L-R: Dr. Baljit Singh, Minister Dreeshen, Jennifer Davies, Ashley Whitehead and Ed McCauley of the University of Calgary (Government of Alberta)

By Justin Goulet

Research on animal health at University of Calgary receives financial boost

Oct 14, 2020 | 10:41 AM

CALGARY, AB – The governments of Canada and Alberta are teaming up on a boost to animal health research at the University of Calgary.

The $3.44 million deal was finalized in March and will help staff at the U of C’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine launch a new pilot project.

The project will expand the school’s diagnostic service unit for animal disease diagnosis and welfare until February 2024.

This in turn will create an animal disease and diagnosis welfare capacity at the university, which will provide diagnostic pathology, bacteriology and other testing services to the province’s veterinarians.

The provincial government says the made-in-Alberta plan will lead to more affordable results for vets and producers and increased learning opportunities for U of C students.

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“Our livestock producers take great pride in caring for the health and well-being of their animals,” said Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

“Increased access to quick and affordable diagnostic testing will support them in managing their livestock health, so they can continue to put safe, quality food on the tables of Canadians.”

Alberta’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Devin Dreeshen, says quick and readily available animal health diagnostics are vital in helping the province’s vets support the agriculture sector.

“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,” he stated.

The latest agreement is part of the Government of Alberta’s commitment to ensuring farmers and ranchers lead the charge in agricultural research priorities – not the government.

Non-profit corporation Establishing Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) will assume on-going responsibility for the funding agreement with the U of C, in the long term.

The grant for the U of C is comprised of $2.04 million from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership and $1.4 million from the Strategic Research and Development Program.