The federal Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program is designed to help reduce workforce shortages in rural and remote communities by offering federal student loan forgiveness to eligible health and social service professionals. Although the government recently expanded the program to include ten additional occupations, speech-language pathologists (S-LPs) and audiologists were not included.

As highlighted in SAC’s recent consultation submission, this exclusion is a significant concern for our professions. S-LPs and audiologists provide essential diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services. Failing to include our professions overlooks the serious and worsening shortages of S-LPs and audiologists in rural and remote areas, where access to communication, swallowing, balance, and hearing services is already limited.

At the same time, S-LPs and audiologists across Canada continue to experience high workloads, limited staffing, resource constraints, and burnout, all of which impact the availability and consistency of care nationwide.

SAC has consistently raised this issue through federal consultations, pre-budget submissions, and direct engagement with government officials. We continue to urge the government to update the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations and the Canada Student Loans Regulations to explicitly include S-LPs and audiologists.

Although our professions remain excluded, SAC’s advocacy remains strong and ongoing. We will continue to update our members as this work progresses.

Take Action: Contact Your MP 

SAC members are encouraged to contact their local Member of Parliament (MP) to share concerns about the exclusion of speech-language pathologists and audiologists from the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program. 

You can: 

• Use the Find Your MP tool to locate your MP’s contact information.
• Personalize and send SAC’s template letter to your MP. 

Adding a brief example from your own practice or community can further strengthen your message.