Apple Provides Update on Expanding AirPods Hearing Aid Feature to Canada

While the AirPods hearing aid and hearing test features received Health Canada approval at the federal level in December, the features are not yet available in Canada. According to reports from CTV News and the Toronto Star this month, the features have yet to launch in Canada because regulations vary at the provincial level.

airpods pro 2 hearing aids
In the most populous Canadian province of Ontario, for example, hearing aids require a prescription from a physician or an audiologist.

The good news is that Apple recently told the Toronto Star that it is working with Canadian provinces to get approval to release the AirPods hearing aid and hearing test features over the counter. Apple told the newspaper that it hopes to make the features available as soon as possible, but it did not provide a timeframe.

With the clinical-grade hearing aid feature, AirPods Pro 2 can amplify the sound around you. The feature is intended for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, according to Apple. There is no additional cost to use the feature.

Meanwhile, the five-minute hearing test allows adults to identify if they have hearing loss by measuring their ability to hear different frequencies of sound. Afterwards, the results will show a hearing loss classification and recommended next steps.

The two features first launched in the U.S. and select other countries in late October, and they continue to roll out to more countries.

There is a third AirPods hearing health feature — hearing protection — that is available in Canada.

All three features require AirPods Pro 2.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro 3
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

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Top Rated Comments

shurcooL Avatar
10 months ago
Thank you.

Sent from my iPhone in Canada
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rfrancos Avatar
10 months ago
I live in nova Scotia and I’ve been using the hearing aid feature on my AirPods pro2s since going to Florida in January. The feature was enabled as soon as I picked up a us wifi network. I have all the updates done on my phone and have not lost the features. Other people have also talked about being near the us border or in the us and getting it ena led as well.



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Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jeeve Stubbs Avatar
10 months ago

Each individual province has to individually approve every different health regulation which has already been approved by the federal government? Why even have a federal regulator then?
Basically, the federal regulator is the first filter, deciding whether the product is acceptable or not in Canada based on federal regulations, national security, etc. If it's not, end of story. If it is, then each province (constitutionally responsible for health care) applies a second filter to make sure the product is compatible with its own laws and local specifics. In practice, this is mere fine tuning as provinces seldom forbid something that's been approved at the federal level.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rfrancos Avatar
10 months ago

How well do these work as true hearing aids? Can't be better than a designated set. I remember, my old man refused to wear his because he thought it was way too loud. Wonder if AirPods might have been an option.
They work surprisingly well. I have a mild hearing loss. I like being able to adjust the amplification based on the pitch of the voices around me as well as other environment factors. I play the ukulele and was surprised how much brighter and crisper it sounds with the hearing aid feature turned on.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rfrancos Avatar
10 months ago

Grew up in Nova Scotia, didn’t realize there were other scotians on the forum hahha. Jealous you got the feature enabled, but I can’t justify a vacation just to get the feature ??
In fairness I was at a conference in Florida so on work time.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MichaelYYZ Avatar
10 months ago
I have the hearing aid features, too, in Ontario. I am not sure when they popped up in the Settings but I was travelling on business in the UK for most of February.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)