Sign Language Intepreting
For sign language interpreters, there is the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC)(http://www.avlic.ca/). The AVLIC includes sign language interpreters. Ontario also has the Ontario Association of Sign Language Interpreters, a chapter of the AVLIC.
Prospective Canadian sign language interpreters can attend any of a number of intepreter education programs.
The AVLIC maintains a listing of interpreter education programs on its website. Interpreter education programs are available in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
Schools for the Deaf
Canada is home to at least nine schools and programs for the deaf. The schools are divided between oral schools and schools where sign language is used. In Ontario there are three schools: the Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf, the Metropolitan School for the Deaf, and the Robarts School for the Deaf. British Columbia has two, the British Columbia Provincial School fro the Deaf, and the Vancouver Oral Centre. Quebec has the Montreal Oral School for the Deaf; Alberta the Alberta School for the Deaf; and Manitoba, the Manitoba School for the Deaf. Finally, Newfoundland has the Newfoundland School for the Deaf.
Parents of deaf and hard of hearing children attending oral programs, can join Voice for Hearing Impaired Children, a parent organization that promotes oral communication. Their website (http://www.voicefordeafkids.com/) offers information on auditory-verbal therapy.
Voice offers a family camp and has scholarships for aspiring college students. In additino, Voice publishes the magazine Sound Matters (some issues are downloadable).
In British Columbia, there are two parent organizations for signing families. The first one is the Deaf Children's Society of British Columbia (http://www.deafchildren.bc.ca/), which offers services for preschoolers, promotes sign language, and also has a speech-language program. The other one is the Family Network for Deaf Children (http://www.fndc.ca/). Among other things, Family Network offers a summer camp/leadership program, Deaf Youth Today.
Captioning Services
Canada is home to a healthy captioning services industry. Under Canadian law, licensed television stations are required to caption most of their programming. Just seven examples of captioning service providers based in Canada are InterCaption Canada, Panorama Captioning Services, Line 21 Media Services, Nathanail Captioning Services, Broadcast Captioning and Consulting Services, Closed Caption Services, and Sous-Titrage Code Canada Inc.
Canadian Cochlear Implant Clinics
Canada has several cochlear implant clinics for children and adults. A few of them are:
- Alberta Children's Hospital
- British Columbia Children's Hospital
- Central Speech and Hearing Clinic in Manitoba
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Quebec
- Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto
- The Hospital for Sick Children also in Toronto
- The London Health Sciences Centre in London>
Cochlear implant manufacturers such as Cochlear, list many more clinics on their sites. Cochlear has a Clinic Finder (http://www.cochlear.com/sv/clinic-finder/map) that lists clinics from Bathurst to Winnipeg.
Deaf Churches
Canada has several deaf churches, not all of which can be mentioned. A search of the Ontario church directory (http://on.churchdirectory.ca/) on "deaf" turns up seven deaf churches in Ontario alone. British Columbia has the Deaf Community Christian Church in Burnaby, and the Grace Baptist Deaf Church in Surrey. In Vancouver, there is the Trinity Lutheran Church for the Deaf. Alberta has the Cross Of Christ Lutheran Church Of The Deaf. Finally, in Manitoba, there is the Manitoba Catholic Church Of The Deaf in Winnipeg.
Sign Language
Canada has two sign languages. First, they use the American Sign Language (ASL), and then they have the Quebec Sign Language, the Langue des signes québécoise, known as LSQ. The CCSD developed an American Sign Language Instructors of Canada Evaluation, to assess the ASL and LSQ skills of prospective sign language instructors.
Baby Sign Language
As in the United States, baby sign language is popular with Canadian parents of hearing babies. Companies have sprung up to teach baby sign language to Canadian parents. One company is Baby Signs Canada, and another one is My Smart Hands. Yet another is Kindersigns. All three offer baby sign classes across Canada.
Deaf Sports
Canada holds its own national deaf sports event, the Canada Deaf Games. The Games are hosted by the Canadian Deaf Sports Association (http://www.assc-cdsa.com ). At the Games, athletes are selected to represent Canada in international deaf sports competitions. In addition, Canada also has a few deaf sports clubs such as the Ottawa Deaf Sports Club.
More on Deaf Canada
Books have been published about deaf Canadians and deaf Canadian life. One such book is Silent Observer, a children's book about growing up deaf in Canada. Two books that have been published and may or may not be out of print, are Deaf heritage in Canada: A distinctive, diverse, and enduring culture, and Deaf Women of Canada.
In addition to having captioned media about Canada itself, the Described and Captioned Media Program also has selected episodes of Deaf TV, a Canadian deaf TV program. One of the episodes is about the deaf Canadian politican and advocate, Gary Malkowski.