Indigenous elder Gene Nowegejick says it’s all about the “four-legged, the winged, the swimmers and the crawlers,” when building a veterinary school.
“You have to acknowledge these other (forms of) life,” Nowegejick said. “When we talk holistic, we’re asking the animal spirit to join us in the celebration, just as we do it with our brothers and sisters.”
A circle of white-draped chairs at Lakehead University was occupied by donors, university leadership and government partners in a field behind the Bora Laskin building during Tuesday’s blessing ceremony by Nowegejick.
The ceremony marked the start of construction for a new animal education facility that will open in 2027. During the event, the facility was named Gakina Awesiinyag, from the Anishinaabemowin language, translating to a place for all animals.
The facility will accommodate the collaborative doctor of veterinary medicine program between the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College and Lakehead University and will train veterinarians to serve rural, remote, and northern community needs.
Lakehead University president Gillian Siddall called the project “an amazing thing that’s been a long time coming,” noting how it can help fill a void.
“A lot of people have done a lot of hard work. We’ve had incredible donations from private donors, great support from the province to build this animal facility, as well as other spaces on campus for the veterinary program,” Siddall said. “There’s a desperate shortage of vets in Thunder Bay in Northern Ontario, and particularly further north and in rural and indigenous communities — and our farmers are also struggling.”
She said that with only one clinic in Thunder Bay that takes care of large animals, the region’s agri-food business also depends on having more veterinarians.
“This is an incredible program designed for the north, in the north to serve the north,” she said, adding students have to be residents of Northern Ontario to participate.
The first cohort of the four-year program, which begins this fall, will be completed entirely in Guelph as the Lakehead campus is constructed. Once completed, future students will spend two years on each campus.
Siddall added that they will also renovate existing space for a pathology lab, an anatomy lab and classroom spaces. The facility will not be a hospital setting, she explained.
“We will have healthy animals staying with us in the animal education facility where students can get their training working with live animals of horses, sheep, cows and dogs,” she said.
Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland attended the ceremony representing the Ontario government, which invested $2 million for the northern veterinary school. He called the development of the school “vital” to the community.
“This commitment is a clear indication and a signal of the importance that our government places in providing those services here in Thunder Bay,” he said. “It’s going to be a game changer for our agricultural community as well as for our pet owners in and around Thunder Bay.”
Agriculture Minister Trevor Jones was in attendance as well and said the new vet school will connect farming families, animal care, the economy of farming and agribusiness, to vet care.
“Vet care is that missing link,” he said. “You need vet care, especially large animal vet care in rural, Northern and remote communities, and that allows us to expand our farming operations and supports our families,” he said. “We looked at Guelph, which is our premier animal care institution, used that template, brought it north, modified it, and customized it toward northern needs which both incentivizes vets to study here and stay here.”
Earlier this month, the university received a $10 million investment from Kim and Stu Lang that will support project development. Lakehead University set a philanthropic fundraising goal of $12.9 million, and 95 per cent of that goal has already been achieved. A public, community-driven campaign will be launched this fall with the goal of covering the final five per cent.
