How Much Does It Cost to See a Speech Therapist in Canada?

As many as 10% of the Canadian population may need the services of a speech therapist or audiologist. People who are not born with a speech impediment may develop aphasia due to accidents or illness in their lifetime.

How Much Does It Cost to See a Speech Therapist in Canada?
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Aphasia is defined as the loss of the ability to use or understand verbal language, cues, or instructions. Often this condition is due to a person having a stroke or other medical emergency.

Canada has a government-sponsored healthcare system so the residents have access to healthcare services no matter what their income level, age, or gender is. But, how much does it cost for a person to use the services of a speech therapist in Canada?

Typical Cost

This type of therapy has a billing rate of close to $190 per hour. A billable hour is a sixty-minute time period where someone in the office of the therapist is working on your case. It does not mean the exact amount of time that the patient is working with the therapist.

Most service providers bill by the hour. Typically, when an appointment is made for these services, you are scheduled to be face-to-face with the provider for a minimum of 45 minutes. Occasionally the provider will schedule appointments that have a thirty-minute duration.

The price you pay for a visit is drastically changed by who your therapist is, where the therapist works, and whether or not the company accepts insurance payments or not. 

Fees for one hour of therapy can be 50 dollars higher than the fee from another office. You will have to call the SLP that you plan on using and ask them about their fees and rates. 

Billable hours reflect services such as:

• Time with the therapist

• Assessment periods

• Time the staff spends training caregivers to work with the patient at home

• Team meetings concerning the patient

• Phone and email consultations concerning the patient (generally these consultations must take more than ten minutes before service providers charge extra for them)

• Report writing when the report takes longer than ten minutes to complete

• Preparation and analysis when the process takes longer than ten minutes to complete

• Travel time for the therapist if applicable

What is Speech Therapy?

This is a form of enrichment therapy that is provided by a licensed speech-language pathologist or SLP. 

This process helps anyone that has difficulty verbally communicating, swallowing, or understanding verbal communications.

Who Benefits from Speech Therapy?

These services are beneficial to both children and adults.

Anyone who experiences difficulties:

• Speaking

• Communicating verbally

• Being understood when they communicate verbally

• Swallowing

• Eating

• Drinking

• Stutters

• With autism spectrum disorders

Children with hearing loss are some of the primary beneficiaries of SLP services. These children learn sign language and other means of communicating so they do not feel socially or emotionally left behind.

Adults can learn skills in pronunciation and learn to understand English. This is very beneficial to adults who have moved to Canada from other countries and have hearing difficulties.

Do you need a Physician Referral to see a Speech therapist in Canada?

In Canada, you do not have to have a physician refer you before you can schedule an appointment with an SLP.

Do You Need Insurance to Cover Speech Therapy Sessions in Canada?

Some health insurances offer compensation or coverage for treatments such as speech therapy. 

Many offices that provide therapeutic services will file on the insurance for you, but some accept payment from you and require you to file for compensation from your insurance provider on your own.

Speak to the agency where you receive treatments to find out whether they accept insurance, what kind of insurance they accept, and what you need to do to get the insurance to pay for the treatments.

The number of visits that your insurance will cover will be based on who you have your policy with, and the reason for the therapy.

Virtual Speech Therapy

Virtual services gained in popularity when Covid-19 made it difficult for patients and their SLP to meet in face-to-face situations.

Virtual therapy sessions take place over the internet and patients can use tablets, phones, or computers to see and talk to their SLP.

Advantages of Virtual Therapy:

• makes it easier for patients who live a long distance from their SLP to receive therapy services

• the patient is more relaxed in their own home and does not feel as much stress

• the patient is more comfortable in their home

• parents and caregivers who have other children at home do not have to transport the patient to a brick-and-mortar office

• children and adolescents tend to participate more in their training than when they are physically in an office with the SLP

• waiting for the appointment is not as difficult as when you sit in an office waiting room

• less exposure to airborne illnesses like Covid-19, the flu, colds, etc.

• the visits may cost less

Drawbacks to Virtual Speech Therapy

• some insurances do not cover the virtual visits

• you must have equipment that allows the patient and SLP to both hear and speak clearly

• not all SLP services offer these types of appointments

• children may lose interest during the visit

• teaching swallowing and chewing techniques are harder to do virtually

You and your SLP can evaluate whether a virtual visit is appropriate for the type of therapy services that you require.

Did You Know?

• Charles Van Roper is known for pioneering speech pathology services

• Voice disorders happen more to teachers than to any other profession

• By the time a child enters the first grade they can normally understand about 10,000 words

• Elton John had difficulties with speech and articulation

• Marilyn Monroe had difficulties with speech and articulation

• Winston Churchill had difficulties with speech and articulation

• Thomas Jefferson had difficulties with speech and articulation

• Humphrey Bogart had difficulties with speech and articulation

Final Thoughts

When a person has difficulties in verbalizing or communicating they are affected in all other areas of their life. Speech therapy can improve patients emotionally and make them more self-confident.