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2018 ABVTA Job Retention & Wage Survey – Results Summary

The 2018 ABVTA Job Retention and Wage Survey was a huge success and provided an abundance of useful information gathered from over 1100 responses, approximately 75% of ABVTA general members.

Very quickly, it became evident that analyzing this amount of data was very complex. After consulting with statistical researchers with NAITs Institutional Research Team, they have suggested to us that although these results provide a great start, it is advisable to follow up with our membership with a second survey to get an even larger picture of RVT life in Alberta as well as take a more in depth look at wages.

It is clear how interested the membership is with this survey and the ultimate goal of the ABVTA is to provide accurate results that can be used to better enhance the profession of an RVT. In the meantime, these are the trends discovered from the initial survey and will be used to formulate questions for the new survey.

Of the 1130 respondents, approximately 41.68% worked in Companion Private Practice. 19.65% worked in Companion Corporate Practice. 18.76% worked in large animal practice. 9.20 % no longer work in the industry and the remaining 9.29% work in government, sales, education, research and other sectors of the industry.

The survey questions did not allow us to determine a wage average but did show a trend with regards to years practiced as well as type of practice.

  1. The approximate wage in Companion Animal Private Practice included 486 responses
  2. Over 50% of those with 0-5 years in practice earn over $20 per hour
  3. 40% of those with 10+ years in practice earn over $25 per hour


0-5 years (171 responses) 

< $15 per hour 3.51%
$15-20 per hour 48.86%
$20-25 per hour 50.29%
$25-30 per hour 2.34%

10+ years (184 responses) 

$15-20 per hour 4.89%
$20-25 per hour 54.89%
$25-30 per hour 34.78%
> $30 per hour 5.44%


  1. The Approximate wage in Companion Animal Corporate Practice included 219 responses
  2. 50% of those with 0-5 years in practice earn between $15 and $20 per hour
  3. Over 40% of those with 10+ years in practice earn over $25 per hour


The survey showed that with most industries, 95% respondents were within a $10.00 variance in wage.

The survey also did show that 10% of responses belong to members that are no longer employed in the veterinary industry.

RVTs would like to see a more incentives in their workplaces; RRSP contribution, profit sharing
and subsidized childcare was a common throughout the survey. RVTs with less than 5 years in practice would like to see more financially supported benefits in their workplace, which include, health and wellness benefits, health spending accounts, bonus system, wage increase, staff pet benefits/insurance, increase in sick days, commission and uniform allowances.

When identifying the most important aspects of a workplace, shared values of all RVTs responding include (not in any particular order):

  • Schedule, hours and work-life balance
  • wage/salary
  • benefits
  • standards of care and practice
  • workplace culture/environment – collaboration focused values & ethics
  • location (close to home)
  • positive relationship between the veterinary team as well as between the management
    and staff; being a respected and valued member of the team
  • communication – between the team as well as between management and staff
  • opportunities for growth, promotion and professional development


Those with less than 5 years in practice also consider these qualities as extremely important in the workplace:

  • strong relationships with clients and families
  • workplace flow
  • duties and role of the RVT within the team
  • quality of the equipment and technology available
  • current staff – retention rates, presence of support staff
  • reputation of the practice, length of establishment

Those with more than 10 years in practice also consider these qualities as extremely important in the workplace:

  • Flexibility – holidays, days off, stability


Thank you to all the members who participated in the survey. More importantly though, thank you for your patience with receiving the survey results. This has been a learning curve and we anticipate the new survey will provide us the accurate information we are seeking to enhance RVT employment and retention.

Next steps – the ABVTA Board plans to release a second, follow-up survey to the membership in Spring 2019. This follow-up survey will be solely focused on finding out the wages and benefits of Alberta’s RVTs, dependent on years in practice and industry/practice type.