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.
Because that’s how capitalism works without strong enough regulations. You need to grow every year, and at a certain point you can’t really do that without expanding into a new market or buying a competitor.
In exaggerated capitalism, one company grows until it owns everything. Its goal is to extract as much as possible from the population.
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.
No such thing as strong enough regulations. They’ll alway find a way as long as there is motivation to do so.