SCVMA Senior Representatives

The Students of the CVMA (SCVMA) Committee is an integral part of the CVMA that delivers various SCVMA-led initiatives throughout the school year. The SCVMA-led initiatives are designed to engage and inform students to help foster relationships and bridge the gap between the CVMA, CVMA Council and their respective college.

The SCVMA Committee is comprised of one elected Senior Representative from each Canadian veterinary college and is supported by an elected Junior Representative and a faculty member who is a member of the Student Liaison Advisory Group.

All representatives begin their one-year term following the annual CVMA convention. The Junior Representative will automatically become the Senior Representative the following year.

Get to Know the Incoming Senior Representatives

Mia Edger-Lacoursière is a fourth-year veterinary student at the Faculté de médecine vétérinaire (FMV) from Montreal, Quebec. A former elite tennis player, she now channels her competitive spirit into various sports challenges to raise funds for causes she is passionate about. The companionship of her beloved cat Cuttie inspired Mia to dedicate her studies to improving animal health and wellbeing.

Mia has gained experience working at her hometown small animal clinic and completed a summer internship in emergency medicine at CENTREDMV. She is deeply involved in her academic community, serving as the FMV Surgery and Anesthesia Club representative and the Class representative for the 2026 Promotion.

In her free time, she enjoys biking, woodworking projects, travelling and cooking for family and friends. She is also an avid volunteer, dedicating her time to sterilization campaigns for local animal shelters.

After leading the organization for the 2024 SCVMA Symposium in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Mia is honoured to be the SCVMA president this year and looks forward to fostering collaboration and camaraderie among veterinary students across Canada.  

Paisley Johnson is currently in her third year of studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). She was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan and has had a love and passion for animals from a young age.  She grew up with dogs and cats being an important part of the household and started riding horses at the age of 7.

She then began showing her very own quarter horse in the AQHA all-around English and western events a few years later. She continued to train and show quarter horses throughout her youth and young adult years. This hobby fostered her passion for the human-animal bond and led her to pursue further education in animal science and veterinary medicine.

She obtained her BSc in Animal Bioscience in 2019 and her MSc in Large Animal Clinical Sciences in 2022, both at the University of Saskatchewan, before attending veterinary school at the WCVM. In her free time, Paisley likes cooking, reading, going to the gym and playing tennis.

Samantha Shute, a second-year veterinary student at the Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC), was born in St. Albert, Alberta but with both parents in the military was posted to English Corner, Nova Scotia where she grew up for many years. She grew up in many sports but always loving animals, working as a farm hand on dairy, sheep, and horse farms all while she competed in high levels of freestyle snowboarding with Team Nova Scotia.

Samantha attended Dalhousie’s Agricultural campus where she received her Bachelor of Agriculture (Animal Science). Throughout her undergraduate studies, she worked at the university conducting bovine research as well as working at the Ruminant Animal Center. She was accepted to the Atlantic Veterinary College in her second year of university and deferred for a year to complete her Bachelor’s in 3 years.

In her spare time, she competes in the professional Stihl Timbersports league as well as the local Maritime Lumberjack Association league, winning the 2023 Female Rookie Champion as well as the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus Woodsmen Rookie of the Year award in 2023. Along with that she loves riding horses, and you can probably find her at local rodeos in the east and in Alberta in the summers.

Samantha decided to become involved with the SCVMA because she wanted to become more engaged with the school as well as make connections with other students across Canada. She is looking forward to learning about the CVMA and providing fun and educational opportunities for her fellow vet students throughout her time with the SCVMA.

Matthew Tornopolski is a third-year DVM student at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM). Growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Matthew’s first family pet was a rabbit, and this sparked his love for animals, especially exotics. Years later, after seeing the expertise used in the fracture repair of his cat’s femur, Matthew’s adventure into veterinary medicine began.

Having an interest in science, Matthew completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Manitoba in organic chemistry and microbiology. Wanting to learn more about the importance of agriculture in Canada, Matthew went back to the University of Manitoba to complete a second bachelor’s degree in animal production systems. After spending many years in the restaurant industry working through school, Matthew’s journey brought him to Calgary, where he joined the student body at UCVM.

As a member of the class of 2026, Matthew is keen on investigating his interests in exotics along with emergency & critical care. While his primary pursuit is small animal medicine, he has a particular fondness for working with dairy cattle, while also enjoying equine practice.

As the SCVMA Senior Representative, Matthew sits as a member of the Calgary Association of Veterinary Students, UCVM’s student council.

In his free time, Matthew is an avid gamer, a WSET level 2 wine connoisseur, and a devoted lover of his two cats, Ness and Lyra.

Matthew is excited to represent the SCVMA this year as a Senior Representative while collaborating with other members of the SCVMA across the country. He is looking forward to bringing the CVMA’s Student Leadership Workshop to UCVM this year.

Bryn Van Winters, a phase 2 (second year) student at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), grew up in Toronto, Ontario. She grew up in the downtown area, although surrounded by building, she worked extremely hard to surround herself with as many animals as possible, including horses, dogs and cats.

She attended the University of Guelph where she obtained her Bachelor of Science, majoring in Animal Biology. Throughout her undergraduate studies, she worked with multiple research groups focusing on reproduction and health in poultry, cows and horses. Bryn went on to obtain her Master of Science, studying supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids as a strategy to regulate postpartum inflammation in dairy cows. Throughout her time in grad school, she developed a passion for teaching her students and fellow peers the clinical skills she obtained while conducting her experiment and loved spending her time with cows. Thereafter Bryn worked as a research technician for 8 months requiring her to travel to multiple commercial dairies in Ontario and found her calling to work with producers. This solidified her decision to pursue vet med.

In her spare time, Bryn enjoys riding, hiking, taking many pictures of her cats; Cheese whiz and Toulouse, as well as spending quality time with her friends and family.

Since being admitted to OVC, Bryn immediately became involved in the student community by becoming the 2023 Jr. SCVMA representative for OVC and the OVC Alumni Association (OVCAA) Class of 2027 representative. Bryn has also been elected by her classmates as “Housemaster” of the Omega Tau Sigma (OTS) Delta Professional Veterinary Fraternity.

Bryn is honoured and extremely excited to represent OVC as part of the SCVMA and looks forward to collaborating with her fellow peers across Canada.

Meet your 2024-2025 SCVMA Junior Representatives: