Definitions

1   In this regulation:

"Act" means the Health Professions Act;

"audiologist" means a registrant who is authorized under the bylaws to practise audiology;

"audiology" means the health profession in which a person provides, for the purposes of promoting and maintaining communicative, auditory and vestibular health, the services of assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of

(a) auditory and related communication disorders and conditions, and

(b) peripheral and central auditory system dysfunction and related peripheral and central vestibular system dysfunction;

"cerumen" means the wax-like substance that occurs naturally as a secretion of sebaceous and ceruminous glands in the cartilaginous portion of the ear canal;

"cerumen management" means services related to the removal of cerumen for the purpose of audiological procedures that require a clear external ear canal to satisfactorily complete the procedure;

"dispense" means to select, prepare, alter, sell or offer to sell;

"fit" means to adapt or verify, using sound field testing, real ear measurements or other methods;

"hearing instrument" means an appliance or a device designed or offered for a hearing condition,

(a) including any ear molds, boots or other acoustic couplers and any parts or accessories for the appliance or device intended to affect the sound pressure level at the eardrum, and

(b) excluding direct audio input accessories, batteries and any accessories that are attachable to the appliance or device by the wearer and not intended to affect the sound pressure level at the eardrum;

"hearing instrument dispensing" means the health profession in which a person provides the services of

(a) assessment of hearing using an audiometer, or other methods, to identify hearing loss, and

(b) recommending, selecting, preparing, altering, adapting, verifying, selling and offering to sell hearing instruments;

"hearing instrument practitioner" means a registrant who is authorized under the bylaws to practise hearing instrument dispensing;

"prescribe" means to issue an authorization to dispense for use by a named individual;

"sell" means to enter into a transfer of title, conditional sale contract, lease, hire purchase or any other contract where a person disposes of, and any other person acquires, a hearing instrument, excluding a wholesale transaction;

"speech-language pathologist" means a registrant who is authorized under the bylaws to practice speech-language pathology;

"speech-language pathology" means the health profession in which a person provides, for the purposes of promoting and maintaining communicative health, the services of assessment, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of

(a) speech, language and related communication disorders and conditions, and

(b) vocal tract dysfunction, including related feeding and swallowing disorders;

"wearable hearing instrument" means a hearing instrument wearable on the head or body.

College name

2   The name of the college responsible for carrying out the objects of the Act in respect of audiology, hearing instrument dispensing and speech-language pathology is "College of Health and Care Professionals of British Columbia".

[en. B.C. Reg. 32/2024, Sch. 7, s. 1.]

Reserved titles

3   (1) The title "audiologist" is reserved for exclusive use by audiologists.

(2) The title "hearing instrument practitioner" is reserved for exclusive use by hearing instrument practitioners.

(3) The titles "speech-language pathologist" and "speech therapist" are reserved for exclusive use by speech-language pathologists.

Scope of practice

4   (1) An audiologist may practise audiology.

(2) A hearing instrument practitioner may practise hearing instrument dispensing.

(3) A speech-language pathologist may practise speech-language pathology.

Restricted and provisional registrant classes

4.1   The college is authorized to establish, under section 19 (1) (i) of the Act, a class of

(a) restricted registrants for the purposes of section 20 (4.2) of the Act, and

(b) provisional registrants for the purposes of section 20 (4.3) of the Act.

[en. B.C. Reg. 32/2024, Sch. 7, s. 2.]

Restricted activities

5   (1) An audiologist in the course of practising audiology may do any of the following:

(a) make a diagnosis identifying, as the anatomical cause of behavioural, psychological or language-related signs or symptoms of an individual, an auditory or related communication disorder;

(b) put an instrument or a device or finger into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum;

(c) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum and for the purposes of cerumen management or tympanometry, air that is under pressure;

(d) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum and for the purposes of cerumen management or assessment of vestibular system dysfunction, water that is under pressure;

(e) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum, a substance that subsequently solidifies;

(f) prescribe a wearable hearing instrument;

(g) fit a wearable hearing instrument.

(2) A hearing instrument practitioner in the course of practising hearing instrument dispensing may do any of the following:

(a) put an instrument or a device or finger into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum;

(b) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum and for the purposes of cerumen management or tympanometry, air that is under pressure;

(c) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum and for the purpose of cerumen management, water that is under pressure;

(d) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum, a substance that subsequently solidifies;

(e) prescribe a wearable hearing instrument;

(f) dispense or fit a wearable hearing instrument.

(3) A speech-language pathologist in the course of practising speech-language pathology may do any of the following:

(a) make a diagnosis identifying, as the anatomical cause of behavioural, psychological or language-related signs or symptoms of an individual, a speech, language or related communication disorder;

(b) put an instrument or a device or finger into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum, for the purpose of tympanometry;

(c) put an instrument or a device beyond the point in the nasal passages where they normally narrow, for the purposes of assessing and managing communication and swallowing disorders;

(d) put an instrument or a device or finger beyond the pharynx, for the purposes of assessing and managing voice disorders and voice restoration;

(e) put an instrument or a device into an artificial opening in the body, for the purposes of assessing and managing voice disorders and voice restoration;

(f) put into the external ear canal, up to the eardrum and for the purpose of tympanometry, air that is under pressure;

(g) administer topically a drug that

(i) is specified in Schedule I or Schedule II of the Drug Schedules Regulation, B.C. Reg. 9/98, and

(ii) is an anaesthetic,

for the purposes of performing a restricted activity set out in paragraphs (c) to (e).

(4) Only a hearing instrument practitioner or a person formerly exempted from the application of the Hearing Aid Act may provide a service of hearing instrument dispensing as set out in this regulation if, on the day before this section comes into force, the provision of the same service by anyone other than a person authorized under or exempted from the application of the Hearing Aid Act was prohibited.

[am. B.C. Reg. 94/2010, Sch. s. 1.]

Limits or conditions on services and restricted activities

6   (1) An audiologist or a hearing instrument practitioner may provide cerumen management that includes the performance of a restricted activity set out in section 5 (1) (b) to (d) or (2) (a) to (c) only if the audiologist or hearing instrument practitioner has successfully completed a certification program established, required or approved under the bylaws to ensure audiologists and hearing instrument practitioners are qualified and competent to provide cerumen management and perform the restricted activity.

(2) An audiologist may provide assessment of vestibular system dysfunction that includes the performance of the restricted activity set out in section 5 (1) (d) only if the audiologist has successfully completed a certification program established, required or approved under the bylaws to ensure registrants are qualified and competent to provide assessment of vestibular system dysfunction and perform the restricted activity.

(3) A hearing instrument practitioner who is not also an audiologist may, in respect of an individual who has not attained the age of 16 years, provide a service that includes the performance of a restricted activity set out in section 5 (2) (e) or (f) only if the hearing instrument practitioner has successfully completed a certification program established, required or approved under the bylaws to ensure hearing instrument practitioners are qualified and competent to provide the service and perform the restricted activity.

(4) A speech-language pathologist may provide a service that includes the performance of a restricted activity set out in section 5 (3) (c) to (e) or (g) only if the speech-language pathologist has successfully completed a certification program established, required or approved under the bylaws to ensure speech-language pathologists are qualified and competent to provide the service and perform the restricted activity.

[am. B.C. Regs. 94/2010, Sch. s. 2; 74/2012, s. 2.]

Patient relations program

7   The college is designated for the purposes of section 16 (2) (f) of the Act.