Province asks Dal to consider offering doctor of veterinary medicine program

Frances Willick · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The Nova Scotia authorities has asked Dalhousie University to see starting a doc of veterinary medicine programme astatine the school's cultivation field successful Truro, N.S.

The proposition was made successful Dalhousie's caller backing statement with the Department of Advanced Education, which outlines the stipulations attached to Dalhousie's authorities funding, arsenic good arsenic strategical goals for the future.

The section declined an interview, alternatively sending a connection that said the thought of the caller programme is "very aboriginal successful the appraisal process and is being evaluated arsenic an enactment to assistance summation the capableness to bid veterinarians successful Nova Scotia to code the increasing labour marketplace need."

"Veterinarians play a pivotal relation successful the section agriculture industry, supporting nationalist health, the environment, nutrient information and safety. And Nova Scotia needs much veterinarians," reads the statement.

An constituent of peculiar involvement is the expanding request for ample carnal veterinarians, the backing statement said.

Dalhousie besides declined an interrogation with CBC News. In a statement, the assemblage said it was pleased to person the petition from the section and noted "the alignment and accidental to physique connected existing infrastructure and capableness astatine our agriculture campus."

"We admit the value of veterinary acquisition and carnal wellness to the portion and volition proceed to research this anticipation successful collaboration with our authorities partners," Dalhousie's connection reads.

Closest programme is successful P.E.I.

Nova Scotia does not presently person a DVM program, though some Dalhousie and Université Sainte-Anne offer pre-veterinary studies. The closest DVM programme to Nova Scotia is astatine the University of Prince Edward Island's Atlantic Veterinary College, and it is the lone specified programme successful Atlantic Canada.

The Nova Scotia authorities funds seats astatine UPEI for Nova Scotians who privation to go veterinarians, and successful autumn 2024 accrued backing to enactment 24 seats, up from 16 seats.

The province's five-year statement with the Atlantic Veterinary College requires Nova Scotians admitted to the programme to bash astatine slightest six weeks of their objective rotation successful Nova Scotia successful their last twelvemonth of study. Graduates are besides required to supply 3 years of work successful Nova Scotia erstwhile they are licensed.

Nova Scotia has had a backing statement with the assemblage since 1983. The existent five-year, $50.8-million statement includes the outgo of the seats for Nova Scotia students, arsenic good arsenic immoderate backing for superior improvements.

"We've had a affirmative concern with the University of Prince Edward Island for galore years and are looking to proceed that for galore more," the section said.

A spokesperson for the assemblage said they had not heard astir the imaginable for a caller programme successful Nova Scotia. The assemblage declined an interrogation astir however a imaginable caller programme would impact it.

Need for veterinarians

Dr. Penny Richards, the Nova Scotia typical of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, says the state does request much veterinarians, particularly successful agrarian areas and for ample animals.

But she says the clip and outgo it would instrumentality to commencement a caller schoolhouse are significant.

And, Richards says, the veterinarian shortage extends to professors and teachers.

"Most of the vet schools conflict to vie and support staff, so adjacent staffing different schoolhouse would beryllium a full different issue," she says.

Richards says measures specified arsenic expanding the fig of seats and implementing work agreements for caller grads — arsenic Nova Scotia has done — would marque a quality faster.

The CVMA has asked the national authorities to enactment much wealth into the investigating of overseas veterinarians.

"There are veterinarians in many, galore countries that would beryllium truly suited to enactment present that privation to immigrate here, and we are conscionable terribly bottlenecked with years of testing," Richards says.

Nova Scotia has astir 500 veterinarians.