The University of Calgary’s faculty of veterinary medicine, fresh off a major capital funding boost in February’s provincial budget, now gets another $8.4 million over three years to help expand enrolment.
“This targeted enrolment funding will go towards hiring on more faculty/staff to teach the increased number of students,” Sam Blackett, press secretary for Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, said following Tuesday’s funding announcement.
“It will also go towards purchasing additional course materials such as textbooks and/or other equipment needed to support a larger number of learners for the program.”
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The new money comes as rural Alberta and its farmers and ranchers face what Finance Minister Travis Toews on Tuesday called “an emerging shortage” of veterinarians and veterinary technologists.
The Alberta Veterinary Medical Association (ABVMA) published a workforce study last year showing vacancy rates for veterinary positions as well above the provincial job vacancy average.
That report put Alberta’s vacancy rate for veterinarians at 16.7 per cent, and for veterinary technologists at 18 per cent, compared to the provincial average of 2.6 per cent.
To bridge that gap, the province aims to increase the existing number of seats in the U of C veterinary program by up to 50, which would double its current capacity.
“Agriculture is a key pillar of Alberta’s economy. That’s why it is so critical we ensure that livestock have access to the veterinary care that keeps them healthy,” Premier Jason Kenney said in Tuesday’s release.
“Alberta will be well served by this new and expanded generation of veterinarians,” ABVMA president Dr. Daren Mandrusiak said in the same release.
The new funding follows February’s capital budget commitment of $59 million over three years for animal health infrastructure at U of C — which includes money for a new facility at its Spyhill campus, more core teaching capacity at its W.A. Ranches site, and renovations at its Foothills campus.
The new facility at Spyhill will be about 7,200 square metres and include a mix of classrooms, lecture theatres, an instructional wet laboratory, administrative space and student service space.
The W.A. Ranches site will get about 1,200 square metres of space including a classroom trailer, a multi-purpose trailer, and administrative office space for academic and teaching technicians.
New animal holding facilities are also planned at that site, including penning for cattle and a Sprung tent structure, Blackett said Wednesday.
Alberta’s recent investments in veterinary programs follow its 2017 decision not to renew its funding for the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, shifting that funding instead to U of C starting in 2020.
— Liam O’Connor reports for Glacier FarmMedia from Saskatoon.
