Infant Hearing Program

Children’s Centre Thunder Bay is the lead agency and coordinator of the Infant Hearing Program in the city and district of Thunder Bay. The Infant Hearing Program provides hearing screening and high-risk monitoring to identify infants and children in early childhood with permanent hearing loss and support them to develop language to the best of their ability by the time they enter school. All services are provided with funding from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

All newborn babies born in the District of Thunder Bay are eligible to receive:

• A physiological hearing screen, performed by eight weeks of age to determine the need for further hearing assessment.
• A risk factor screen (heel prick test) completed by Newborn Screening Ontario, to identify the presence of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and some common genetic risk factors for permanent hearing loss.

Additional services include:

• Audiology services for children aged 0-6 identified with permanent hearing loss or who are at risk for hearing loss.
• Language development services for children aged 0-6 identified with permanent hearing loss. The Infant Hearing Program provides language development services in either spoken or signed language.
• Family support services for children aged 0-6, to assist families in accessing services and monitoring their child’s development following identification of permanent hearing loss.

Monitoring Your Child's Hearing and Communication Development

For more information, or to make a referral for services, please call the Access Network at 1-855-486-5037, or Children's Centre Thunder Bay at 807-343-5000.

To learn more about the Infant Hearing Program, please visit the website for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

To learn more about the risk factor blood spot screen, please visit the website for Newborn Screening Ontario.