Adult Cochlear Implant Program

The Central Speech and Hearing Clinic is dedicated to providing a range of specialized services to support children and adults who are deaf or hard of hearing in Manitoba. The Central Speech and Hearing Clinic is the only cochlear implant centre in Manitoba. We provide evaluation, fitting and (re)habilitation for all cochlear implant recipients. Surgeries are performed at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre. 

Not everyone is a candidate for cochlear implantation. Audiological testing, speech-language assessments and medical evaluation provide a comprehensive work-up to determine cochlear implant candidacy.  We accept referrals for cochlear implant candidacy from audiologists, physicians, hearing instrument specialists, speech-language pathologists, and potential candidates themselves.

Criteria for Cochlear Implantation – Adult

  • Severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss, bilaterally.
  • Postlingually deafened (as defined by acquired deafness after the age of five years) or prelingually deafened adults who use spoken language as their primary mode of communication.
  • Current hearing aid user demonstrating little or no benefit from a hearing aid as determined by aided speech perception testing. 
  • Appropriate expectations and motivation.
  • Medical examination should show no contraindications for undergoing the operative or training procedure. For information on Manitoba`s Surgical Hearing Implant Program: umanitoba.ca/...

Cochlear Implant Candidacy Process

  1. Once a referral is received by Central Speech and Hearing Clinic, the patient will be required to attend an information session.
  2. After the information session the patient undergoes a comprehensive audiological assessment.
  3. If deemed an audiological candidate for cochlear implantation, the patient will be referred for a CT scan, ENG (balance test) and surgical consultation.
  4. If medically eligible for cochlear implantation, the patient will be placed in the surgical queue.