New veterinarians who choose to provide animal care in northern and underserviced areas could earn up to $50,000 over five years, thanks to a new provincial initiative.
The Veterinary Incentive Program will provide $10,000 per year over five years to eligible veterinarians whose practice provides care to animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry in underserviced locations of the province.
Delivered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council, the program will incentivize up to 100 new veterinarians, with the aim of easing Ontario’s ongoing shortage of animal care practitioners.
“We know that access to care for livestock animals is critical to rural and northern communities,” said Jill Dunlop, minister of colleges and universities, in an October 26 news release.
“By encouraging new veterinary graduates to practice in underserviced areas, the Veterinary Incentive Program will help address labour shortages head on, connect highly skilled veterinarians to great careers, and support local economic growth.”
The program is designed to complement the newly announced Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program, which will be jointly administered by Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and the University of Guelph.
Under the four-year program, which is expected to roll out in 2025, students will spend their first two years studying at Lakehead and spend the last two years studying in Guelph.
Devised to help decrease critical shortages in veterinary care across the province, this marks the first increase of veterinary spaces since 1988.
