31112 Audiologists and speech-language pathologists

What this occupation covers

Audiologists diagnose, evaluate and treat individuals with peripheral and central hearing loss, tinnitus and balance problems. Speech-language pathologists diagnose, assess and treat human communication disorders including speech, fluency, language, voice and swallowing disorders. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists are employed in hospitals, community and public health centres, extended care facilities, day clinics, rehabilitation centres and educational institutions, or may work in private practice. Audiologists and speech-language pathologists who are supervisors are included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 12 main duties for this code.

• Develop and administer audiometric tests and examinations using specialized instruments and electronic equipment to diagnose and evaluate the degree and type of patients' hearing impairment
• Plan and implement habilitation/rehabilitation programs for patients, including selection, fitting and adjustment of amplification devices, such as hearing aids, balance retraining exercises, and teaching speech (lip) reading
• Educate and counsel patients and families regarding the nature, extent, impact and implications of hearing loss and treatment
• Establish personalized care plans working as a member of an interdisciplinary team
• Conduct research related to hearing and hearing disorders
• May instruct and supervise audiometric technicians, students and other health care personnel.
• Administer tests and examinations and observe patients to diagnose and evaluate speech, voice, resonance, language, fluency, cognitive-linguistic and swallowing disorders
• Develop, plan and implement remedial programs to correct speech, voice, language, fluency, resonance, cognitive-linguistic and swallowing disorders
• Establish group and personalized care plans working as a member of an interdisciplinary team
• Educate and counsel patients and families regarding communication and swallowing disorders
• Conduct research on speech and other communication disorders and on the development and design of diagnostic procedures and devices
• May instruct and supervise communicative disorders assistants, students and other health care personnel.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 12 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 42203 Instructors of persons with disabilities
• 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment
• 30010 Managers in health care
• 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine

Excluded from this code

• Braille instructor (See 42203 Instructors of persons with disabilities)
• Hearing aid practitioner (See 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment)
• Lip-reading instructor (See 42203 Instructors of persons with disabilities)
• Managers in health care (See 30010 Managers in health care)
• Phoniatrician (See 31100 Specialists in clinical and laboratory medicine)
• Sign language instructor (See 42203 Instructors of persons with disabilities)
• Speech-language pathology assistant (See 32109 Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

amplification audiologist · audiologist · audiology clinician · audiology specialist · certified audiologist · certified hearing aid audiologist · clinical audiologist · community audiologist · community speech-language pathologist · diagnostic audiologist · dispensing audiologist · educational audiologist · educational speech-language pathologist · human communication disorders specialist · industrial audiologist · logopedist · pediatric audiologist · research audiologist · speech and hearing therapist · speech pathologist · speech therapist · speech-language clinician · speech-language pathologist · speech-language pathologist clinician

Employment requirements

• Audiologists require a master's degree in audiology.
• Speech-language pathologists require a master's degree in speech-language pathology.
• Registration with a regulatory body is required for audiologists and speech-language pathologists in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
• Membership in the national association, Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists, is usually required.
• In some jurisdictions, audiologists may be required to obtain a separate licence to dispense hearing aids.