The federal government and provincial government of Alberta have committed over $3 million in critical animal health diagnostics funding for the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
An agreement for $3.44 million was finalized this past March to help the faculty launch a pilot project to expand its diagnostic service unit, for animal disease diagnosis and welfare. The project will run until February of 2024.
“Quick, readily available animal health diagnostics are essential to helping Alberta’s vets support our agriculture sector,” says Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Devin Dreeshen. “This agreement will ensure the University of Calgary will be able to substantially increase their capacity so that they can better serve our farmers and ranchers.”
The agreement will create an animal disease and diagnosis welfare capacity at U of C, which will provide diagnostic pathology, bacteriology, and other testing services to Alberta’s veterinarians.
The grant to the faculty draws $2.04 million from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and $1.4 million from the Strategic Research and Development Program.
“We are grateful for this significant investment. This is a major step forward as UCVM looks to position our diagnostic services unit as a centre of veterinary diagnostic excellence in order to support Alberta’s farmers, ranchers, and livestock industry,” says Dr. Baljit Singh, dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at U of C.
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