Title Protection Update

Ad Hoc Committee: Suzie Giroux, Cheryl Palmer, Sara MacFayden, Susi Bolender, Barb Mykle-Hotzon

Our application for Title Protection is inching its way towards Victoria even though we had another brief setback. Last year’s bylaw changes regarding membership categories and criteria still did not satisfy the registrar’s office. In response, we had our lawyer draft some suggested changes that we edited and presented to the membership on April 4th at the annual general meeting. Fortunately, the motions concerning the bylaw changes all passed and we can go ahead with submitting those changes. Once approved, we can send in our application for Title Protection. The titles we will request protection for are:

Registered American Sign Language-English Interpreter
Registered Sign Language Interpreter
Registered Visual Language Interpreter

Once a title is granted under Section 10, section 89(1) states: “no person other than a qualified member of that society has the right to use, in connection with an occupation or profession the person practises that is similar to the occupation or profession represented by that society, the name of that society or the word or combination of words or initials designated under section 88 (3), in a way that identifies the person as a qualified member of that society.” In brief, not only is the specific title protected, but any variation on that title is also protected.


The reason Title Protection is so important to attain is because it will protect our consumers. Interpreters who are not members of a professional association are not obligated to adhere to a code of ethics nor a dispute resolution process such as ours. Once our application is approved, the real work of educating our consumers and the general public will begin!