Recognition & Impact
Celebrating the milestones that inspire confidence in our mission and vision.
At Community Veterinary Outreach, our work is grounded in compassion, innovation, and collaboration. Over the years, our team has been recognized through awards, invited to present at leading conferences, and featured in respected publications. These milestones reflect both the trust placed in us by our peers and the measurable impact we continue to make in communities across Canada. By sharing our achievements, we aim to demonstrate our commitment to vulnerable populations and provide transparency and confidence to funders, partners, and the public alike.
Accolades & Awards
Recognizing our team’s dedication and impact in communities across Canada.
Presentations
Sharing our knowledge and leading conversations on community-centered veterinary care.
Features & Articles
Highlighting our work and stories in respected publications and media outlets.
EXPLORE OUR JOURNEY
Below you’ll find a year-by-year look at the awards, presentations, and media features that highlight our work. Each entry reflects the growing recognition of Community Veterinary Outreach’s role in advancing compassionate, community-centered care. Click through the sections to see how our impact continues to expand across Canada and beyond.
2026
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Jun 11, 2026. Dr. Angela Smith, Regional Director of CVO York Region is honoured as a 2026 East Gwillimbury Honouree. Full feature here.
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January 22, 2026. Salter, S. Yukon University, Whitehorse, YT. “Access to Veterinary Care: A One Health Issue”. Presentation by CVO Yukon Regional Director, Dr. Samantha Salter.
January 27, 2026. Barham, M. NVA Canada’s National Leadership Meeting (Support Team). Presentation by CVO CEO, Dr. Melanie Barham.
March 10, 2026. Barham, M and Smith, A. Royal Canin’s Town Hall Meeting. Presentation by CVO CEO, Dr. Melanie Barham, and CVO York Regional Director, Dr. Angela Smith.
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January 27, 2026. Bradley, K.N. Veterinary professionals turn everyday care into community impact through volunteer work.
March 2026. Roger’s TV Ottawa. Community Veterinary Outreach Promotion. https://rogerstv.com/ottawa/onnow
July 16, 2026. Ferreira, B. Interview with CVO CEO, Dr. Melanie Barham. Can wildfire smoke make your pet sick? A Toronto vet explains.
2025
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May 5, 2025. Dr. Susan Kilborn, Chief Operating Officer, board member, and regional director, receives the King Charles medal for volunteerism. News here.
Summer 2025. Dr. Melanie Barham, CEO, nominated and accepted to the Ashoka Foundation’s Globalizer program for her work as a social entrepreneur. This year long program begins in September 2025 and brings together social entrepreneurs globally to work on projects within their charity related to systems change.
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February 7, 2025. Kilborn, S, Barham, M. Lecture in curriculum. Ontario Veterinary College. “Caring for vulnerable populations.” Lecture to the 3rd year veterinary students at the Ontario Veterinary College as part of the health management rotation.
February 12, 2025. Barham, M. Keynote address, Royal Canin National Leadership Summit, Collingwood, ON. “Supporting vulnerable pet owners.” Featuring CEO Dr. Melanie Barham.
March 2025. Jessamine. K. Providence Health Care Interprofessional Research Celebration.Pet ownership and patient initiated discharges for vulnerably housed populations. Timestamp 50-55 mins.
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2024
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September 14, 2024. Lem, M, Robb. Keynote address, AVC Sir James Dunn Animal Welfare Conference. “Community Centred Care.” Conference presentation and panel at a national summit on animal welfare featuring founder Dr. Michelle Lem, and Halifax regional director Dr. Paul Robb.
October 28, 2024. Barham, M. Animal Grantmakers Conference, Toronto, ON. “Changing Tides: A Journey from the Pound to Community-Centered Animal Sheltering.” Panel discussion on pet welfare organizations featured Dr. Melanie Barham as a panelist. With thanks to Karine Parvin from the Donner Canadian Foundation for the invitation to speak.
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June 25, 2024. Ho, R, Byers, K, Tesfaye, R. The Conversation. “How ‘One Health’ clinics support unhoused people and their pets.”
June 21, 2024. Barham, M. Veterinary Practice News. “5 questions with Dr. Melanie Barham.”
January 15, 2024. Providence Care. “Having a PAWsitive impact; bridging the health care gap through veterinary care for Kingston’s most vulnerable.”
January 9, 2024. CBC News. “Mobile clinic offers free care to homeless people's pets.”
January 3, 2024. Muhammad-Yusuf, F. Global News. “Kingston mobile clinic helping the unhoused population and their pets.”
2023
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June 16, 2023. Dr. Michelle Lem, Founder, bestowed with honourary degree from the University of Guelph. “Distinguished OVC alumna Dr. Michelle Lem to receive Honorary Degree from the University of Guelph.”
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June, 2023. Lem, M. Convocation Address. Ontario Veterinary College.
July, 2023. Lem, M., Labelle, A., Mosley, C., & Robinson, J. Tough Conversations in Veterinary Medicine. Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention.
May 4, 2023. Townsend, K, Jessamine, K.Humane Canada Summit for Animals Conference. “One Health clinics for preventable and public health for vulnerably housed population and their pets in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside”
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December, 2023. East Gwillimbury's Bulletin Magazine feature of 100 Women Who Care- Central York Region's support of CVO York Region.
November, 2023. Galt, J. Newmarket Today. “Veterinary Outreach provides care for pets, owners facing homelessness.”
October 15, 2023. Vikander, T. CBC News. “Free pet clinic helps Downtown Eastside residents care for their pets' health.“
2022
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October, 2022. Lem, M. Street Vet UK Conference.
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Paws-itively exciting things are happening! This section is getting a fresh look, so please check back soon.
2021
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September, 2021. Lem, M. In praise of good enough. Canadian Virtual Veterinary Symposium.
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October 23, 2021. Groleau, C. CBC News. “Pets of people experiencing homelessness are as well taken care of as any other animals, study indicates.”
October 15, 2021. Thompson, S. Global News. “Homeless Canadians take good care of their pets, study says.”
July 16, 2021. Shepert, E. Vancouver is Awesome. “This outreach clinic supports people and their pets on the Downtown Eastside.”
2020
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September, 2020. Lem, M. Invited speaker. American Pets Alive - Human Animal Support Services External Medical Facing Working Group.
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Don’t get your feathers ruffled! This section is under construction.
2019
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2019. Lem, M. awarded Global One Health Award by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.
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January, 2019. Kilborn, S., Lem, M., Panning, C., et al. Veterinary care as a gateway to smoking cessation: One Health in action. Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation Annual Conference: State of the Art Clinical Approaches to Smoking Cessation.
July, 2019. Lem, M. 1) Serving homeless populations through a One Health approach; 2) Barriers to accessible care. World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress / Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention.
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August 24, 2019. CBC News. “'The most important relationship': Winnipeg clinic offers free health care for pets, owners alike.”
January 30, 2019. George, R. WSAVA. “Founder of Community Veterinary Outreach Program Honoured with WSAVA 2019 Global One Health Award.”
February 4, 2019. Vet Practice. “WSAVA honours outreach program founder.”
2018
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Feb 21, 2018. Coming Up Together Conference: Towards Ending and Preventing Youth Homelessness in Ontario, Canada and Beyond, Ottawa, ON
July 13, 2018. American Veterinary Medical Association Conference, Denver, CO
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November 8, 2018. Carleton Newsroom. “Fall Convocation: Social Work Graduate Establishes Community Veterinary Outreach.”
2003 - 2017
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2015. Lem, M. honoured with Canadian Veterinary Medical Association President’s Award.
2014. Lem, M. recognized by the Ontario Veterinary College with Young Alumnus Award.
2013. Lem, M. elected Ashoka Fellow, a global organization supporting social change.
2013. Lem, M. received Community Collaboration Award at the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies.
2012. Lem, M. awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
2011. Lem, M. commended with Individual Achievement award at the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies.
2011. Lem, M. awarded the Thought Leadership Scholarship at the Summit for Urban Animal Strategies.
2011. Lem, M. recognized with the Muriel Davies Kindness Award for contribution to animal welfare, by the Ottawa Humane Society.
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Dec 6, 2017. Canadian Federation of Humane Societies National Violence Link Conference, Ottawa ON
October 5, 2017. International Veterinary Social Work Summit, Knoxville, TN
December, 2017. Lem, M. Connecting our collective vulnerability. The Canadian Violence Link Conference.
November, 2016. Lem, M. & Kilborn, S. One Health. Ottawa Public Health.
October, 2016. Lem, M. One Health. Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors Conference.
August, 2016. Lem, M. Keynote speaker. Kansas City Animal Health Corridor Annual Homecoming.
March, 2016. Lem, M. & Beavers, A. Making More Health Summit.
March, 2016. Lem, M. Pet ownership among marginalized populations: Implications for social workers. School of Social Work, University of Saskatchewan.
February, 2016. Lem, M. One health in the community. Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC) conference.
January, 2016. Lem, M. One health in the community. Toronto Humane Society.
January, 2016. Lem, M. Community Medicine. The American Society for the Protection of Animals.
October, 2015. Lem, M. Community Veterinary Outreach. Invited speaker at the Accessible Veterinary Care Symposium.
October, 2015. Lem, M. Social change and leadership. Keynote speaker at Boehringer Ingelheim’s Acceleration Team Graduation.
January, 2015. Lem, M. One health in the community. Students of the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention, Western College of Veterinary Medicine.
November, 2014. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Guest lecturer at the School of Social Work, Carleton University.
October, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Invited speaker, Montreal Lakeshore Rotary Club.
October, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Guest lecturer at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
August, 2014. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Keynote speaker, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa, ON
July, 2014. Lem, M. Determinants of animal welfare; Myths and truths of animal welfare in practice; One health in the community. Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention
July, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Guest lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program, University of Ottawa
June, 2014. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Keynote speaker at the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Medicine Annual Meeting
May, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Oral presentation at the Global Development Symposium: Critical Links between Human and Animal Health, Guelph, ON
May, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Invited speaker, Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville.
May, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Invited speaker at the School of Social Work, Carleton University.
April, 2014. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Oral presentation at the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies National Animal Welfare Conference.
March, 2014. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Invited speaker at the Canadian Association of Laboratory Animal Science, Ottawa, ON
February, 2014. Lem, M. One health in the community. Keynote speaker at the Annual Leadership Weekend of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association.
November, 2013. Lem, M. One health: Stories of social change, Ashoka Canada, Toronto, ON.
July, 2013. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Oral presentation at The Summit of Veterinary Leaders, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association Convention, Victoria, BC
January, 2013. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Invited speaker, Rotary Club West Ottawa
March, 2012. Lem, M. One health, one welfare. Invited speaker at the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare, University of Guelph.
November, 2011. Lem, M. Effects of pet ownership on street-involved youth – A Qualitative Analysis. Invited speaker in the Department of Health, Aging, and Society, McMaster University.
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November 26, 2017. Chan, C. Vancouver Sun. “Pets and their humans get health checkups at free Vancouver clinic”
July 16, 2016. Cox, A. Ottawa Citizen. “Free veterinary outreach program 'a relief,' cat owner says”
March 27, 2016. Dallas, M.E. US News. “Pets Help Homeless Youth, Study Finds”
November 7, 2014. Woolley, E. Homeless Hub Blog. “Why do homeless people have pets?”
November 29, 2013. Lindell, R. Global News. “Everyday Hero: Michelle Lem”