Sheryl and David Kerr have made a $4-million lead gift toward the new two-storey Medical and Surgical Learning Centre (MSLC) at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) to support the infrastructure changes made necessary by the expansion of the veterinary class.
Sheryl Kerr with her horse Sambucca Blue
The new architecturally unique centre will provide dedicated areas for students to practice their pre-surgical and surgical skills, including in specialized areas such as dentistry and post-operative recovery. The Kerrs' gift will name the main-floor operating suite - more than 3,300 sq ft of space featuring multiple surgical stations with state-of-the-art tables and overhead booms for teaching hands-on clinical skills.
The provincial government agreed to support OVC's proposal to graduate an additional 20 veterinary students each year from Northern Ontario through the new Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program - a partnership between the University of Guelph and Lakehead University - and offered initial financial support for the new MSLC building.
Student recruitment from Northern Ontario is underway. For 2025 and 2026, the new northern cohort will begin their studies in Guelph, completing all four years at OVC on the U of G campus. Starting in 2027, students will spend their first two years at Lakehead and complete their second two at Guelph.
"The underlying premise is that students drawn from the North, and trained for two years in the North, would gravitate to northern practices after graduation," says Dr. Jeff Wichtel, OVC dean.
The Kerrs met at McGill University as members of the men's and women's hockey teams. Thirty years later, their daughter Tamara played four years of varsity hockey as a Gryphon. As a result, the couple's first gift to U of G was in support of women's hockey and has since included a $50,000 scholarship endowment.
When not skating, Sheryl Kerr is a passionate equestrian. She owns Strathfield Farm in Stouffville, Ont., where she stables her horses and leases space to Stoney Lake Equestrian - Team Irwin Dressage.
Using Equine Guelph's community education platform, Sheryl Kerr completed courses on developing a COVID-19 response for her 150-acre farm and training facility, and horse welfare in Canada.
Equine Guelph is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of horses through equine education and research for horse owners. As a campus non-profit, it had been managing on a cost-recovery model, with courses like the ones Sheryl completed priced at less than $100. Since then, the Kerrs have provided three gifts of $100,000, the most recent in 2023, to support horse education, communication and community outreach initiatives at Equine Guelph.
"Having learned so much myself from Equine Guelph's online courses and newsletters, I know first-hand how much value they bring to the horse community," Sheryl Kerr says.
Sheryl and David Kerr
The Kerrs have continued their commitment to OVC with their latest gift of $4 million for the MSLC.
"I've had horses all along, and I was struck by recent stories of the acute lack of equine vets in northern Ontario," Sheryl says. "The number of graduating veterinarians has not kept pace with increases in animal and pet ownership and the north has been particularly underserved.
"Hearing that need, we thought supporting the expansion of the veterinary college was the best use of our funds, to help graduate more vets, many of whom we hope will be willing to provide services to rural and remote areas."
David was formerly president and CEO of Noranda Inc. and a director of numerous corporate and community boards.
"We understood that an ambitious plan like this would require the flexibility to respond to needs above and beyond the construction of the building," David Kerr says. "So, $500,000 of the $4 million was designated to highest priorities to help ensure the success of this project."
"OVC has a vision of supporting every animal, everywhere," says Wichtel. "We're so grateful for kind and generous people like Sheryl and David Kerr, who not only share our vision but take giant steps to help make it a reality."
