Written by: Megan Smith / Treatment / April 28, 2021 / 8 minutes read

In most of Canada, and many other parts of the world, speech-language pathology is a regulated profession. In Canada, we regulate healthcare professionals at the provincial level, and most provinces do have a regulatory body (called a “college”). This has several implications for speech therapy clients, and for their clinicians.

Your speech-language pathologist pays membership dues annually in order to maintain their registration with the provincial College (in Ontario, this college is CASLPO, or the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists in Ontario and is pronounced “Castle-Poe”). These dues provide the College with a budget to fulfill its role as a regulator.

Each year, your clinician must set learning goals for themselves, and complete continuing education to improve their practice in their goal areas.

The title of “speech-language pathologist” is protected, meaning that the provincial college will not allow anyone who is not a member to use that title as a part of their business.

Certain activities are protected in the registered area. These are activities that the college considers to require skilled training as a speech-language pathologist to complete competently. This means that only people registered with the college in that area can perform these activities. Some examples include:

• Pronunciation training for people who have foreign accents is not a protected activity, and any person can provide accent modification training.

• Treating a lisp is a protected activity, and only speech-language pathologists would be allowed to provide this service.

• Voice coaching to help a trans woman feel happy with the way her voice sounds is not a protected activity; voice coaches, singing coaches, and acting coaches often provide this service.

• Voice therapy for a voice disorder, such as vocal fold nodules, is a protected activity; only speech-language pathologists would be allowed to provide this service. 

Your speech-language pathologist has met the acceptable minimum training requirements, including at least a masters-level degree in Speech-Language Pathology, clinical internships, and the first six months of professional practice supervised by a more experienced clinician.

Your speech-language pathologist must operate their practice within the rules of the college. For example, private practices like WELL SAID in Ontario are not allowed to advertise their services using testimonials, as CASLPO deems this to be an unethical form of advertising. If a private practice does use testimonials, they can be reported to the college, which will likely reprimand them. The College also sets rules on what types of information must be present in client files, how clinicians can get informed consent for services, and how to protect the privacy of clients’ healthcare information.

Typically, health insurance will only pay for skilled treatment from a practitioner registered with their provincial college.

But most importantly, being registered with a college means that a speech-language pathologist can be disciplined by that college. Speech-language pathologists who practice unethically can be ordered to pay fines, repeat their clinical supervision period, take courses, or can even be removed from the college and forbidden from future practice as a speech-language pathologist.

As a Canadian, this writer is not an expert on how regulatory bodies work in other regions of the world. What I do know is the following:

-In nearly all Canadian provinces, speech-language pathologists are regulated. Prince Edward Island is the sole exception to this rule.

-In the Canadian territories, speech-language pathology is unregulated.

-The USA, Australia, and the UK each have their own regulatory systems for speech-language pathologists.

-Other countries may or may not have a college of speech-language pathologists.

You may live in a region where speech-language pathology is unregulated. This does not necessarily mean that the clinicians in these provinces are unqualified – but it could mean that there are fewer protections for their patients/clients.

However, one benefit of living in an unregulated region is that you may be able to work virtually with practitioners living in or registered in other provinces. Whether or not those practitioners will take you on as a client may depend on (a) whether their insurance allows it, or (b) their level of comfort working outside of their area of registration. Still, if there is a specific service that you require from a speech-language pathologist (such as accent modification, aligning your voice to your gender, or fluency therapy), seeking out services from a therapist who has niched down into the specific area you want help in could work to your benefit.

To speak with one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.