The big companies, known as consolidators, have bought hundreds of clinics from 2012 onwards, according to records and reports, across the country, because pets and vets are big money.
Sixty per cent of Canadians have a pet, according to a recent report from Mintel, a consumer research firm, and the country’s vet practices pull in around $9.3 billion a year according to a 2023 report prepared for the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association.
A 2023 report from the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OMVA) said corporate interests contol 20 per cent of veterinary hospitals in Canada, and estimates those chains employ about 40 per cent of the nation’s vets.
Never one company.
Usually three companies will end up owning an imdustry. It’s far easier to manage a collusive oligopoly than a pure monopoly; and the governments are more likely to leave you alone.