December 2025
Dear registrants,
As we come to the end of the registration and calendar year and our
thoughts begin to turn to the year ahead, I want to draw your attention to the planning work that Council and staff have been engaged in over the past year.
Council approved a 2026-2030 Strategic Plan at their Council meeting in September. The College’s new Strategic Plan was developed at the Council 1.5-day strategic planning retreat in the spring and refined over the summer. Input gathered through the 2024 Registered Member and 2025 Voice of the Patient Survey informed Council’s work. Thank you again to all registrants who responded to the 2024 Registered Member Survey. Council and staff will focus on initiatives to address the following four strategic objectives over the next five years:
- Engagement – Provide relevant and meaningful education to internal and external partners.
- Regulatory Excellence – Improve regulatory efficiency.
- Operational Effectiveness – Optimize efficient operations.
- Governance – Increase governance knowledge for Council members.
ACSLPA’s 2026 Annual Plan and Budget, approved at Council’s November meeting, flows from the new Strategic Plan and details the first year of strategic initiatives. I encourage you to read the Annual Plan to learn more about what the College does and the initiatives we plan to focus on in 2026, including our next Registrant Survey. Please watch for this upcoming opportunity to provide input into the regulation of your profession and feedback on the work of the College.
Following the development of the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan and 2026 Annual Plan and Budget, the Alberta government passed the new Regulated Professions Neutrality Act, which I have received registrant questions about. The timeline within which ACSLPA will need to implement changes resulting from this legislation is currently unknown. However, I foresee a significant amount of work being required to review our Key College Documents, policies and procedures, and other requirements to ensure compliance. The College will share more detailed information about the impacts on registrants and the College’s plans as timelines and government regulations become available. In the meantime, if you are interested in learning more about this new legislation, you can read it at 20251023_bill-013.pdf, seek out summary articles by legal experts or the government (e.g., jus-regulated-professions-neutrality-act-fall-2025-fact-sheet.pdf), or reach out to me.
After all this talk about the future, I would like to turn my focus back to the present year and to express my gratitude. Please accept my sincere appreciation for all you have done in 2025 to improve the communication, balance and swallowing health of your fellow Albertans and to prioritize safe, competent and ethical care. The excellent care provided by regulated audiologists and speech-language pathologists in Alberta is not only recognized by ACSLPA staff, Council, and myself, but was also clearly highlighted by respondents in the College’s 2025 Voice of the Patient Survey. I hope you have time to reflect over the holidays, including on how you positively impact the quality of life of your clients.
Warm wishes for a happy holiday season and a fantastic 2026,
Melanie
Melanie Sicotte, R.SLP
Registrar/CEO