veterinarians,” said WCVM Dean Dr. Gillian Muir.
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