Canada’s Vet Shortage Is Becoming a Full Blown Crisis and No One Is Ready For It

If you have been feeling like the veterinary profession in Canada is stretched thinner than your clinic’s last box of 25 gauge needles, you are not imagining it. The country is heading toward a major workforce and medication access crunch that leaders are now openly warning will affect everything from food security to your ability to treat a blocked cat on a Tuesday afternoon.

At a recent Commons Agriculture Committee meeting, Tracy Fisher, President of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, laid out the numbers. Current projections estimate five thousand job openings for veterinarians over the coming years. The number of job seekers is only around 4,300. The math is not mathing and it will not start mathing before 2031.

Even with expanded class sizes at Canadian veterinary colleges and rising graduation rates among veterinary technicians, Fisher says we are only marginally keeping pace with attrition. The simple truth is that the Canadian profession relies on internationally trained veterinarians to keep the system functioning. That is why the CVMA is calling on the federal government to create a national testing centre to streamline credentialing and improve the speed at which qualified professionals can enter practice.

While touring Canadian Western Agribition, Agriculture Minister Heath McDonald said the issue is front and center in conversations with the World Veterinary Association and national organizations. The shortage of large animal veterinarians is especially acute. Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Daryl Harrison added that the crisis is not unique to Canada. Our colleagues in the United States are fighting the same fight, which means competition for talent is fierce on both sides of the border.

And of course, workforce shortages lead to the thing every millennial veterinarian can spot from a mile away: burnout. Fisher warned lawmakers that the deficit is driving mental health strain across clinics, pushing some professionals to leave the field entirely. The CVMA is urging targeted federal funding to help provinces increase access to mental health and wellness support for veterinary teams. In other words, we need systems that care for the people who care for the animals.

But the workforce crunch is only half the story. Fisher also raised alarms about a growing scarcity of critical animal medications. If you have recently struggled to source antibiotics, sedatives, vaccines, or approved antimicrobials for livestock, you are experiencing the fallout in real time. Without effective medications, everything suffers. Patient outcomes. Herd health. Food safety. Food prices. And yes, your clinic’s stress levels.

The shortage is linked in part to changes to Health Canada’s Good Manufacturing Practice regulations, which now require foreign facilities to be inspected by Canadian officials. Many manufacturers, already meeting regulatory standards in other countries, are choosing not to navigate the additional cost and complexity. The result has been the removal of older but still essential products from the Canadian market without replacements in sight.

The instability puts Canadian livestock producers at a disadvantage compared to other G7 countries. It also pushes veterinarians toward older, less effective drugs, increasing the risk of antimicrobial resistance and compromising animal welfare across the board. Fisher urged Health Canada to work with international regulators to create shared approval pathways that respect the integrated nature of the North American and global veterinary supply chain.

Despite all of this, Fisher emphasized something every veterinary professional knows in their bones. The people in this field care deeply about their work. They remain proud to serve animals and the communities who rely on them. But pride will not solve structural problems without support.

The message to lawmakers was clear. Doctors, techs, support staff, livestock producers, and pet owners all need a stable veterinary system. The profession cannot continue to deliver outstanding and compassionate care without meaningful partnership and policy action.

For now, all eyes are on federal leaders to see whether they recognize that veterinary medicine is a cornerstone of public health, food security, and community well being. And whether they are ready to help before the cracks become breaks.