MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - The ongoing shortage of veterinarians in rural Alberta has reached crisis levels and is creating many challenges, including to the overall economy and to rural community sustainability, says Mountain View County councillor and veterinarian Gord Krebs.
During the Jan. 12 council meeting, Krebs said addressing the shortages is critical and something that needs to involve municipalities and the provincial government.
It is estimated that there is a current shortage of at least 864 veterinary professionals in Alberta – 377 veterinarians and 487 veterinary technologists.
Krebs has prepared a resolution to go before the upcoming Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) central zone meeting calling for action on the matter.
“Our rural communities are impacted acutely in the current environment and face restricted economic growth post-COVID without targeted and immediate actions to address the shortages,” he says in the resolution.
“Attraction and retention of rural-based veterinary medical professionals has not been keeping pace with increasing demand.”
The Attraction and Retention of Veterinarians to Rural Veterinary Practice resolution highlights the shortage crisis and calls for action.
Specifically it encourages the RMA to “support attraction and retention actions to reduce veterinary professional shortages, especially in Alberta.”
It also calls on the RMA to support veterinary education in Alberta and “urge the government of Alberta to officially endorse new programs at the University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) that will help alleviate the rural veterinarian shortage crisis.”
Actions proposed include development of a rural practitioner stream, participation of RMA in UCVM programs of outreach to rural municipalities, and increasing the number of Alberta training spaces for veterinarians by doubling the number of UCVM graduates from 50 to 100 per year.
It also calls for the development of an online veterinary support program to help support veterinarians in practice, development of a stackable clinical certificate program allowing for certification of foreign-trained veterinarians, and participation of RMA in a committee pursuing recruitment of foreign veterinarians.
The resolution also calls on the RMA to work with UCVM to expand the UCVM admissions committee and for the association to work to “examine and implement best practices to conduct outreach to recruit veterinary students and retain veterinary professionals who will work and reside in rural Alberta.”
Reeve Angela Aalbers called the resolution “a very good thing.”
The resolution was developed with input from various groups, including the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association and the UCVM, council heard.
Council passed a motion approving the resolution and approving it being presented to the upcoming RMA central zone meeting.
If approved at the zone level the resolution would then move to the provincial-level conference in March.
“Access to local veterinary services for farmers and livestock producers is essential for the sustainability of the primary agriculture industry as well as Alberta’s overall economy,” he said.
“Further, sustainability and growth of our rural communities is dependent on access to veterinary services both today and in the foreseeable future.”
