The early years are the most critical period of language acquisition and development. All children born in B.C. are eligible for the BC Early Hearing Program (BCEHP), a universal newborn hearing screening program, funded through the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) funds Early Intervention Services for Deaf and hard of hearing children (0 to 5 years) and their families in B.C. These services are currently provided through a service agreement between MCFD and BC Family Hearing Resource Society (BCFHRS). Children identified with hearing differences are referred to Early Intervention Services by BCEHP and others including family doctors, speech and language pathologists, Child Development Centre, etc.
About the engagement
This engagement is specific to the services offered by MCFD through BCFHRS for children (0 to 5 years) with a hearing difference and their families. MCFD is seeking input from families, professionals, service providers, and Deaf and hard of hearing community representatives to help inform the services provided through an MCFD service agreement for early language services. These services support language acquisition and language development for children ages 0 to 5 with hearing differences, and their families, in B.C.
About this survey
This survey is for everyone who wants to share input to inform early language services in B.C. but who are not part of an interview or small group meeting, or those who want to add more comments in addition to their participation in an interview or meeting.
If text-based response is not accessible to you, you can request support completing the survey by emailing citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca.
The survey will be closed for feedback on March 6, 2026 at 4:00 pm.
Please note: This online feedback form supports all newer comparable browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, etc. with activated JavaScript. Your browser settings must have cookies enabled for the questionnaire to run properly and inactivity on the questionnaire for longer than one hour will result in the questionnaire timing out.
Collection Notice: Your personal information will be collected for the purposes of informing the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Early Years Language Services Engagement. If you have any questions about the collection of this personal information, please contact: Director, Citizen Engagement, citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca. This information is being collected by the Ministry of Citizens' Services on behalf of the Ministry of Children and Family Development under the authority of section 26(c) and 26(e) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FOIPPA”).
