The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher Education program is a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma offered to qualified Canadian teachers. While open mainly to Ontario teachers, the program offers a limited number of spaces in an online format to non-Ontario residents who are qualified to teach in their own provinces.
The program, which is the only one of its kind in Ontario and one of few across Canada, prepares qualified teachers to work with students who are deaf or hard of hearing in a variety of educational programs and across the full range of communication/modality options. The program is offered on a full-time (residents of Ontario) or part-time (residents of Ontario & non-Ontario residents) basis in a combination of face-to-face and online formats.
The program is delivered by both faculty and practitioners in the field.

Overview
Graduates earn a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma from York University, and graduates from our Ontario program who are certified by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) are recommended for the Additional Qualification (AQ), “Teaching Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing”, with a specialization in either American Sign Language (ASL) Communication or Oral/Aural Communication. The program is accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers and by the Canadian Association of Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CAEDHH). Graduates of the program may have the qualifications to teach outside of Ontario, nationally or internationally, as teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing. It is each individual's responsibility to check with jurisdictions outside of Ontario to confirm if the program is recognized for employment, as determined by each educational jurisdiction.
Please note: Courses are only offered as part of this post-baccalaureate diploma program. Applicants must be prepared to complete the entire program within the timeframe (e.g., one year for the full-time program and three years for the part-time program). Proposals for substitutions and transfer credits will not be considered.
Please be advised that the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) Teacher Education Program in the Faculty of Education is intended to be delivered on campus and school placements can only be completed at school boards. Although mandated restrictions resulting from covid-19 have required classes to run online in the 2020-21 academic year, students should be prepared to commute to campus for in-person classes and to complete in-person placements in school Boards when classes resume on campus. It is an expectation that students attend all classes in their scheduled format (whether online, blended or in-person) and complete their school placements where they are assigned in order to complete the Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing post-baccalaureate diploma requirements.
Program Details
Full-time Program
(Residents of Ontario)
The full-time program is offered in one academic year, over two semesters, beginning in August and finishing in April.
Part-time Program
(Residents of Ontario)
The part-time program is a three-year program beginning in August and finishing in April of each year.
Part-time Program
(Non-Ontario residents)
This program offers a limited number of additional spaces to Canadian applicants from outside Ontario.
Courses
Program course work consists of a core set of comprehensive courses, totaling 27.00 credits, and three specialization courses, totaling 9.00 credits. Courses designated as 6.00 are 72-hour courses; those designated as 3.00 are 36-hour courses.
All course work deals with areas pertinent to deaf and hard of hearing education. These areas include: language and literacy development; oral communication; deaf and hard of hearing studies; bilingual/bicultural education; American Sign Language; audiology; listening and speaking; hearing technologies; and working with deaf and hard of hearing learners in inclusive settings. Students must also complete practicum placements.
Core courses
- Language, Literacy and Development 1 (6.00)
- Language and Literacy Development 2 (6.00)
- Educational Audiology (6.00)
- Educational Use of Signed Language (3.00)
- Deaf Studies - An Introduction (3.00)
- Teaching and Learning Seminar (3.00)
- Practicum (includes two four-week practica, totaling 400 hours of teaching)
Specialization courses
Students are required to choose an area of specialization after completing most of the core prerequisite courses. Students choose either the ASL Communication Stream or the Oral/Aural Communication Stream and complete the appropriate three courses assigned to the area of specialization. Students do not need to choose a specialization prior to program entry.
To enrol in the ASL stream, students must have the ability to teach with ASL as the language of instruction. An assessment of ASL skills is arranged by the program for students who express interest in the ASL stream.
Specialization courses for the Oral/Aural Communication stream are:
- Listening and Speaking for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners (3.00)
- Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners in Inclusive Settings (3.00)
- Classroom Amplification (3.00)
Specialization courses for the ASL Communication stream are:
- ASL Deaf Studies-Culture and Community (3.00)
- American Sign Language - Linguistics (3.00)
- Bilingual Bicultural Education (3.00)