The objective of this prospective cohort study was to identify biomarkers associated with mortality in grain-fed veal calves. Upon arrival at a grain-fed veal facility in Ontario, blood was collected from the jugular vein of each calf into a 10-mL sterile blood collection tube without an anticoagulant. Blood was allowed to clot and then centrifuged at 1,500 × g for 15 min. Serum was separated and stored at −20°C until analysis at a commercial reference laboratory (Animal Health Laboratory, Guelph, Ontario, Canada). Several metabolites were measured including creatine kinase, cholesterol, haptoglobin, manganese, serum total protein, iron, cobalt, zinc, selenium, and molybdenum. Univariable mixed logistic regression models were created to evaluate metabolic biomarkers associated with mortality. A lowess smoother curve was generated to assess the linearity of each predictor variable to the outcome on a log odds scale. If a variable failed to meet the linearity assumption, the variable was categorized into quartiles. A total of 909 calves of unknown age had blood collected at arrival from January to December 2017. Of the calves examined, 67 calves (7.5%) died over the 11-week period under observation. The level of cholesterol, haptoglobin, and iron were associated with mortality. For every 1 mmol/L increase in cholesterol, the odds of mortality are reduced (Odds ratio (OR): 0.57; 95% CI: 0.37–0.91; P = 0.02). Compared with the referent category (less than 0.15 g/L), if the calf had a haptoglobin concentration between 0.15 and 0.16 g/L (OR: 2.24; 95% CI: 1.02–4.89; P = 0.04) or 0.19–3.3 g/L (OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 1.01–5.58; P = 0.047), calves had an increased odds of dying. Compared with the referent category (less than 2.1 mg/mL), calves with iron concentrations of 2.8–3.6 mg/mL (OR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.03–4.37; P = 0.04) had a greater risk of mortality. These results demonstrate that cholesterol, haptoglobin, and iron could serve as biomarkers to identify calves at high-risk of mortality when measured at arrival to a veal facility.