Northern Ontario towns struggling to recruit veterinarians in face of province-wide shortage

Kayla Guerrette · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 3:33 PM EDT | Last Updated: July 9

While there's agelong been a shortage of doctors successful bluish Ontario, animals are besides having occupation getting aesculapian attraction crossed the region.

Hearst precocious announced the hold for a veterinarian successful their assemblage of 5,000 will soon extremity aft 3 years without one. Just down the highway, Kapuskasing has 2 vets but some announced successful 2023 that they are acceptable to retire. 

Natalie D'Amours, a veterinary technician who sits connected Kapuskasing's veterinary recruitment and retention committee,  said the past 2 years attempting to enlistee a caller vet has been challenging with a  province-wide shortage. 

"It's been a batch of learning and close present we are successful a spot of figuring retired what we tin bash if we don't person a vet due to the fact that until we tin find a vet that is unfastened to coming present we are benignant of astatine a standstill," she said.

D'amours worries that not having a vet could wounded different recruiting efforts, similar bringing household doctors to the municipality of 8,000 people. 

"It gets stressful, hard excessively due to the fact that I cognize if we suffer our vet what different work providers are going to permission our municipality too, right?" D'amours said.

She said adjacent with the 2 existent vets successful Kapuskasing, they are often truthful busy, that she refers patients to Timmins, a two-hour thrust away.

'It's been tough'

Neil Lawrence, a veterinarian successful Callander and the president of the Northern Ontario Veterinary Association, says determination are a fewer reasons down this shortage. 

"During COVID, immoderate of the systems we took for granted got stretched and veterinary professionals was 1 of those professions that got stretched rather a bit. We saw rather a fewer older veterinarians discontinue oregon conscionable pain out," he said, adding that a fig of vets sold their clinics to corporations during the pandemic. 

"There are large companies contiguous that tally vet clinics similar a ceremonial location oregon dentist office." 

Lawrence besides believes the shortage is besides a motion of a displacement successful the industry, wherever younger vets are wanting a amended work-life balance.

"It was not uncommon for vets to enactment 50 to 60 hr weeks nary problem. To regenerate those hours of caring for pets, it would astir apt instrumentality 1.5 caller veterinarians." Lawrence said. 

"When we're connected call, we're connected telephone for often a mates of days successful a enactment implicit a play and not each veterinarian, particularly caller grads, are funny successful signing up for thing similar that. It takes a peculiar people of people, often really idiosyncratic who is from the north, that is consenting to travel backmost present and enactment successful their community."

Lawrence himself said helium experienced burnout a fewer years ago. 

"It's precise challenging and it's bully to beryllium connected the different broadside of that personally but I cognize a batch of veterinarian teams are stretched," helium said. 

But Lawrence said determination is optimism successful the air.

Lakehead University  successful Thunder Bay announced successful April this twelvemonth it would beryllium recruiting for a new  veterinary medicine programme successful concern with the University of Guelph, with operation connected a caller schoolhouse acceptable to statesman this summer. 

"They are going to beryllium drafting specifically from candidates successful the north. So, if we person much veterinary students coming from bluish communities erstwhile they postgraduate they are overmuch much apt to travel backmost due to the fact that it's what they cognize and love," Lawrence said