Veterinary medicine in Canada is evolving quickly. Clients are asking more sophisticated questions, patient populations are living longer and presenting with more complex conditions, and the gap between what a standard DVM program covers and what a modern practice needs to offer is wider than it used to be. Supplemental education is how Canadian veterinarians close that gap, whether that means adding a new clinical skill set, pursuing formal certification in a specialty area, or simply staying current with evidence and best practices in a fast-moving field. Here’s a look at the landscape.
1. The CVMA Convention
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association runs an annual convention that’s the largest continuing education event in the country for veterinary professionals. The 2025 convention was held in Victoria at the Victoria Conference Centre and offered more than 100 hours of CE programming. It covers a wide range of clinical and professional topics across multiple streams, making it useful regardless of what area of practice you’re in. The CVMA also runs the Emerging Leaders Program and the CVMA Summit for practitioners looking for development that goes beyond clinical skills into leadership and professional issues. For Canadian veterinarians who only make it to one CE event per year, this is the most comprehensive single option available.
2. OVMA Conference and Trade Show
The Ontario Veterinary Medical Association hosts what’s consistently described as Canada’s largest provincial veterinary conference and trade show. It’s an important annual event for Ontario practitioners and tends to draw speakers and programming that reflect what’s current in both small animal and large animal practice. The OVMA also runs a Virtual CE Lecture Series that offers free webinars throughout the year covering a range of clinical and professional topics, which makes it accessible to practitioners outside Ontario as well. Their continuing education recognition program acknowledges members who complete at least 30 hours of CE annually, which can serve as useful motivation for practitioners who want a structured goal to work toward.
3. CuraCore Canada Integrative Medicine and Rehabilitation
CuraCore Canada is the Canadian arm of a program that’s spent more than 25 years building a reputation as a global leader in science-based integrative veterinary medicine. Their courses cover medical acupuncture, veterinary rehabilitation, medical massage, botanical medicine, and photomedicine, all grounded in neurophysiology and evidence rather than tradition alone. The Medical Acupuncture for Veterinarians course runs 90 hours and includes in-person clinical intensives held in Sidney, British Columbia, making it one of the few programs of its kind with a dedicated Canadian delivery site. For veterinarians who want to expand into integrative medicine without abandoning the scientific rigor their training instilled, CuraCore’s approach is specifically designed to bridge that gap. Their courses are RACE-approved and relevant across small animal, equine, and mixed practice settings.
4. Association of Veterinary Acupuncturists of Canada (AVAC)
AVAC is a Canadian non-profit focused specifically on continuing education in veterinary acupuncture. They run workshops, seminars, and an annual conference, and their programming is designed for practitioners who are already working in or moving toward integrative medicine. Membership gives Canadian veterinarians access to a community of like-minded practitioners, conference recordings, and a reduced-rate pathway into ongoing professional development in acupuncture. For anyone already certified in veterinary acupuncture who wants to stay current and connected to the Canadian integrative veterinary community specifically, AVAC is the most relevant professional home.
5. VETgirl Online CE Platform
VETgirl is an online CE platform built by veterinarians for veterinarians, and it’s become a practical go-to for Canadian practitioners who need quality continuing education that fits around a clinical schedule. The platform offers more than 150 hours of live and interactive RACE-approved CE annually, along with on-demand webinars, podcasts, and video content across a wide range of clinical topics. It’s designed to be consumed in short sessions — during a lunch break, between appointments, or on a commute — which makes it realistic for practitioners who aren’t in a position to block out days for in-person programming. Practice teams with three or more members can access group billing through the ELITE Teams option, which makes it a useful tool for continuing education at the clinic level rather than just the individual level.
6. Canine Rehabilitation Institute Certified Veterinary Acupuncture Therapist (CVAT)
The Canine Rehabilitation Institute offers the CVAT certification, a hybrid program combining more than 102 hours of RACE-approved education with in-person clinical intensives. The curriculum blends a neurophysiological approach to acupuncture with an introduction to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, and the teaching team includes board-certified veterinarians from the American College of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation alongside certified acupuncturists and pain management specialists. The program is structured in two modules, and students can begin applying what they’ve learned after the first module. It’s a strong option for Canadian veterinarians who want a structured, credentialed pathway into acupuncture that carries recognized certification credentials.
7. Canada West Veterinary Specialists CE Events
Canada West Veterinary Specialists in Vancouver runs its own continuing education events throughout the year, including specialist-led seminars, symposia, and evening lectures, many of which are offered at no charge. Their programming tends to focus on specialist-level clinical topics and is particularly useful for general practitioners in British Columbia who want access to specialist knowledge without traveling out of province. The format varies from single-evening lectures to full-day symposia depending on the topic. For lower-mainland veterinarians looking for accessible, high-quality CE close to home, Canada West’s events are consistently worth checking.
8. Viticus Group Hands-On Skills Labs
The Viticus Group runs hands-on continuing education labs in surgery, ultrasound, ophthalmology, endoscopy, oncology, and other procedural disciplines, with RACE-approved programming available for both 2025 and 2026. Their model is specifically designed for skill-building that can’t be replicated in a lecture or online module — the kind of procedural competency that comes from supervised repetition with real equipment. Canadian veterinarians looking to add or sharpen a specific technical skill tend to find this format more immediately transferable to practice than classroom-based learning. It’s worth checking their schedule for Canadian delivery dates or U.S. locations that are reasonable to travel to.
9. RVTTC Online CE Portal and Infection Prevention Certificate
The Registered Veterinary Technologists and Technicians of Canada runs an online CE portal that allows veterinary professionals to track and record continuing education from both online and live events in a single place. Their infection prevention and disease control certificate program, developed in partnership with Virox Animal Health, is a RACE-approved series of three online courses that’s relevant for any practice dealing with infection control protocols. While the RVTTC’s programs are primarily aimed at RVTs, the resources and tracked CE portal are useful infrastructure for any Canadian practice trying to manage team-wide continuing education requirements consistently.
10. Provincial Associations and Regional CE
Every province has a veterinary medical association that runs its own CE programming alongside the national events, and for many Canadian practitioners, regional programming is the most accessible and cost-effective way to accumulate CE hours consistently. The Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, British Columbia Veterinary Medical Association, and their counterparts across the country all offer conferences, webinars, and workshops tailored to the regulatory environment and practice patterns of their provinces. The APVC conference, for example, offers 16.5 hours of hard CE for DVMs, RVTs, and practice managers who attend the full event. Staying connected to your provincial association’s CE calendar is one of the simplest ways to build a consistent annual education practice without relying exclusively on national or international events.
Why It Matters More Now Than It Used To
The CVMA’s current position on integrative veterinary medicine reflects how much the profession has shifted. Modalities like acupuncture, rehabilitation, botanical medicine, and spinal manipulation therapy are moving from the periphery of practice into the mainstream, and clients in Canada are actively seeking veterinarians who can offer them. The regulatory landscape is also evolving province by province, which means what’s permissible in practice and what constitutes appropriate supervision and scope is a moving target that continuing education helps practitioners navigate. Staying current isn’t just about clinical skill. It’s about being positioned to offer what your clients are asking for, within a framework that’s grounded in evidence and consistent with where the profession is heading.
