A student loan forgiveness program has been put in place in Saskatchewan to persuade veterinarians and veterinary technologists to work with livestock in rural communities. This program, first announced in 2021, has increased the available loan forgiveness to a maximum of $20,000 over five years.
“We’re looking to target veterinary clinics in larger centres, that for the most part don’t practice with large animals,” said agriculture minister David Marit. “It’ll hopefully give them an incentive to grow their business, whether they’re a vet or vet tech.”
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Marit listed the minimum requirement to meet eligibility, starting with the applicant having 400 hours of work accounted for within a 12-month period.
“This is an opportunity for those vets and vet techs to go into rural Saskatchewan and work with producers. The incentive is for those 400 hours, they will get $4,000 in loan forgiveness for up to five years or to $20,000.”
The decision to expand eligibility was motivated by the shortage of veterinary professionals in rural communities, even after the initial announcement. Marit also spoke on the growth of smaller veterinary practices and how he would like to see both small and large animal veterinarians use this opportunity.
“We’ve seen some (increase), but not to the degree that we’d like,” said Marit. “I think this is just one way we wanted to look at it and say, ‘how do we get the vets in bigger centres to look at this and even have the veterinarian work with the rancher?’ That’s why we really wanted to reach out. We’re seeing a significant increase in small veterinary practices in the province of Saskatchewan.”
Through steady correspondence with each practice, Marit hopes to see an increase of veterinarians and veterinary technologists in remote communities.
“I think it’s going to take a combination of a good communication strategy and working with all parties to ensure that we can see an increase in the livestock production here in the province of Saskatchewan,” Marit said.
The program for loan forgiveness for veterinarians and veterinary technologists began to accept applications on Jan. 1.
