A Cross Provincial License

Written by: Roselyn Mathew / Treatment / February 9, 2022 / 10 minutes read

Provincial licences

In Canada, Speech Language Pathology is regulated by different regulatory bodies in almost all of the provinces. These provincial regulatory bodies set up the rules and various guidelines regarding practicing and also regarding the amount of fees that needs to be set for providing assessment and therapy. Hence, there are different rules, guidelines and regulations for speech language pathology in different provinces. The different provincial regulatory bodies of Canada are:

• College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO).

• Alberta college of Speech Language Pathologists and audiologists (ACSLPA).

• College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of British Columbia (CSHBC).

• Saskatchewan Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (SASLPA).

• College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Manitoba (CASLPM).

• Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Quebec (OOAQ).

• New Brunswick Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (NBASLPA).

• Newfoundland and Labrador Council of Health Professionals

• Nova Scotia College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists (NSCASLP).

The Canadian alliance of audiology and speech language pathology (CAASPR)

The Canadian alliance of audiology and speech language pathology regulators is the national federation of audiology and speech language pathology regulators in Canada. It helps with the alliance of the provincial regulatory bodies. As regulators in regulatory issues, members of CAASPR are committed to work collaboratively on matters related to their mandate to protect the public. While regulation occurs at the provincial level, members of are actively work on development and implementation of national strategies for the advancement of regulatory standards and audiology, speech language pathology practice in a consistent manner across Canada.

Provincial associations

Apart from regulatory bodies, there are different provincial and a national association in Speech Language Pathology. These are:

• Ontario Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (OSLA).

• British Columbia Association of Speeech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (BCASLPA).

• Association quebecoise des orthophonistes et audiologistes (AQOA).

• New Brunswick Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (NBASLPA).

• Speech and Hearing Association of Nova Scotia (SHANS).

• Prince Edward Island Speech and Hearing Association (PEISHA).

• Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (NLASLPA).

• Yukon Speech Language Pathology and Audiology Association (YSLPAA).

• Association of Northwest Territorial Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists (ANTSLPA)

Speech Language and Audiology Canada (SAC)

The Speech Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) is the only national association in Canada. It supports and represents speech language pathologists, audiologists and communication health assistants inclusively.

In Canada, the provincial regulatory bodies for speech pathology set up the rules and various guidelines regarding practicing and also regarding the amount of fees that needs to be set for providing assessment and therapy.

Common general provincial rules and regulations

According to the provincial rules and regulations of the different regulatory bodies in Canada, a speech language pathologist is supposed to have the license given by the regulatory body of that province in order to provide their services in that province. The requirements might differ according to each province but the basic requirements are to submit the proof of their degree, the number of hours spent in taking clients in speech language pathology and audiology. If the person has received their degree outside Canada or that province, they are required to submit proof of their language competency, degree equivalency in Canada and a previous working license from that country or province. A person can get registered in more than one province, as long as they follow all the rules and set of guidelines set by those provinces. 

Benefits of merging provincial licences to a single licence

If a provincial merger occurs in Canada, then all the provincial regulatory bodies would come under one single national regulatory body in Canada. The provincial associations could also merge and can become a single association. Thus, speech language pathologist would have to only get registered in one national regulatory body and one national association for speech language pathologists. They need to only follow the rules, regulations and guidelines that are set by that regulatory body.

Hence, there would be a common set of rules and guidelines which would not cause any confusion compared to having a chance of a confusion if a person is registered in more than 1 regulatory body. The speech language pathologist would be able to provide their services all over Canada without having any provincial restrictions. This would allow them to how to take clients from any province and could increase their caseload. Clients would also get many options to choose a therapist. Therefore, it would be beneficial for both clients as well as therapists as they would not be restricted due to their geographical locations in Canada. 

Challenges in having a single licence and possible solutions

However, one issue that could arise in is with regard of setting the prices for their services. The value of Canadian dollar differs in each province and clients of a province with lesser cost of living might feel the fees set to be more expensive. Also, a therapist from an area with a greater cost of living would be underpaid. One possible remedy for this is to fix the rate of the services based on the province where the client is from and make rules that state that the therapist must not reject a client due to their geographical location. There would be greater issues if the price is set based on the location of the therapist as clients would only prefer to see the therapists of those location who offer a lower rate for their services. Hence setting the rates based on clients' locations would be a better remedy. 

Another issue that could arise would be the insurance coverage for the assessment and therapy sessions. Usually, insurances offer only provincial coverage and clients could face an issue if they go to a therapist outside the province as their insurance provider might not cover for that. The possible solution here would be to discuss the insurance options with the insurance providers and come up with national insurance coverage plans.

Conclusion

Merging different regulatory bodies of speech language pathology has some challenges but it is possible to find solutions for these issues and create a successful merge. A successful merge and having a single national licence is beneficial to not only speech language pathologists but to the general public as well.

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.