Some Canadians who bought Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 hoping to use their hearing aid feature are frustrated to learn that the function is still not available in Canada—despite being approved by Health Canada in December 2024.
According to CTV News, it reports on Canadians being frustrated that the hearing aid feature is not here yet.
“Once I read that Health Canada had given their approval, I thought we were home free and I went out and bought a pair myself,” said Barry Buckler of Markham, Ontario. “I have mild to moderate hearing loss and these AirPods seem to be absolutely the thing that I would need, and other seniors would benefit from it as well.”
Art Jackes of Oakville similarly purchased AirPods Pro 2, only to find the hearing aid feature doesn’t work in Canada yet.
Ontario’s Ministry of Health confirmed that AirPods Pro 2 were classified as Class II medical devices/hearing aids as of December 11, 2024. However, under Ontario’s Regulated Health Professions Act, hearing aids must be prescribed by an audiologist or physician, and cannot be dispensed without a prescription, unlike how hearing aids are sold in the U.S.
The Ontario Association of Professional Audiology Clinics (OAPAC) warns that people should consult an audiologist before using hearing aids, as hearing loss can sometimes be caused by wax buildup or more serious medical conditions.
Simiarly, the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO) told CTV News it also supports making affordable hearing technology more accessible, but says risks must be properly managed with clear labeling and consumer education.
With Apple’s hearing aid feature available worldwide to 107 nations, frustrated customers like Buckler say it’s time for Canadians to have the same access. It’s definitely a Canadian trait to wait for the latest tech at times. Maybe Apple might make an announcement this summer at WWDC about the hearing aid feature coming to Canada, or wait until the fall.
Besides Canada, there are some other big Apple markets that don’t have the hearing aid feature yet. Australia, China, India, South Korea, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Argentina, and Turkey also lack the feature, so we are not alone.
AirPods Pro 2 cost $329 and for seniors on a pension, that’s far cheaper than jumping through hoops to buy hearing aids.
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Audiologists do not want to lose sales, simple as that.
Cheapest hearing aids are probably $2000, good profit margin. No wonder they have free test your hearing clinics. So they can tell you that you need hearing aids.
Just another government mandated monopoly/oligopoly we have in Canada.
Then we wonder why our economy is so susceptible to external forces…after we’ve handicapped ourselves.
and as bad as that is, it is still preferable to the sh1tshow they have south of us.
I'd still choose to fly the maple leaf than the stars and stripes.
Of course.
But we have to start to recognize where we handicap ourselves if we want to get out from under these current troubles.
We’re waiting for a 25% tariff to cripple us, meanwhile we impose crippling taxes on ourselves and we’re looking to increase them. We allow, even protect, monopolies/oligopolies in cellular and telco, grocery, banking, optical, hearing, legacy media, alcohol, dairy and agriculture, creating industries that don’t know how to compete and abuse consumers. We are over-regulated to the point of making the EU look libertarian, which crushes entrepreneurs and competition. We allow provinces to create protectionist barriers that make it easier to trade with the US and others than with other Canadians, but are begging each other to buy Canadian.
We are country with foolish leaders and a people that doesn’t recognize the damage we do to ourselves.
We allow provinces to create protectionist barriers that make it easier to trade with the US and others than with other Canadians
——–
So true, I would add that how dumb is it when mid and Eastern Canada gets their oil (and has been for years) shipped from Saudi Arabia rather than building some pipelines from Western Canada to feed us.
Its time for us to rely on ourselves more rather than be victimize from our "neighbors".
I still cannot believe someone so unstable rose to power and calling the shots.
The latest joke is Justin gifting Quebec with a super expensive high speed rail system that they don’t have the population to support and that they rest of Canada will pay for…and didn’t think for a moment to tie it to them agreeing to allow a pipeline.
They get yet another vanity project that Canada can’t pay for and they’re allowed to thumb their nose at the rest of Canada trying to get out from under US dependence.
I wonder if AirPods may eventually be prescribed and then quality for the (up to) $500 per ear discount on hearing aids in Ontario?
CASLPO will make sure that won't happen. How else are they going to sell you the hearing aids with higher margins?
Time to tell Dougy we want this feature now! Of course the audiologist, they don’t want to lose their only business 👍🙄
I ran the hearing test in the Health app yesterday and afterwards there was an option to enable hearing aid. Seems to work fine (but says I have little to no hearing loss).
I suspect it only checks IP and not geolocation or Apple ID region, since everything on my phone would be Canadian except I use a VPN for a US address.
Interesting, so you are suggesting that this feature would work using a VPN?
I’m suggesting that might be why it is working for me. I didn’t otherwise try to circumvent restrictions, so I don’t have another explanation.
”CTV says”… Wouldn’t it be a good idea to fact check CTV rather than assume they know what they’re talking about?
Fact – Ontario != Canada. Ontario is not the entirety of Canada, and what might be true for Ontario is not necessarily true for the rest of Canada.
In this case – the Apple AirPod Pro2 hearing aid functionality has been available and working very well in Alberta since December. It seems the article’s author assumed that an Ontario government restriction meant the feature wasn’t available “in Canada”? For shame!
Well, to be fair, does the rest of Canada really matter?
Kidding. I’m kidding.
I’d love to know how you’ve enabled the hearing aid function in Alberta. I live in Alberta and that function isn’t available for me. 🤷🏻♂️
Wrong.
I live in Alberta and they do NOT offer the hearing aid function.
Costs much more in Canada than US and less features, typical Apple. These are on sale for $170 US right now in the states but Canada it's still $330 CAD
That’s a very dishonest take.
Regular price at Apple in the US is $250. They have no sale on right now. That’s $360 CAD, yet Apple Canada sells them for $329. Is “typical Apple” to sell items cheaper in Canada?
They go on sale in Canada too. For example, Walmart had them a couple months back for $239 CAD. That’s cheaper than your $170 USD sale would convert to ($244 CAD). Genius expects US and Canadian retailers to align sales dates. Retails in both countries run sales when they want to, nothing to do with Apple.
The only reason that I bought AirPods Pro 2 was the hearing aid feature.