CASLPO News

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2026

September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. On this day, we remember the children who never returned home and honour Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities, and all those who continue to live with the lasting impacts of the residential school system and colonialism.

Truth must remain at the heart of reconciliation. The harms experienced by Indigenous Peoples are not confined to the past. Anti-Indigenous racism and the effects of colonial policies continue to shape experiences of health and health care today.

As a health profession regulator, CASLPO has a responsibility to consider what reconciliation means within our own mandate. Protecting the public includes supporting professional practice that is safe, respectful and responsive to the people and communities receiving care. For professions centred on hearing, communication and language, this also means recognizing how culture, identity, community and lived experience can shape how care is understood, provided and experienced.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's health-related Calls to Action provide important direction for this work, including calls to respect Indigenous healing practices, address health inequities and strengthen cultural competency among health professionals.

At CASLPO, our work toward reconciliation continues to evolve. As part of our ongoing learning, CASLPO Board members and staff participated in a KAIROS Blanket Exercise earlier this month, an interactive learning experience exploring the history and ongoing impacts of colonization on Indigenous Peoples through an Indigenous lens. The experience provided an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the histories and realities that continue to shape Indigenous experiences today and to reflect on the responsibilities we hold individually and collectively as a regulator. We continue to build meaningful relationships with Indigenous Peoples, communities, Elders and Knowledge Keepers; learn from registrants who provide audiology and speech-language pathology services in Indigenous communities; strengthen our approach to Indigenous cultural safety and culturally responsive care; and consider how our regulatory work can better support equitable access to safe and respectful care.

We recognize that meaningful reconciliation cannot be achieved through statements, individual learning activities, or a single day of reflection. It requires sustained learning, listening, relationship-building and action. We also recognize that this work must be informed by Indigenous voices rather than assumptions about what Indigenous communities need from regulators and health professionals.

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we encourage each of us to reflect not only on Canada's history, but on the responsibilities we carry today. CASLPO remains committed to learning from Indigenous Peoples and to continuing the work required to advance reconciliation within health profession regulation and to support safe, respectful and equitable care for people across Ontario.

Pam Millett 
Board Chair
College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario

Margaret Drent
Registrar & CEO
College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario