The College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC (CSHBC) will increase certain fees, including those for registration and Certified Practice (CP) certificate applications and renewal.
On September 17, 2021, the CSHBC Board approved the following fee increases that will affect applicants and current registrants:
- Application fee for Full or Conditional registration (new domestic applicants) – increases from $225 to $260
- Application fee for Full or Conditional registration (new internationally educated applicants) – increases from $225 to $520
- Registration renewal fee for Full or Conditional registration – increases from $750 to $860
- CSHBC HID Practical Examination fee – increases from $450 to $650
- CP certificate application fee (per certificate to a maximum of $200) – increases from $50 to $100
- CP certificate renewal fee (per certificate to a maximum of $200) – increases from $50 to $100
- Registration renewal fee for Non-practising registration — decreases from $275 to $250.
These fee changes are effective from December 6, 2021; however, most registrants will not be affected until they renew their registration on or before March 31, 2022. The registration renewal period will open in late January or early February and will run until the renewal deadline of March 31, 2022. However, registrants changing from Non-practising to Full registration status between December 6, 2021, and March 31, 2022, will need to pay the new, increased Full registration fee.
Why fees are increasing
The College’s Board, supported by the recommendations of the Finance & Audit Committee (FAC), determined fee increases are required to move the College closer to achieving an appropriate, stabilized revenue target. This decision was based on a recent assessment of the College’s true business operating costs, which calculated the required revenues to eliminate future deficit positions and maintain its contingency reserves.
The College is a not-for-profit entity created under BC’s Health Professions Act and must operate on a cost recovery basis to fulfill its regulatory role, overseeing the professions of audiology, hearing instrument dispensing, and speech-language pathology on behalf of the public.
Fee changes to increase College’s capacities
In early 2017, the College began a five-year period of significant organizational transformation, to eliminate gaps in capacity across all business activities, and to properly regulate its three professions in the public interest. Registration and renewal fees were last increased in 2019, the first time since the College’s inception in 2010. CP certification fees were originally set in 2010 and have never been increased. After five years of continuous organizational transformation, the College has vastly improved its regulatory capacity and is close to establishing a stabilized, long term revenue target. The current fee changes, approved by the BC Ministry of Health on October 7, 2021, bring the College closer to the revenue target required to meet its mandate at law.
Despite responsible, incremental staff recruitment over the past several years, CSHBC remains relatively understaffed as compared to similarly sized provincial and national regulators, which typically regulate only one or two rather than three professions.
The Board notes that one more similar fee adjustment may be required in the future to meet the College’s stabilized, long-term revenue target, not including smaller incremental changes to address cost of living increases and inflation over time.
Alignment of the College’s required regulatory capacity, revenue, and fee structure will ensure the College’s short- and long-term financial viability, protect its contingency reserves, and eliminate the risk of future deficit positions.
For more Information
Read CSHBC’s responses to FAQs about the fee increases.
Please send any comments or concerns either in the body of an email, to the CSHBC Board of Directors in care of the Registrar & CEO @ [email protected], or mail a formal letter, addressed to the Board, to the College’s mailing address. All emails and letters received from applicants and registrants regarding fee increases will be submitted to the Board.