The CSHBC office is located on unceded Coast Salish territory, represented today by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

Making a meaningful and ongoing commitment to cultural safety and humility in the regulation of health professionals serving Indigenous peoples is a fundamental priority for the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC.

Standard of Practice for Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, & Anti-Racism

In September 2022, CSHBC’s commitment to this priority was reflected in the announcement that the College adopted a new Standard of Practice for Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, & Anti-Racism. The standard, also adopted by 10 other BC health profession regulatory colleges, acknowledges that Indigenous-specific racism exists in health care and sets clear expectations for registrants to provide culturally safe and anti-racist care for Indigenous clients and patients.

Read the Standard of Practice for Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, & Anti-Racism (PDF).

Read the CSHBC News story and Notice to the Professions about the Standard of Practice.

The development of the standard is one response to recommendations in the In Plain Sight report (PDF) published in November 2020. The report found widespread systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in the BC health care system. It also found that requirements for cultural safety and humility and addressing Indigenous-specific racism were not adequately embedded throughout policy and standards.

CSHBC is considering a broader review of the College’s professional and clinical practice standards that would, in part, look to build upon the work on the new standard. Such a review would aim to benefit all groups of people who have experienced racism, discrimination, and culturally unsafe care.

Cultural safety & humility in other CSHBC guiding documents

CSHBC’s commitment to cultural safety and humility is reflected in the College’s Strategic Plan 2023-2026, which states that the College believes in “upholding the rights of Indigenous Peoples as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) by understanding these rights, recognizing impacts of settler colonialism, practicing cultural safety and humility, addressing Indigenous-specific racism, and creating regulatory pathways for Indigenous ways of knowing and being.”

Registrants’ responsibilities in this regard are reiterated in the first principle of the Registrant Code of Ethics (PDF): “CSHBC Registrants must provide appropriate, safe and timely care that is provided with respect and without discrimination”.

CSHBC commitment to cultural safety & humility in the community

On September 30, 2022, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, 11 BC health profession regulatory colleges — including CSHBC — took part in a ceremony that marked the launch of the Standard of Practice for Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility, & Anti-Racism. See the November 14, 2022 CSHBC News story on the ceremony for more information, including photos and a video from the event.   

In July 2021, registrars from 11 Health Regulatory Colleges in BC, including CSHBC, gathered with an Indigenous leader, knowledge carrier, and witnesses for an intimate ceremony to sign a Joint Statement of Apology and Commitments to Action at Spanish Banks in Vancouver on the unceded, ancestral, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.