Let’s be honest, winters in Arizona are not a chore. And 2026 is no different. But the highlight of my January so far was a quick trip to “balmy” Toronto (-2 degrees F) for the Ontario VMA Convention following a chilly VMX in Orlando.
Ten years ago a group of us launched the Veterinary Innovation Council at the 2016 NAVC (now VMX). We jumped in with months of conversations examining human healthcare’s use of telemedicine driven by a simple question: could telemedicine work in the Veterinary space? Our original VIC group included a former President of the AVMA and industry leaders from all sectors of pet healthcare. We agreed that there was no reason pet owners couldn’t enjoy telemedicine with a licensed veterinarian. All states have approved telemedicine for human healthcare, so we had a deep body of evidence to review. What we didn’t know was how much work the Ontario VMA and the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (their version of our state Veterinary medical boards) had put in to jointly develop the first North American Veterinary telemedicine program.
That mission 10 years ago took me to icy Toronto last week for the Ontario VMA Convention and a sit-down with Jan Robinson, the esteemed CEO of the CVO, who worked closely with the Ontario VMA to launch Veterinary telemedicine. Eight years later, Veterinary telemedicine in Ontario is part of everyday life and there has not been a single complaint filed with the CVO that any animal has been harmed. Not one. And unlike the battles which telemedicine stirs up with the AVMA and state VMAs in America, Ontario demonstrated that the regulators (CVO) and Ontario VMA could work together and provide pet owners with convenient access to care.
This holds special significance in Ontario as densely urban Toronto makes traffic a challenge and the vast northern reaches of Ontario create distances as great as five hours between communities and Veterinary clinics. So if a 16 million population province across the border from Michigan can make telemedicine work, why do we face the same battles state-after-state in the U.S.? And hear the same threats of rampant harm to our dogs and cats if pets receive help from a licensed veterinarian through virtual technologies?
Fortunately, over 120 million Americans now live in jurisdictions where a pet owner may begin with a virtual visit to a licensed veterinarian. Which states? Arizona, California, Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and Idaho. Red and Blue states, large and small, urban and rural. Each state includes safeguards and require consent from the licensed veterinarian and client. We have succeeded in state legislatures because the politicians themselves experience the challenge of access to care and agree that if telemedicine works for people, it can work for pets.
The tired argument that Veterinary medicine is different because pets can’t speak for themselves falls flat because there are a host of human conditions that prevent the patient from speaking. Veterinary telemedicine always involves a pet owner or caretaker alongside the dog or cat. Ontario also has spawned two successful yet different telemedicine models. Vetster provides business-to-consumer services, while VetWise (formerly SmartVet) works exclusively with Veterinary practices. Both operate across Canada.
While I prefer the winters in Arizona to Toronto, I’m the first to applaud Ontario’s ability to develop peacefully a telemedicine system for Veterinary care and navigate the first eight years with no harm to pets. The U.S. could learn from this; just bring a warm coat to witness firsthand.