Lakehead University Veterinary Program Building Rendering - (Supplied via LU)
Lakehead and Guelph Universities’ Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program is moving forward, with the first group of students set to begin their studies this fall.
Student recruitment is underway, and an official agreement is in place between the universities.
The program is aimed at addressing a significant veterinarian shortage in the region.
“People who live in northern Ontario deserve equal access to services found in the rest of the province, and that includes medical care for our pets and farm animals,” said Lakehead President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Gillian Siddall. “Solutions for the north need to be homegrown in the north to meet our unique needs. As an avid animal lover and champion for local economic growth, I am proud to enter this first-of-its-kind partnership with the University of Guelph to educate northern students who plan to build their practice in underserved communities. Help is on the way.”
The partnership will be recruiting 20 students from northern Ontario each year.
Eligible students will encompass residents of northern Ontario, including the Districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Kenora, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and Timiskaming.
The program will emphasize and incorporate Indigenous perspectives and approaches to animal care that honour Indigenous culture and connection to land.
Students will participate in experiential learning opportunities and work with local veterinarians in addition to completing core courses geared toward northern practice.
Students will graduate with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Guelph.
The first two batches of students (2025 and 2026) will complete the entire program at the University of Guelph’s campus.
Beginning in 2027, the students will complete their first two years at Lakehead University’s Thunder Bay campus, finishing their final two years of the program in Guelph.
Lakehead plans on launching a request for proposal process to build a large animal education facility and to renovate existing spaces on campus for the program.
The university expects to break ground on construction in the early summer of 2025.
Once the facilities are complete and the program launches, people will see cows, horses, sheep, dogs, and other live animals on campus.
“If you could materialize five full-time veterinarians right now in Thunder Bay, they would be fully booked tomorrow. Some people might say you’d want all those veterinarians at your clinic so that you get the business. But I don’t even care about that right now—I just need help,” said Veterinarian Dr. Domenic Sanzo. “We should be working as a collaborative group to succeed because there’s plenty of business for all of us. Let’s make sure we have success for everybody involved here.”
The development of the program has been supported by a $14.7 million investment from the provincial government.
Roughly $4.5 million of the funding is supporting Lakehead, while the rest of the money is going to Guelph University.
Increasing the number of seats in the Ontario Veterinary College for northern students represents the first increase in the number of veterinarian graduates in Ontario in years.
