Student recruitment begins for Lakehead University's new veterinary medicine program

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 23, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Lakehead University students successful Thunder Bay volition soon beryllium sharing the field with cows, horses, sheep and dogs.

The university, successful concern with the University of Guelph, is starting recruitment for the caller collaborative doc of veterinary medicine program.

"There is simply a shortage of vets generally, but there's a a truly urgent request for vets successful bluish Ontario," said Gillian Siddall, Lakehead's president and vice-chancellor. "We cognize that we request much vets to look aft our pets, but arsenic important is the agri-food concern successful this portion and close crossed Northern Ontario."

"In Thunder Bay, for example, there's lone 1 vet session that works with ample animals, and that is perfectly insufficient. So we're truly blessed to beryllium portion of a process that's going to guarantee that determination are much vets moving successful the north."

Lakehead volition begin construction connected a caller ample carnal acquisition installation successful aboriginal summer, Siddall said. It volition beryllium located down the Faculty of Education gathering connected the Thunder Bay campus.

"That's wherever the cows and the sheep and the horses and dogs volition beryllium housed," Siddall said. The task volition besides repurpose immoderate existing abstraction for labs, classrooms and pupil spaces. 

The archetypal students volition statesman successful 2025. But those who enrol successful the programme successful 2025 and 2026 volition implicit each 4 years successful Guelph while the Lakehead University installation is nether construction. 

After that, students volition bash the archetypal 2 years successful Thunder Bay and the 2nd 2 years successful Guelph.

"If you could materialize 5 full-time veterinarians close present successful Thunder Bay, they would beryllium afloat booked tomorrow," Dr. Domenic Sanzo, veterinarian and spouse astatine Thunder Bay Veterinary Hospital, said successful a media release.

"Some radical mightiness accidental you'd privation each those veterinarians astatine your session truthful that you get the business," helium stated. "But I don't adjacent attraction astir that close present — I conscionable request help."

"We should beryllium moving arsenic a collaborative radical to win due to the fact that there's plentifulness of concern for each of us. Let's marque definite we person occurrence for everybody progressive here."