- 604-929-7090
- reception@cvbc.ca
September 26, 2024
The Annual General Meeting of the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia will be held on November 24 at 11 am to 1 pm via Zoom.
Agenda:
Instructions on receiving the Zoom link will be provided prior to the meeting.
February 13, 2024
The following two registrants have been elected to Council for a 3-year term, effective March 22, 2024:
July 21, 2022
Dr. Tammi Whelan tendered her resignation as a member of the CVBC Council and her resignation was accepted by the Council, effective July 15, 2022. We would like to thank Dr. Whelan for her contribution on Council and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
July 13, 2022
Release Date: July 13, 2022
College of Veterinarians of BC Embarks on Major Revision of Public Complaints Process
A major revision of the College of Veterinarians of BC public complaints process is about to get underway as a result of a comprehensive review by Harry Cayton, an international expert on professional governance and regulation, and Greg Cavouras, a BC lawyer who practises in the areas of administrative law and professional regulation.
The Cayton Review and Report on Complaints Process of the College of Veterinarians of BC was commissioned in October 2021 by the College and was accepted by the CVBC Council on April 29, 2022. Since that time the College has been working with Council, staff and committee members in order to develop an action plan to support implementation of the report recommendations.
“Undertaking this review is a signal that the CVBC is committed to ensuring an efficient, fair and transparent process for the public and registrants and is dedicated to embarking on a path of continuous improvement. The CVBC recognized that change was necessary in the face of an increasing number of complaints and a heavy administrative burden,” said the College’s Registrar and CEO, Dr. Megan Bergman. “The review has provided solid recommendations to help guide the College with respect to compliance with legislation and bylaws and alignment with the Standards of Good Regulations for Complaints.”
Dr. Jane Pritchard, President of the College, added that she welcomed outside expert help from the U.K.-based Cayton: “It became quite clear to us over the past couple of years that we needed to do more to improve the College’s complaints process, and we looked for the best expert to help us, and Mr. Cayton came highly recommended as the expert we needed to support change implementation.”
“The College advised CVBC registrants in the fall of 2021 that a review of the complaints process was underway. Complainants and registrants who participated and completed a complaints process in the past two years received a survey and were invited to provide feedback and if desired request an interview. We are now in a position to share the findings of the report, as well as our plan for the path forward. “When we received the Report a working group of veterinary and public Council members were appointed to guide the work of the CVBC team in the implementation of our response to the Review’s 24 recommendations,” Dr. Pritchard said.
Added Registrar Dr. Bergman: “The recommendations addressed the CVBC complaints and investigation process, and the need to ensure the public is served by a competent and ethical profession. It was certainly difficult to hear that the College did not meet 8 of the 10 standards of good regulations for complaints, and that the remaining two were only met partially.”
“That being said, these standards are something to strive for, and we see this as an exciting opportunity to take an innovative and progressive approach to regulation. We know we must take immediate action to resolve this situation to meet – and exceed – each standard to address the public’s changing needs and expectations,” says Dr. Bergman.
The College’s draft action plan sees most of the recommendations being addressed this year, and the remainder next year, she said, starting with developing a plan to re-set the complaints process. It is anticipated that many of the recommendations dealing with complaints will be implemented in 2022/2023.
“Mr. Cayton’s review noted the professional commitment of the College staff, Council and Committees to improving its processes and service to the public,” Dr. Bergman said. “His recommendations are achievable, and we’ve already established an initial action plan which we will be discussing with Registrants shortly. We have already begun addressing some recommendations. This will be an evolutionary process where we will need to continue to refine, consult and change course as needed to achieve our goals.”
The College agrees with the Review’s recommended approach to its regulatory obligations – using a “Right-touch approach” in the receipt, assessment and disposition of the concerns it receives about the professionals it regulates. This approach is described in the Review.
“The College is totally committed to addressing each of the Review’s recommendations on a priority #1 basis,” said Dr. Pritchard. “We are pleased the staff is fully engaged and enthused about making the needed changes happen. We look forward to discussing the Review and our initial action plan with our Registrants.”
The Review is available for viewing at: A Review and Report on the Complaints Process for the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia
Further Backgrounders available at links below:
2) The Standards of Good Regulations for Complaints
June 6, 2022
At its June 3, 2022 meeting, Council accepted the resignation of Mr. Chris Finding as Vice President. He will remain as an active Public Member. In his place, Council has appointed Dr. Michele Martin.
The current Council Executive is:
June 2, 2022
The CFIA’s Planning Team in the Emergency Response for Avian Influenza is soliciting interested parties to help with the ongoing monitoring of sick birds for the remainder of 2022. Please read the Notice for full details.
May 6, 2022
On March 10, 2022, Health Canada posted this update to its “Recall and Safety Alerts” webpage regarding forecasted availability of euthanasia drugs in Canada following the previously-announced anticipated shortage of pentobarbital sodium.
For updates on availability for restocking, please contact wholesalers or manufacturers directly.
April 4, 2022
The Province of British Columbia is investing nearly $10.7 million to double its WCVM provincial seat quota from 20 to 40 in the college’s Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) program for the 2022-23 academic year. The press release from the government of BC can be found here.
The College of Veterinarians of British Columbia is pleased to hear the exciting news of the increase in seats for BC veterinary students at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) from 20 to 40 starting in the fall of 2022. This will help to alleviate the heavy workloads and veterinary shortages that have been identified as a critical issue in BC. We appreciate the efforts of the Ministry of Advanced Education, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, the Society of British Columbia Veterinarians, and veterinarians and veterinary students who have all advocated to increase the number of BC veterinary student seats at the WCVM. Veterinarians are essential to ensuring animal health, protecting public health, ensuring food safety, performing veterinary diagnostics, and advancing research and innovation and these additional seats will help to ensure the veterinary needs of BC continue to be met. It is important to recognize that we need to continue to explore opportunities to support veterinarians in BC recognizing that the impacts of these new seats on the veterinary work force will not be realized for 4 years.
March 31, 2022
As a reminder, Tramadol becomes a Schedule 1 drug on March 31, 2022. In practice, this will mean that Tramadol in inventory will need to be managed in compliance with the CVBC’s Controlled Drug Management and Disposal standards, and that any prescriptions to pharmacies will need to be made using your Duplicate Prescription Pads.
February 15, 2022
The following three registrants have been elected to Council for a 3-year term, effective March 11, 2022:
January 3, 2022
The Chief Veterinarian and the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford would like to notify you that they will be discontinuing the import and distribution service for Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) virus vaccine and will NO longer be placing orders to import the vaccine into Canada. Please note that this vaccine was brought into the Province as an emergency response to the first detection of this emerging disease in British Columbia. Once reopened, The Animal Health Centre will continue to provide testing services for RHD.
If you wish to arrange your own future imports, here are the links to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency sites to apply for an import permit.
Main page link:
Guidelines, forms, applications for importing unlicensed veterinary biologics:
Veterinary Drugs Directorate contacts:
December 8, 2021
Please check your email for voting information which was distributed on December 6, 2021. If you did not receive an email generated from the domain vote@simplyvoting.com, please contact feedback@cvbc.ca. When you log in to vote, please click on the “view details” link next to each candidate’s name in order to review the biographical information provided by each candidate. Please note that you can review these details and return to vote at a later date as long as you do not click the “submit” button.
Alternately, we have also posted the candidate information on the CVBC registrant page at https://www.cvbc.ca/my-account/for-registrant/ under the heading 2021/2022 Council Election Candidate Bios.
Voting will close on February 7, 2022 and the results of the election process will be announced by February 15, 2022. The CVBC strongly encourages all registrants who are eligible to vote, to take the opportunity to exercise your right!
November 26, 2021
There are 3 veterinary seats up for election on the CVBC Council. On November 22, 2021 the CVBC Nominations Committee declared the following slate of candidates as eligible to serve on Council for the upcoming election cycle.
Please check your email for voting information on December 6, 2021 as the election process will commence on this date. If you don’t receive information, generated from the domain vote@simplyvoting.com, please contact feedback@cvbc.ca. Voting will close on February 7, 2022 and the results of the election process will be announced by February 15, 2022. The CVBC strongly encourages all registrants who are eligible to vote, to take the opportunity to exercise your right!
November 12, 2021
The College of Veterinarians of British Columbia takes allegations of animal abuse very seriously. Our mandate is to regulate the practice of veterinary medicine in B.C. to ensure that the public and animals are served by a competent and ethical standard of practice. The CVBC regulates the conduct and competency of veterinarians according to the complaints and investigation process set out in the Veterinarians Act. As part of this process, the CVBC’s Investigation Committee reviews complaints, authorizes investigations, and takes necessary action to protect the public interest and the animals in their care. Until the Investigation Committee takes action that requires public notification under the Veterinarians Act, the CVBC is not able to comment on any investigation in relation to any specific CVBC registrant.
September 2, 2021
Health Canada is advising Canadians against the unauthorized use of either the veterinary or human drug versions of Ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19. Health Canada advises that there is no evidence that ivermectin in either formulation is safe or effective when used for those purposes and that the human version of ivermectin is authorized for sale in Canada only for the treatment of parasitic worm infections in people. Please visit the Health Canada site for full details.
September 2, 2021
The Chief Veterinarian of the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has released an alert regarding Bluetongue virus amongst bighorn sheep and white-tailed deer in the south Okanagan. Please view the entire alert linked here.
The Chief Veterinarian of the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has released an alert regarding suspect equine herpesvirus encephalomyelopathy in a horse in the western lower mainland. Please see the alert linked here.
July 21, 2021
The AMR Network project has released its final report. This project was funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada to develop options for governance of a One Health pan-Canadian network that will better integrate the diverse stakeholders with responsibilities in addressing antimicrobial resistance in Canada to drive a national effort to mitigate the threat of AMR for all Canadians. The establishment of a new governance model for AMR in Canada will be a key piece to the puzzle required to effectively deliver on the Pan Canadian Action Plan once it is released. The final report of the project, Strengthening Governance of the Antimicrobial Resistance Response Across One Health in Canada can be found at the following links.
June 9, 2021
The Veterinary Drug Directorate has released a communication regarding the anticipated shortage of euthanasia products for use by veterinarians. Please click here to view.
June 9, 2021
The CVMA has shared a letter from the CFIA regarding canine importation. The CVBC would like to pass this information along to all registrants. Please click this link to view.
May 12, 2021
The CVBC is excited to have Dr. Megan Bergman step into the role of Registrar & CEO effective July 19, 2021. See the CVBC’s Eblast from April 9, 2021 for an introduction to Dr. Bergman, and stay tuned for an upcoming video podcast where we will hear about Dr. Bergman’s history, heroes and hopes.
March 16, 2021
The attached poster has been developed by the College of Veterinarians of BC and the Society of BC Veterinarians as a joint public education effort to explain the value and importance of veterinary dental care and the risks of seeking the care of non-veterinarians who are engaging in the unauthorized practice of veterinary medicine. 11×17″ posters will be distributed to all SBCV members and to all practice facilities in the mailout for the SBCV’s upcoming Westcoast Veterinarian journal.
April 22, 2020
March 12, 2020
As communicated by e-blast to registrants on March 4, 2020, Ms. Luisa Hlus has left the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia. Dr. Stacey Thomas (Deputy Registrar) has been appointed by Council to the role of Acting Registrar while Council conducts a formal search for a new Registrar.
March 4, 2020
The following three registrants have been elected to Council, effective March 6, 2020:
Voter turnout amounted to 611 eligible registrants. Thank you for participating.
February 11, 2020
As messaged to the profession on January 28, 2020, nominations are open again to fill three positions on Council, each for a three-year term. Below is a revised election schedule applicable only to the current circumstances, modified by Council at its January 24, 2020 meeting (pursuant to Bylaw s. 1.8(4)):
Nominations Deadline – February 13, 2020 at noon
January 2, 2020
On December 20, 2019, the CVBC obtained a Court Order by consent, prohibiting a non-veterinarian from offering oral hygiene, dental care and other health services. A copy of entered Court Order may be found here. In 2017, the BC Supreme Court delivered reasons for judgement in a similar case Dentapet decision. Please visit our website page Public Protection/Unauthorized Practice/Injunctions for more information and contact the office if you have any questions.
November 14, 2019
All CVBC registrants are encouraged to review the following material which is of relevance (by extrapolation) to the care of veterinary patients, but also with regards to every veterinarian’s responsibility to practice within the principles of antimicrobial stewardship in the “One Health” model.
In Canada, 26% of infections in humans are resistant to the medicines that are generally first prescribed to treat an infection, a rate that could rise to 40% or beyond in the coming decades, according to an expert panel convened by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA). By 2050, a total of 396,000 lives could be lost and the Canadian economy could lose $338 billion.
When Antibiotics Fail is an independent expert assessment of the best available evidence of the potential impact of antimicrobial resistance, produced by the CCA at the request of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Visit www.cca-reports.cadownload this report.
September 26, 2019
The Canadian Council of Veterinary Regulators’ (CCVR) Cannabis Working Group has developed the following resource for Canadian veterinarians regarding the Cannabis Act and Regulations. Please follow this link.
February 25, 2019
On February 21st, the CVBC circulated a message to all registrants advising of a new practice standard to be in effect as of March 1, 2019, reflecting the importance of monitoring and record keeping during anesthetic procedures.
If your clinic currently does not have the equipment necessary to comply with the standard, proof of having placed an equipment order on or before March 1, 2019 will avoid adverse consequences until you are able to take delivery and train your staff.
Update: Council amended the PPS: Small Animal Anesthetic Monitoring on March 1, 2019. Section 2 – Blood Gases now requires that every facility monitor and record either oxygenation (via pulse oximetry or arterial blood gas analysis of PaO2) OR end-tidal CO2 (via capnography) at a minimum of 5-minute intervals. The amended Standard is effective April 1, 2019. Please click here to review the standard.
October 23, 2018
Please see below for links to recently published standards and notices. Please refer to the Legislation, Standards and Policiespage for all standards, guidelines, policies and notices.
June 26, 2018
It is not appropriate for B.C. veterinarians to send invitations for veterinarians licensed in other jurisdictions to provide services directly to B.C. breeders or other members of the public. Such services must be rendered by veterinarians licensed in B.C. and working from a B.C. accredited practice facility. B.C. licensed veterinarians may utilize unlicensed consultants as long as the B.C. veterinarian maintains the veterinary client patient relationship and records, and does not permit the consultant to assume that role, outside of an accredited practice. For more information visit the Unauthorized Practiceand Practice Facilitiespages. If you have any questions, please contact the office. We will continue to update this post as we receive more information.
