Background: On January 15, 2021, CAA published the “Proposed Policies under the Regulation” with a section of “English Language Requirement” The summary of the “Proposed Policies under the Regulation” as following:

English Language Requirements (ELR in the following)

If English is not the first language of the applicant, the applicant for registration must provide their English test results from one of the following:

• IELTS: with minimum score of 6.0 in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.

• TOEFL: minimum score of 15 in Listening, 18 in Speaking, 15 in Reading and 22 in Writing.

Note: Test scores more than four years old will not be accepted.

Applicants may be exempted if one of the following applies:

• The applicant has completed high school where the primary language of instruction is English, which includes Alberta Grade 12 English or equivalent.

• The applicant has completed post-secondary education where the primary language of instruction is English, which includes at least one postsecondary level English language course or equivalent.

Alberta high school graduates may have the marks as low as 40% which is not compatible with IELTS 6.0. The ELR is not fair for the applicants whose first language are not English! This is discrimination!

背景：2021年1月15日，阿尔伯塔省针灸管理局发布了 关于新注册针灸师申条件的提议，其中一项是对英语语言的要求。大致内容为：英语为第二语言的申请者需要提供四年以内雅思6.0或同等水平的托福成绩；而参加过英语为基础教育的申请者，只需要高中毕业即可。这是不合理的要求，因为高中毕业不等同于雅思6.0的成绩。这条政策是给阿尔伯塔的针灸师设置的双重标准，是明目张胆的种族歧视！

Just found: CAA published the proposed policies in the Registration Application Guide while it is still at review phase on the home page of the website. This is a serious misconduct in the policy decision procedure!
We strongly disagree with the misconduct of CAA. It shows CAA does not care the opinions of the members at all!
We are considering to complain about CAA to Alberta Health if no satisfied respond is received from CAA before the review deadline!!

刚刚发现：CAA在提议审议新注册政策的同时，把这一还在讨论阶段的政策发布在正在实施的注册指南里。这是重大的错误决策行为！
我们强烈反对CAA在制定政策中的错误做法。CAA这是表明了根本不在乎会员的意见！
如果在讨论截止日前得不到满意的答复，我们在考虑到阿尔伯塔卫生部去控告CAA！

January 23th, 2021

College of Acupuncturists of Alberta

Alberta Association of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Re: Proposed Policies of English Language Requirement for new registration

On January 15, 2021, CAA published the “Proposed Policies under the Regulation” with a section of “English Language Requirement” (We will call it “ELR” in the following).

We, the students studying in the colleges are deeply concerned and strongly oppose this proposal from 5 perspectives: Health Professional Act, Across Professions of AB, Across Provinces of ATCM profession, Development, Social effects.

• Health Professional Act - HPA
• Across Professions of AB
• Across Provinces of ATCM profession
• Development
• Social Effects

There is no indication in HPA that the "ELR" is mandatory.

About the language requirement for all the professions under HPA, it is stated in HPA, Chapter H-7, Part 2 Registration. The registration for the Acupuncturists is in schedule 1, Section 7 (3) On the coming into force of this Schedule, a program of studies and an examination approved by the Health Disciplines Board under the Acupuncture Regulation (AR 42/88) continue as an approved program of studies and examination for the purposes of subsection (1).. It is clearly stated that the approved studies and examination should be accredited.

Other professions’ regulations in Alberta, such as Occupational Therapist, Naturopathic, Paramedics, Physiotherapist, Midwife, All the approved professional educations are accredited for the profession registrations, and no need to take additional English language tests.

All the professional education programs under HPA have their English language requirement admission. Our study is ending in a diploma program at college level, which is approved for fully preparing the students to the licensing exams. That is a very important reason why we choose and plan to take this career. CAA is adding the extra requirement beyond the training scope.

Our programs have been devised for public services and approved by the regulating body. The entrance requirement of our English language skills absolutely improved a lot after 3 years full-time college level study in English. The proposal is devaluing our study programs.

Acupuncturists Regulations under HPA in Canada are provinces of AB, BC, ON, NL, QC. The Acupuncturists in QC are not required to take the Pan Canadian exams.

The regulation body is CTCMPAO for ON, CTCMPANL for NL, and CTCMA of BC. All the applicants in the 3 provinces are required to take the Pan Canadian exams, but no Point Location and Modality tests, and also no additional English test required. Furthermore, the applicants in BC are allowed to take the exams in Chinese language.

Applicants in AB have to take 2 additional practical tests in English – Point Location and Modality. Successfully completing ALL the components of written and practical exams in English is already a strong evidence that the applicant has English language proficiency.

The requirement for Alberta applicants is much higher than the other provinces both in techniques and language. “ELR” is not necessary and is only exerting extra burden, physically, mentally and financially on Alberta applicants, which is unfair and unacceptable!

Acupuncture and TCM (ATCM below for short) originated in China with long history and is enriched with Chinese culture and art and philosophy which is the treasure of the Chinese civilization. To better understand and explore the great treasure, Chinese language skill is considerably important. The applicants have the imminent need to improve their Chinese language skills instead of focusing on English.

The registration requirement in Alberta is the highest across Canada. The higher requirements lead to higher cost, thus a low efficiency. Under the proposal of “ELR”, the applicants may need to take the corresponding language training for the extra tests, which is numerous waste of financial resources and time.

Besides, “ELR” is not fair and is discrimination against the applicants whose first language is not English, as it sets double standards for Albertans, labels the applicants, and damages the harmony of the diverse society.

In summary of the above 5 perspectives, the “ELR” would cause a negative outcome not only for the applicants, but also to the ATCM system, and the society. We are extremely disappointed, and we strongly disagree with the proposal. We hope the council of CAA could listen more to the voice its members and members-to-be before they make any proposals in the future.

Sincerely yours,

Students in Acupuncture programs
with the support of Registered Acupuncturists,
and related professions

对额外“英语水平要求”提议的抗议书

尊敬的阿省针灸师学会负责人：

2021年1月15日, 阿省针灸师学会基于《针灸师职业法规》，关于注册针灸师的申请宣布了几项提议政策，其中一项是对新申请者的额外“英语水平要求”。

作为在校学习的学生们，我们对这一拟议政策提出强烈反对，理由有如下五个方面：《健康职业法》依据、阿省相关行业法规比较、全加拿大各省针灸师政策比较、针灸发展和社会影响。

1． 《健康职业法》依据

在现行《健康职业法》中，并没有对“英语水平要求”的强制规定。

该法中，有关专业针灸师注册要求，出现在Chapter H-7, Part 2 Registration. The registration for the Acupuncturists is in schedule 1, Section 7 (3) On the coming into force of this Schedule, a program of studies and an examination approved by the Health Disciplines Board under the Acupuncture Regulation (AR 42/88) continue as an approved program of studies and examination for the purposes of subsection (1).，表明了现有的学习和考试成绩应得到认可。

2． 阿省相关行业法规比较

在阿省，其他相关职业如职业治疗师，自然疗法师，护理人员，物理治疗师和助产士，他们现行的职业教育方案，全部得到职业注册机构的认可，无需再参加另外的英语语言测试。另外，《健康职业法》规定，所有职业教育课程，在学生入学时都有英语成绩达标的证明。这里，针灸和中医课程学习，要求学生获得专科水平的毕业证书，为国家组织的针灸师执照考试做好充分的准备。这也是我们专选针灸和中医课程，并准备以此为终生职业的重要原因。然而，阿省针灸师学会推出的这项“英语水平要求”提议，是在既有的培训范围之外的额外附加要求。

我们的学习计划是专为公共服务而设计的，同时得到了监管机构的批准。我们入学时英语成绩达到了录取水平。经过三年全日制全英文脱产学习，我们的英语语言技能得到了大幅度提升，能够熟练地与病患进行专业沟通和交流。而阿省针灸师学会推出的这项“英语水平要求”提议，显然贬低并削弱了现行的教学计划。

3． 各省针灸师政策比较

放眼全加拿大，阿省注册针灸师考试要求已经是最为严格的。

执行《健康职业法》的省份有5个（阿省、卑诗省、安省、纽省和魁省），在魁北克省，申请针灸师执照不需要参加国家考试。

卑诗省、安省、纽省三省的申请人都必须参加国家考试，但是他们不需要参加输穴定位和政策法规这两门考试。同时，他们也不需要参加额外的英语水平考试。在卑诗省，申请人还可以选择用中文进行考试。

在阿省，申请人除了必须参加国家组织的考试外，还额外参加另外两门实践考试——用英语进行输穴定位和治疗方法考试。我们需要成功完成英语笔试和实践考试中的所有规定，才能获得证书。这有力地证明了申请人专业英语水平和熟练交流能力。

由此可知，在专业技术和英语要求上，对阿省申请者的要求比其他省高得多。 额外的“英语水平要求”是不必需的，它只会给阿省申请人在身心和经济上带来额外的负担。我们认为：这是不公平和不可接受的！

4. 针灸的发展

针灸和中医起源于中国，历史悠久，它丰富了中华文化、艺术和哲学，成为中华文明的瑰宝。 为了更好地理解和发掘其中宝贵的财富，汉语水平和技能显得格外重要。 我们呼吁：申请人迫切需要提高自己的中文技能，而不是专注于英语。 这是因为许多参考文献来自中文，就像许多人学习西医一样，重点参考英文文献。更为重要的是，只有懂得中文，才能更好地理解中医文化，帮助我们更好地实践和发展针灸和中医！

5． 社会影响

如上所述，阿省针灸师注册要求属于加拿大最高级别。 高要求产生高成本，因而必然影响到总体效率。 根据额外“英语水平要求”的提议，申请人可能需要参加相应的语言培训，再进行额外的测试，这必然浪费大量的时间和金钱。

此外，额外“英语水平要求”的提议是不公平的，它给阿省针灸师申请设定了双重标准，无形中给申请者贴标签，有嫌疑是对母语非英语申请者的歧视，破坏了加拿大多元化社会的和谐。

总结以上5个方面，额外“英语水平要求”的提议不仅会给申请人，阿省针灸和中医系统以及社会带来负面影响。 对此，我们感到非常失望，这里，我们强烈反对额外“英语水平要求”的提议。 我们期望，阿省针灸师学会在将来提出任何政策和建议之前，可以听取其成员和未来成员的声音。

感谢您的时间和关注！期待您的回复！

全体签名针灸课程学生、注册针灸师和相关专家

2021/1/24