By Cheryl Jahn

Vet school for UNBC?

Sep 14, 2022 | 3:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Northern BC is in dire straits when it comes to veterinarians, period. But for livestock, the need is particularly acute. That’s when the BC Cattlemen’s Association approached the Regional Districts of Fraser Fort George and Bulkley Nechako for some help in conducting an economic feasibility study on the impacts of the shortage.

“So we’ll get a real understanding of what it means to producers, what it means to local economies when you don’t have enough vets,” explains Lara Beckett with the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. “The people who work for the vet, that business in the community. What that means at an economic development level never mind for the animal care that is so desperately needed.”

Enter, the University of Northern BC, which has been approached by the Cattlemen’s Association and the Regional Districts about the idea of a veterinary school in this part of the province.

“Through those conversations, we internally have been looking at the feasibility of it. To bring a vet school to UNBC,” explains Dr. Geoff Payne, President of UNBC. “And are there ways to do that just a vet school? Maybe through partnerships. Things like that.

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But Beckett says, while the impact study shouldn’t take that long, there’s lots of work ahead for this project.

“And that’s just one step in a very long process of looking at the education piece, looking at international vets coming in and what their qualifications are and how they get approved here. There are many moving parts to this picture.”

In a similar study done in Alberta, the crop and animal production industry contributed approximately $4.5 billion to Alberta’s GDP in 2018.