Offered by Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada, Diploma in Veterinary Technician is a diploma in Animal Science programme. The programme runs for 2 years, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 21,205 per year (CAD 5,462 per year for local students).
Instruction comes from Registered Veterinary Technicians and Veterinarians, with classroom learning applied through a placement at a veterinary clinic, and accreditation from the Ontario Association of Veterinary Technicians that allows graduates to sit the Veterinary Technician National Exam. Manikins replace live animals for teaching procedures such as bandaging, catheter placement and intubation wherever possible, with live-animal practice taking place during field placement each semester.
Practicums run one day a week plus two-week full-time blocks, applying learning directly with animals needing veterinary care; before placement begins, students must provide a criminal record check and a rabies titre. The program expects a background in science and math, strong communication skills, steady hands, the ability to lift and move loads of up to 25 kilograms, and roughly 20 to 25 hours a week of outside study time.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Academic (Ontario basis): an Ontario Secondary School Diploma or accepted equivalent carrying one Grade 12 English (ENG4C or ENG4U), one Grade 12 Mathematics at the C or U level, Chemistry at Grade 12 (C or U) or Grade 11 (U), and Grade 11 Biology at the C or U level. Applicants aged 19 or over who are short a requirement may apply as mature students, and may be asked to sit Sheridan's English, math or science tests or to take free preparatory courses through Academic Upgrading. Eligible applicants are ranked on the average of their six highest senior-level credits, the required courses included. Sheridan's published guideline for recent intakes is an academic average around 70 per cent. An international applicant must present the equivalent of these Ontario courses from their own school system, and a credential assessment may be requested; a domestic applicant schooled outside Canada has transcripts assessed through ICAS or WES. English, where English is not your first language or your earlier study was in another language: Sheridan's certificate and diploma band - IELTS Academic 6.0 with no band under 5.5, TOEFL iBT 80 with nothing under 20 (or 4.0 with no section under 4.0 on the scale used from 2026), PTE Academic 58 with no section under 49, Duolingo 105 with no subscore under 85, CAEL 60 with no section under 50; a result must be no more than 24 months old on the first day of class. Pre-exposure rabies immunisation is compulsory for students in this program: three rabies vaccinations spaced at days 1, 7 and 21, followed by a rabies titre, with retesting each year. A rabies titre and a criminal record check must both be in place before placement begins, and the documentation is supplied at your own expense.
Application Details
Start Date:Sheridan runs three terms a year - Fall starting in September, Winter in January and Spring/Summer in May. For 2026-27 the Fall term ran 8 September to 18 December 2026, Winter runs 6 January to 16 April 2027, and Spring/Summer runs 3 May to 13 August 2027. On 6 September 2026 this program's own page listed intakes in September 2026 and January 2027, both at the Davis Campus in Brampton. Sheridan's Start date table also carries a separate Domestic and International status for each intake (Available, Waitlisted or Closed) that changes as seats fill, so check this program's page on sheridancollege.ca before you apply.
Application Deadline:Sheridan publishes no deadline of its own for this program; the dates below are the college-wide ones. DOMESTIC APPLICANTS (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) apply through ontariocolleges.ca, which opened the Fall 2027 application on 26 September 2026 - Sheridan says it starts receiving those applications in early October for the academic year that follows. The equal consideration date is 1 February: apply on or before it and your file is weighed alongside every other one received by then for a Fall-term start, so for the cycle now open that means 1 February 2027 for entry in September 2027. Sheridan still accepts applications after that date wherever a program has not filled, but they are handled in the order they arrive, which leaves little room in high-demand programs. First offers for a September start may go out from 1 November; programs that require a portfolio, audition or resume begin issuing decisions later in March, and offers for the Winter and Spring/Summer intakes are made on a rolling basis. Confirm a Fall offer at ontariocolleges.ca by 1 May, or by the date printed on an offer issued after that, then pay the tuition deposit three months before the term begins. INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS apply instead through Sheridan's own International Application Portal, and Sheridan publishes no deadline for them - its Important Dates table carries only a note that the international dates are still to be posted. What limits an international application in practice is space: Sheridan tells international applicants to check that a program still has room before applying, and every program page shows a separate International status for each intake. Apply as early as you can and leave time for a study permit. Confirm the current dates at sheridancollege.ca and ontariocolleges.ca before you apply.
