Trends in companion animal access to veterinary care in Canada, 2007 to 2020.

Objective: Assess trends in access to veterinary care for companion animals in Canada.

Procedure: Analysis and integration of available data, 2007 to 2020.

Results: Cumulative growth in the Canadian veterinary workforce was 38%, and 49% for companion animal veterinarians. Clients per companion animal veterinarian decreased 30% from 2008 to 2020. Absolute client numbers increased 1.3%, compared to pet population growth of 17%. Medicalized pets (those that had received veterinary care in the past year) increased 25%, from 9.02 million in 2007 to 11.24 million in 2020. Non-medicalized pets increased 1.8%, from 4.48 million to 4.56 million. In 2007, 33% of pets were non-medicalized, compared to 29% (15% of dogs and 42% of cats) in 2020. There was a cumulative increase of 31% for total non-medicalized dogs, and a change of -5.6% for cats. Gross and net revenues per client increased by 99 and 112%, respectively, compared to cumulative inflation of 21%.

Conclusion And Clinical Relevance: The analysis identified a large cohort of pets that had not received veterinary care each year. The trends were fewer clients per veterinarian, each paying higher veterinary costs, and suggested a relative, rather than absolute, veterinary capacity shortage overall. Accessible care-provision models must be encouraged, regulated for, and allowed to flourish alongside traditional models.