Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are devices that amplify sound for individuals with hearing loss. Most health insurance plans reimburse a portion of the cost for hearing aids every few years, often every four or five years. Coverage may include the device, fitting, and adjustments, up to a per-ear or combined dollar limit.
How It Works
Hearing aids come in several styles, including behind-the-ear, in-the-ear, and receiver-in-canal models, along with personal assistive listening devices (PALDs) and FM systems. In Canada, public coverage is uneven across the country: provinces such as Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba run substantive public funding programs, while British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick limit public coverage to specific eligibility groups. For Canadians outside provincial coverage, the funding stack typically combines private insurance, employer benefits, federal programs where eligible, out-of-pocket payment, and the federal medical expense tax credit. Ontario's Assistive Devices Program (ADP), for example, provides funding to all eligible Ontario residents who have a documented hearing loss and need the device for daily living at home, school, recreation, sports, or work, covering hearing aids and FM systems as well as cochlear implant replacement speech processors, bone anchored hearing aid replacement sound processors, and teletypewriters with flashing signaling devices. The Canada Revenue Agency also classifies hearing aids as an eligible medical expense under paragraph 118.2(2)(i) of the Income Tax Act, which covers an aid to hearing for a patient.
Example:
Consider a working-age Ontarian who is diagnosed with hearing loss and buys a pair of hearing aids. Ontario's Assistive Devices Program covers a percentage of the cost per side for their documented hearing loss, leaving a remaining balance to pay. Their private group health plan then reimburses a portion of that balance, up to a per-ear hearing aid limit that renews every few years. Whatever is still unreimbursed, along with batteries and any repair or warranty costs, can be claimed as an eligible medical expense for the federal Medical Expense Tax Credit or reimbursed tax-free through a Health Spending Account.
What to Watch For:
Coverage details vary, so it helps to know what extends beyond the device itself. The CRA's broad wording, "in respect of an aid to hearing," means eligible costs can include not only the hearing aid but related items such as batteries, repairs, and extended warranty service contracts. Because hearing aids qualify for the Medical Expense Tax Credit, they are also eligible for reimbursement through a Health Spending Account, and no prescription is required for the device to be METC-eligible. Some funding routes carry their own conditions, however. Under the federal Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program for eligible First Nations and Inuit, hearing aids require a prescription or recommendation from a recognized prescriber, such as an audiologist, otolaryngologist, hearing instrument practitioner, or physician, and are subject to prior approval and replacement guidelines.
