The University of Calgary has been gifted a ranch near Cochrane.

Father and Daughter Donated their Ranch to Vet School in Canada

A father and daughter have donated their entire 7,700 hectares working ranch to University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Including the entire land, buildings, and the 1,000-head herd of cattle.

The W.A. Ranches in the northeast of Cochrane has a monetary value $44 million.

J.C. (Jack) Anderson and daughter Wynne Chisholm.

“This is a transformational donation,” said University of Calgary president Elizabeth Cannon. “This provides a platform which is unique in Canada, if not in North America, and really will propel our faculty of veterinary medicine to the global stage.”

The donation was made by businessman and philanthropist J.C. (Jack) Anderson, 90, and his daughter Wynne Chisholm, 61. The two have operated W.A. Ranches since 2005.

University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

W.A. Ranches has long had a close relationship with the U of C’s veterinary medicine program, opening up its gates to practicum students seeking firsthand experience with cattle as well as donating $5 million to the university in 2014 to establish the Anderson-Chisholm Chair in Animal Care and Welfare.

“There are only three grandkids in our family and all have chosen careers outside of agriculture. So we were looking at what our next steps were and what we might do,” Chisholm said. “We just thought it was an area the university was missing.”

W.A. ranches

The University of Calgary’s vet school, which was founded in 2005, already gives students the chance to work with private ranches and veterinary practices as part of their overall training.

Wynne Chisholm started ranching in 2003. 

In addition to donating all of the assets that go along with W.A. Ranches, the Anderson-Chisholm families requested that each of their five full-time ranch employees be able to keep their jobs under the new university ownership structure.

Major gift establishes W.A. Ranches at University of Calgary.

“It was important to us that we would still be allowed to come onto the ranch, particularly at calving time, and see the animals,” she said. “My dad will probably still want to do a drive-around weekly as he does now, to be able to see what’s happening.”

The U of C will officially take possession of W.A. Ranches in November.

“It is futile to judge a kind deed by its motives. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.”

- Eric Hoffer