About Us

The College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC, established pursuant to the Health Professions Act of BC is a tripartite College, the first tripartite college in Canada.  A major purpose of the College is to protect the public.  The College will allow for the self regulation of three related groups of professionals:  Audiologists, Hearing Instrument Practitioners and Speech-Language Pathologists.  The members of each of these professions are involved with the assessment and intervention of communication disorders, delays and differences across the lifespan.

The members of the first Board of Directors were appointed by, then Minister of Health, George Abbott in January 2009.  The composition of the Board includes proportionate representation from the three professions, nominated by their provincial associations, and four members of the public.  The professional members will serve until elections at the first AGM of the College set for Fall 2010.  The public members serve until January 2011 when their appointments will be reviewed by the Minister of Health.

During the first 8 months of the College’s operation, George Bryce served a dual role, acting both as Interim Registrar and Interim Legal Counsel.  George has now resigned his position as Interim Registrar, but will continue in his capacity as Legal Counsel.  The members of the Board wish to heartily thank George for the years of work and effort that he has provided to both the original Working Group and the present College.

The College Board recently hired its first full-time Registrar as the Chief Executive Officer of the College.  Diane O’Connor began in her position September 2009 and will greatly assist the Board members in their preparation for registering speech and hearing professionals in BC in Spring 2010.