History

In 1977, Dr. Conrad VanDijk met Dr. Leroy Dorminy, the founder of CVM USA, at a AVMA meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.  Taking inspiration from Dr. Dorminy, Dr. Vandijk started promoting CVM USA to fellow Canadian veterinarians, students and technicians, getting them involved in going on short term mission trips around the world. Dr. VanDijk served on the CVM USA advisory board from 1990 – 1997, and during this time worked with Drs. Don Barnum and Gary Partlow from OVC to develop the first charter in 1995.  From here the first board was elected, and Dr. Devin Hunt served as coordinator from 1997 – 2002.

It was again that Dr. VanDijk started to create greater vision for CVM Canada and became the first Executive Director, serving from 2002 until 2012.  In this time, the chicken project in Sierra Leone became a prominent focus for how CVM Canada served. This project led to transformational change in the areas that it served. 

In 2013, Dr. Ed Neufeld became the Executive Director.  His focus was to work with VET Net Mongolia NGO. Mongolia was selected in 2000 as a focus mission for CVM Canada. Since retiring in 2006, he has been active in preparing foreign trained veterinarians to write the Canadian veterinary licensing examinations (NAVLE). In 2015, CVM Canada came under the umbrella of CRISTA Canada Ministries, to work in collaboration with CVM USA. Dr. Kit Flowers, Executive Director of CVM USA, served as interim director to support the CVM Canada board. Then, in 2018, Dr. Debbie Hoffele joined the staff as Western Region rep, taking on the Eastern Region rep role and becoming the Executive Director for Canada in 2019. 

CVM USA left Crista Ministries to become a separate entity in 2021, and CVM Canada did likewise, becoming a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization in 2023, and operating in partnership with The Great Commission Foundation for accounting and receipting in Canada. This while continuing in close relationship with CVM USA as an Affilate. Lisa Balzer joined the team in 2022, as Executive Director for CVM Canada, with a passion to raise the profile of the organization domestically and build student engagement in the Christian Veterinary Fellowships on campuses across the country.