Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) is pleased to share encouraging news for First Nations children, families, and the professionals who support them. The Government of Canada has announced $1.55 billion in new funding for Jordan’s Principle, helping ensure continued access to essential health, social, and educational services over the next year.

According to CBC News, this renewed investment follows significant concerns about the program’s long-term stability. Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty emphasized that the commitment is intended to reduce uncertainty and ensure Jordan’s Principle “remains predictable, practical, and grounded in fairness and respect.”

While this extension provides important short-term program stability, funding alone does not resolve ongoing implementation challenges. Policy changes are still needed to address administrative delays, reimbursement backlogs, and inconsistent regional implementation.

As Canada invests in new service delivery infrastructure, including programs supported through Jordan’s Principle, SAC continues to urge policymakers to design systems with connection, safety, and accessibility at the forefront. This means consulting with speech-language pathologists (S-LPs), audiologists, and communication health assistants to ensure environments support people who cannot hear, speak, or swallow effectively.

In Indigenous and remote communities, improving access to communication health services remains critical. S-LPs, audiologists, and communication health assistants contribute to essential health and educational needs, while also supporting language revitalization and the preservation of Indigenous communication traditions. Yet access gaps persist due to geography, workforce shortages, and inconsistent connectivity.

Jordan’s Principle funding supports many of the services our members provide, both in person and through virtual care. As governments modernize health infrastructure, strong virtual care pathways are essential to ensure First Nations children can receive timely, culturally safe services, no matter where they live. This new federal funding is an important step forward, and SAC will continue advocating for inclusive, well-designed systems that meet the needs of all First Nations children.

SAC remains dedicated to:

• expanding equitable access to communication health services in Indigenous and remote communities;
• advancing virtual care infrastructure developed in partnership with communication health professionals; and
• supporting members who deliver essential Jordan’s Principle–funded services.

We will continue to monitor developments, share updates, and work with policymakers to close longstanding gaps in access to care. If you have questions about how this announcement may impact your practice or the families you serve, please reach out to advocacy@sac-oac.ca.

OOAQ is urging Quebec to update the Code des professions to allow audiologists to sell and fit hearing aids, an activity currently reserved for audioprothésistes. In its brief to parliamentarians, OOAQ outlined three core motivations for this request:

• allowing qualified professionals to fully practise within their authorized scope
• aligning the activities permitted for audiologists in Quebec with those authorized elsewhere in Canada to support workforce mobility
• and improving access to hearing aids while enhancing continuity of care.

Quebec remains the only jurisdiction in North America where audiologists cannot dispense hearing aids, and OOAQ cautions that relying solely on approximately 550 audioprothésistes to meet the needs of an aging population is insufficient to address growing demand.

A Turning Point for Hearing Care in Quebec?

The OOAQ’s proposal, raised as part of consultations on Quebec’s Bill 15, seeks to modernize multiple health profession frameworks and could represent a significant shift in how hearing care is delivered in the province. Their recommendation reflects a broader movement across Canada calling for better access, modernized regulation, and sustainable hearing health services. Read more here (French article).

Why This Matters Nationally

SAC’s ongoing federal advocacy has highlighted similar concerns across Canada.

Accessibility & Affordability

The Quebec debate underscores the urgent need for equitable access to hearing care. Rising service costs, limited public coverage, and provincial restrictions on provider roles continue to create barriers, especially for older adults and low-income Canadians. This aligns with SAC’s federal recommendations calling for:

• Improved financial accessibility to hearing services.
• Reduced wait times, particularly for rural, remote, and equity-seeking communities.
• A national approach to hearing health grounded in prevention, early identification, and timely intervention.

Health Human Resources (HHR)

OOAQ’s position highlights how regulatory modernization can help address HHR pressures by enabling the full scope of practice for audiologists. This mirrors SAC’s national asks to:

• strengthen Canada’s hearing care workforce;
• remove outdated legislative barriers; and
• ensure optimal use of professional competencies across disciplines.

As discussions continue in Quebec, SAC will continue to advocate federally for a comprehensive, accessible, and equitable national hearing health landscape that supports Canadians across all provinces and territories.

On January 13, 2026, SAC contacted Christine Schachtel‑Hine, Licensing Administrator at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health, to seek clarity on the use of the term “registered” by Hearing Instrument Practitioners (HIPs) in signage and advertising. SAC noted that the public generally understands “registration” to mean being officially recorded with a regulatory body as part of a licensing process. In Saskatchewan, audiologists must hold annual licensure and registration with CSASK, while HIPs are not required to be licensed or registered with a regulatory body to practice. Despite this clear regulatory difference between hearing care providers, according to the Province of Saskatchewan, audiologists and HIPs are “registered” with the province to dispense hearing aids.

SAC has respectfully requested that HIPs in Saskatchewan not use the term “registered” unless a provincial regulatory framework is established. This clarification supports transparency and helps ensure individuals make an informed decision about whether to see an audiologist or a HIP based on their needs.

The Ministry of Health has acknowledged receipt of SAC’s correspondence and will be reviewing the matter with relevant leadership.

Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) celebrates the Senate’s recent adoption of a motion to officially recognize May 10 of each year as Bear Witness Day. This National Day of Action honours the legacy of Jordan River Anderson and his family, while reaffirming the federal government’s legal obligation to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.

Introduced by Senator Brian Francis, the motion highlights the ongoing barriers First Nations children and families face in accessing essential health, social, and educational services due to jurisdictional disputes and administrative delays. During the Senate debate, Jordan River Anderson’s story was shared, underscoring the systemic failures that continue to have real and lasting consequences for children and families.

The adoption of Bear Witness Day represents an important step toward renewed accountability and public awareness. Reinforcing that Jordan’s Principle exists to ensure First Nations children receive the services they need, when they need them, without delay or denial.

This motion directly aligns with SAC’s ongoing advocacy efforts. Communication health services are essential health services, not optional, and delays or denials in access can have lifelong consequences for children’s development, education, and well-being. SAC has consistently raised concerns about administrative barriers within Jordan’s Principle that disproportionately affect access to communication health services for First Nations children. The recognition of Bear Witness Day is a positive step forward in highlighting these systemic issues and the critical need for timely action.

SAC thanks Senator Francis and all Senators who supported this motion for their leadership in affirming that Jordan’s Principle is not a discretionary program, but a binding legal and human rights obligation.

The federal government has introduced Bill S-5, Connected Care for Canadians Act. Now in the early stage in the Senate, this legislation aims to standardize how health information is shared across Canada. For speech-language pathologists (S-LPs), audiologists, and communication health assistants, this bill represents a meaningful step toward a more integrated health system. 

Bill S-5 focuses on interoperability, the ability for different electronic medical record (EMR) systems to “talk” to one another. This Bill would require IT vendors to adopt common standards and would prohibit “data blocking,” ensuring that patient information follows the patient rather than being locked in a specific software or clinic system. 

Communication health professionals rely on timely data to deliver safe and effective care. However, many health professionals, particularly those working in private practice or community settings, face significant barriers to accessing or contributing to provincial or territorial health records. 

If passed, Bill S-5 could address several long-standing challenges: 

• Seamless Team Collaboration: Interoperable EMRs would allow S-LPs, audiologists, and communication health assistants to be fully integrated into interprofessional teams, reducing the need for duplicate assessments and manual data entry.  
• Smoother Transitions of Care: As clients move across the continuum of care, standardized data would help ensure that relevant history, contact notes, test results, and care plans are readily accessible to clinicians. 
• Reduced Administrative Burden: By reducing reliance on paper and fax, clinicians could spend less time tracking down records and more time on direct patient care. 
• Professional Visibility: When communication health services are visible in shared digital records, the value of communication health professionals within the broader health system is more clearly documented. 

SAC is closely monitoring the progress of Bill S-5 in the Senate. We will continue to advocate for the meaningful inclusion of communication health professionals in Canada’s digital health landscape. 

Effective May 1, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will implement a new co-payment structure for the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP). These changes, originally outlined in Budget 2025, introduce a cost-sharing model for supplemental health benefits while maintaining full coverage for basic medical services.

Read the original announcement here.

Under the updated policy, beneficiaries will be required to pay a 30% co-payment for supplemental services directly to their health care provider at the point of care. This includes audiology assessments, speech-language pathology services, and the purchase of assistive devices such as hearing aids. Additionally, a flat fee of $4 will apply to each eligible prescription medication filled or refilled under the program.

Basic health care benefits, including physician visits and hospital care, remain unaffected and continue to be fully covered, with no co-payments required.

For members ofSAC, these changes introduce new clinical and administrative responsibilities. Providers must now calculate and collect the patient’s 30% co‑payment using the IFHP benefit grid, while continuing to bill the remaining 70% to Medavie Blue Cross.

Members should be aware that certain groups, including children under the age of 14 and individuals identified as medically vulnerable, may be exempt from these co-payments. SAC encourages its members to verify specific patient exemptions through the Medavie Blue Cross provider portal prior to the delivery of services.

Administrative requirements for providers include:

• updating clinic listings in the IFHP Provider Search tool to ensure patient visibility;
• providing detailed receipts for all co-payments collected, as patients require these for their personal records and potential transitions to provincial health plans; and
• communicating transparently with clients about potential financial barriers to care, particularly for high-cost items like hearing aids.

As the national voice for S‑LPs, audiologists, and communication health assistants, SAC is committed to ensuring that policy developments support safe, equitable access to communication care for every Canadian. These IFHP changes arrive at a time when access to communication health services is already challenged by workforce shortages, limited resources, and long wait times. SAC remains engaged in advocacy efforts to ensure that financial barriers do not delay essential communication and hearing interventions.

These efforts align with SAC’s broader priorities: promoting equitable access, advocating for culturally safe and community-driven models of care, and strengthening Canada’s communication-health workforce. Members can find further details regarding updated benefit grids, billing instructions and a stakeholder information toolkit on the IRCC website and the Medavie Blue Cross provider portal.

January 19, 2026 – OTTAWA, ON – The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy (CAOT) and Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) are calling on the federal government to take immediate and sustained action to address barriers that prevent First Nations and Inuit children and families from accessing essential health services under Jordan’s Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative (ICFI), particularly in northern and remote Indigenous communities.

Together, CAOT and SAC represent thousands of healthcare practitioners across Canada who witness firsthand the cascading impacts of underfunded and inaccessible services. Despite the promise of Jordan’s Principle and ICFI, which were designed to ensure First Nations and Inuit children, respectively, receive timely access to the health, social, and educational supports they need, many continue to experience unacceptable delays or denials of service. CAOT and SAC members report long wait times, complex funding processes, and inconsistent interpretations of Jordan’s Principle that create barriers to timely care, while clients suffer.

“Occupational therapy is not a luxury; it’s a lifeline. Right now, the system is failing too many children, seniors, and families. Occupational therapists working in and with Indigenous communities see every day how administrative red tape and service delays leave people in pain with nowhere to turn. Without timely care, that pain becomes despair. We are calling on the federal government to uphold the full intent of Jordan’s Principle and the Inuit Child First Initiative by streamlining approval and reimbursement processes, ensuring consistent application across regions, and investing in Indigenous-led and community-based occupational therapy services.”
-Irving Gold, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy

“Speech-language pathology and audiology services are essential health services under Jordan’s Principle and critical to children’s ability to communicate, learn, and thrive. Ongoing administrative barriers are delaying access to care, with real consequences for First Nations children and families. Our members play a vital role in supporting communication health, language revitalization, and culturally safe care, yet access remains inequitable. The federal government must address these barriers so every child can receive the services they need when they need them.”
-Luciana Nechita, Chief Executive Officer of Speech-Language & Audiology Canada

Occupational therapy plays a critical role in pain management, recovery, and rehabilitation, supporting children, youth, and families by addressing functional challenges related to injury, disability, mental health, chronic pain, and daily participation at home, in school, and in the community. Speech-language pathologists and audiologists play a vital role in supporting communication development, hearing health, learning, and language acquisition, including language revitalization efforts in Indigenous communities.

When these services are unavailable, people are left without the tools, strategies, or supports to manage chronic pain, trauma, or functional limitations safely. In this void, too many individuals turn to unregulated or unsafe means of coping, fueling cycles of addiction, worsening mental health, and deepening social and economic hardship.

About the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy (CAOT)

The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy (CAOT) is the national organization representing near 20,000 occupational therapists across Canada. CAOT supports evidence-informed, person-centred, and equitable access to occupational therapy services that support people to participate fully in the activities of everyday life.

About Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC)

Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) is the national organization representing speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and communication health assistants across Canada. SAC advances evidence-informed, culturally safe, and equitable access to speech, language, hearing, and swallowing services that support communication, learning, and participation across the lifespan.

Media Contact

Kristin Harold
Director of Communications & Marketing
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapy
613-809-2202
kharold@caot.ca
caot.ca

Ayah Stretch
Advocacy and Community Relations Officer
Speech-Language & Audiology Canada
613-909-1265
advocacy@sac-oac.ca