I can, certainly. I'd be happy to.
I think there are many factors. Without question, if we think back over the last 25 years, we've had a population expansion and economic expansion in Canada. However, our veterinary colleges have remained essentially at the status quo in terms of the number of seats we've been graduating on an annual basis. As a result, we've not really been able to get ahead of the curve in terms of meeting the new demand.
We did the workforce study in 2020, which showed that there was a structural deficit in the number of new veterinarians we were going to be graduating. What we didn't account for at that time, obviously, was a global pandemic. It clearly has exacerbated the situation. What we are seeing now, as we're turning out the same number of new graduate veterinarians, is that we're just treading water or losing ground on an annual basis.
This becomes a real challenge. It creates work places for veterinarians, whether they're in small rural practices or they serve in food animal or companion animal production or in any other sector. It's much more challenging, I think, to find the career as rewarding as it once was—as you described it being for your uncle. That's certainly something that hits home for me.
I think in the big picture we understand that the structural deficit exists. It's going to exist over the course of the next 10 years at a minimum. We have an opportunity to take steps to increase funding to veterinary colleges to increase the number of seats to produce homegrown Canadian veterinarians. We have an opportunity to discuss new admissions requirements for veterinary schools and how we can serve all of society in a better way. That's in the companion animal sector, but also the food animal sector, which is something that is near and dear to my heart. It's something that touches close to home.
I understand how very stretched the rural regions in Canada are and have been for some time. I think Dr. Rosengren can certainly speak to that as well. That's not a new phenomenon. It's something we've been very aware of for the last 25 years.