The government needs to step up and subsidize additional seats.  How is it fair that tuition for non subsidized seats is 68,000 per year vs 11,000 per year x4 for subsidized.  The education is exactly the same, they all graduate side by side with the same academic credentials.  DVM.

How does this injustice help with the vet shortage,or encourage future vets?   It doesn't.  Sign the petition!

We’re projected to see 770 job openings for veterinarians by 2029. The veterinarians BC does have are finding themselves overworked and are facing compassion fatigue and burnout. Pet owners and livestock producers are growing frustrated with long wait times for appointments, all while animals suffer as a result. This crisis is most evident in our rural communities with limited access to veterinary care. Training more veterinarians for BC is a crucially important step in alleviating the shortage.  

Currently, the only option for students with BC residency who wish to become a veterinarian is to apply to WCVM. The college has been historically funded through an inter-provincial agreement (IPA) between BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, each of which provided funding for about 20 (out of 78 total) seats. Back in 2017, Alberta, after establishing its own veterinary school a decade earlier, announced its intention to withdraw funding for its 20 seats as part of the IPA, meaning a 26% financial loss to WCVM. Though unfortunate, this was a prime opportunity for BC to pick up those seats and train those additional vets for BC. However, after the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training refused, WCVM was forced to open those seats up to students from across Canada in addition to international students. These new types of seats, termed non-IPA, aren’t subsidized by any provincial government and as such come with a tuition of $68,000/year (compared to the $11,000 paid by students with IPA-backed seats.

Despite being available to a wide range of applicants, in 2020, the first intake to include non-IPA seats, 16 of the 20 seats went to BC students. That $68,000/year price tag has been passed on to those students just because their grades may have lagged slightly behind their colleagues who were admitted with provincially funded seats. Students offered non-IPA seats are put in the position of paying 6x the standard tuition at WCVM or considering international veterinary colleges at a similar cost. It’s hugely unfair to ask students who are trying to address the veterinary shortage they’re seeing around them to take on that financial burden in the process. Students who would make great veterinarians are deterred from attending the only veterinary college available to them because they can’t afford the non-IPA seat they were offered. WCVM receives well over 100 applications from prospective BC students every year – there’s certainly no shortage of qualified hopefuls dreaming of becoming veterinarians.

This situation is bleak, food security is at risk, the livelihood of beef, dairy, and poultry farmers.  Not to mention companion animals, rescues, etc will continue to suffer.

For the full article by Madison Audeau click on the link below

https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/documents/west-coast-veterinarian-fall-2021

Please, take a moment and sign this petition.  Share it far and wide.