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President's Message – Work Worth Doing

September 3, 2025

"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
–Theodore Roosevelt

To begin, I thank all of you for this opportunity to serve as your President in the upcoming year. We do indeed have a lot of work “worth doing!” As this is my first column, I will take a moment to introduce myself. I am a 1997 graduate of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) and I have practiced in Regina, Saskatchewan my entire career as a small and exotic animal practitioner, both as an associate and a practice owner. The outdoors is my passion, and I spend as much time as I can running my dogs and riding my horse. My husband is very supportive, as we have three dogs, a very patient cat, and lots of pet hair in our house!

Volunteerism and community participation are of great importance to me. I participated in my first committee assignment with the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association (SVMA) the year I graduated and have since participated in most of their committees and council, including serving as President from 2004–2005. On the national stage, I have volunteered with the CVMA for the last six years, serving as the Saskatchewan representative on Council and on the Animal Health Technology/Veterinary Technician Program Accreditation Committee (AHT/VTPAC) and National Issues Committees. I am very passionate about promoting our profession and ensuring that we have a voice for decisions that affect us and the health and welfare of animals, the environment, and people. We are, I believe, in a time of big changes in our industry, and our world.
Therefore, we need to be heard in order to continue providing care to our patients and clients and delivering at least some level of care for all those who seek help.

The CVMA, at its core, was developed to be a voice for our profession; the dedicated work of committee members and council advance this mission continually. It has been a real pleasure to see several projects that the CVMA has been working on advance through the years, with many tangible results for the profession.

With a new government in Ottawa, it’s time to continue our work to create and maintain relationships with MPs from all parties. Now more than ever, given the shifting relationship with our southern neighbor, we need to make our presence known. Tariffs and trade barriers may have profound impacts on our profession and on animal welfare, including movement and trade of live animals, food animal products, pharmaceuticals, and prescription diets, to name only a few. We will also continue our previous advocacy towards building a National Testing Center (at WCVM) for foreign-trained graduates, reducing immigration barriers for veterinarians and veterinary technicians, providing mental health supports for veterinarians, and ensuring access to critical veterinary pharmaceuticals.

Although the shifting political landscape has occupied our attention over the last few months, it is important to remain focused on long-term priorities. The CVMA has over 600 volunteers that continually work to provide services to our members and promote One Health and One Welfare. This column is too short to mention them all, but I will highlight a few that I think are timely and relevant.

The CVMA is dedicated to supporting the mental health of our members and to promoting a diverse workforce that is able to support the needs of our communities in the future. The WIDEA (Wellness, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility) Committee has been active with several projects:

  1. The first allyship initiative with the Black Veterinary Association of Canada engaged VMA members and others as volunteers to promote veterinary medicine to Black youth, setting the stage for broader outreach to equity-deserving youth across Canada.
  2. An accessible practice building certification with the Rick Hansen Foundation has launched and the first webinar was May 30, 2025. If you missed it, a recording is available on the CVMA YouTube Channel (1).

  3. Continued reinforcement and refinement of our other mental health platforms, including the “Who you gonna call?” list, the launch of the CVMA VetConnect list of mental health professionals with veterinary experience, and Togetherall, including training for peer ambassadors. The CVMA will continue to offer The Working Mind course and is working towards tailoring this program to the veterinary profession. In addition, we also continue to provide suicide awareness and prevention education with the It’s Time to Talk about Mental Health in Veterinary Medicine Campaign.

The National Issues Committee has launched the Sustainable Veterinary Practice Initiative. Based on an initial survey, completed by nearly 300 members, there is considerable interest and a real desire amongst those in the profession to work towards viable solutions. The Pathways to a More Sustainable Clinic webinars have launched and the National Issues Forum in Victoria, British Columbia, was focused on this topic.

The pilot for a new CVMA Mentorship program has launched with 40 participants. This non-technical competency training is designed to help early- and mid-career veterinarians manage stressors and to improve resilience and workplace relationships. It is hoped that this will be a key tool that enhances retention within our work force.

An update to the 2020 Workforce Study (done by Kynetec) should be completed by the fall. This will give us a better picture of the current supply and demand numbers for veterinarians. Furthermore, this data will help us determine what, if any progress has been made and if there is a need to adjust our workforce initiatives.

Finally, the CVMA is also planning to launch a national Public Relations campaign in 2026/27, focusing on the value of our profession to society. I think it’s time we tell our own stories and to give voice to what the future needs. It is anticipated this will improve our public profile and offer some good news stories for the profession.

As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done! I am really looking forward to this year and am always interested to receive your comments and feedback. Please feel free to reach out to me at the President’s email address: cvmapresident@cvma-acmv.org.

–Dr. Tracy Fisher