Third Party Funding Options

At Semiahmoo Speech Services, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to build strong, confident communication skills. To make your child’s speech-language pathology sessions as seamless and affordable as possible, we accept a wide range of provincial programs, private insurance options, distributed learning funding, and indigenous community grants.

🏛️ Direct-Billed Government Programs

We are fully registered providers with BC’s primary pediatric support systems. We direct bill these programs, meaning you experience little to no out-of-pocket costs for approved treatment.
 
    • Autism Funding Unit (AFU): The amount of provincial funding your family can access each year depends entirely on your child’s age:
      • Children Under Age 6: Families can access up to $22,000 per year to pay for eligible early-intervention autism therapies and services.
      • Children and Youth Ages 6 to 18: Families can access up to $6,000 per year to help cover the costs of out-of-school speech therapy and support services until the end of the month your youth turns 19.
    • At-Home Program (AHP): The At-Home Program supports children with severe disabilities and complex health care needs. School-aged children (ages 5 to 18) who are enrolled in AHP Medical Benefits can access therapy funding through the School-Aged Extended Therapies (SAET) benefit. Eligible children can seamlessly allocate their SAET benefits directly to our clinic. Families can access up to $5,760 per year to maintain or improve functional skills through a combination of speech-language pathology (SLP), occupational therapy (OT), and physiotherapy (PT).

Note: BC is currently transitioning family support programs into the new BC Children and Youth Disability Benefit. (CYSN) Rest assured, existing AFU and AHP rules and applications remain active and accepted through March 2027. More information on the new CYSN benefits are available here. 
 

 

🪶 Indigenous & Aboriginal Programs

We proudly collaborate with indigenous families to provide culturally safe, fully funded speech therapy.
 
  • Jordan’s Principle: This federal program ensures all First Nations children have immediate access to health and educational supports. We accept direct funding for approved speech therapy requests. You can download resources or connect with a coordinator through the Jordan’s Principle BC Hub.
  • Miyoopimaatishihk (Wellbeing) Program: Funded through Métis Nation British Columbia, this program covers speech therapy for children from birth to eight years old who are enrolled in the Métis Family Connections Program. Families can apply for financial support to assist with the cost of a wide range of services, programs and products, including but not limited to respite care, speech therapy, assessments, specialized equipment, and mental health supports.
  • Other Community Grants: We actively accept and process funding from local Band Councils and regional Aboriginal health authorities.

 

🎒 Distributed & Home Learning Funding

If your child is enrolled in an independent or distributed learning program, you may use their assigned student funding allocation to pay for speech therapy.
 
  • Ascend Online: We accept and process funding from families enrolled with ASCEND Online Catholic School.
  • Other DL Schools: We frequently partner with alternative BC distributed learning schools (such as HCOS, or TLA). Please connect with your school’s learning coordinator to authorize payments.

 

💼 Extended Health Benefits

Many employer-provided private insurance plans offer robust coverage for Speech-Language Pathology.
 
    • Upfront Payment: Clients pay for their sessions out-of-pocket at the time of service.
    • Seamless Reimbursement: We provide detailed, itemized receipts immediately after each session containing all required clinician registration numbers, making your submission to your insurance provider simple.
    • Pro Tip: Contact your HR department or insurance provider before your first session to confirm your policy’s precise annual limits and caps.

 

🎈 Charitable Foundations & Community Grants

If you do not qualify for provincial or insurance coverage, several fantastic non-profit organizations provide direct financial grants for pediatric speech intervention:
 

 

📋 Ready to Set Up Your Funding?

Because individual grant criteria and application windows shift throughout the year, we highly recommend contacting external charitable agencies directly to confirm your eligibility.
If you are setting up direct billing with the AFU or AHP, please reach out to our administrative team at admin@semispeech.com or call 778-574-1118 so we can help you complete your Request to Pay (RTP) paperwork seamlessly!