Animal-Assisted Services {AAS}
One of Canadians Most Treasured Connections
One of Canadians Most Treasured Connections
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Current Practices
Please use the form at the bottom of this page if you are a clinical practitioner or service provider and would like to attach your publicly available current practices documents. These 'seed documents' will inform the development of these voluntary National Standards of Canada (NSC) once the process begins. National Standards of Canada (NSCs) are NOT policies, guidelines, procedures, accreditation or certification programs. National Standards of Canada (NSCs) ARE expressed through requirements based on current normative references such as, regulations, policies, guidelines, and informative references like publications, articles, journals, and seed documents.
Please use the form at the bottom of this page if you are a clinical practitioner or service provider and would like to attach your publicly available current practices documents. These 'seed documents' will inform the development of these voluntary National Standards of Canada (NSC) once the process begins. National Standards of Canada (NSCs) are NOT policies, guidelines, procedures, accreditation or certification programs. National Standards of Canada (NSCs) ARE expressed through requirements based on current normative references such as, regulations, policies, guidelines, and informative references like publications, articles, journals, and seed documents.
Normative and informative documents can be submitted using the form at the bottom of this page.
Thank you in advance to those who wish to contribute to and inform this dialogue.
Thank you in advance to those who wish to contribute to and inform this dialogue.
Animal-Assisted Services a Burgeoning Sector
Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) are mutually beneficial relationships that nurture One Health for People, Pets, and Partners™. Health in this context includes the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of people of all ages and the welfare of pets and other animals involved in delivering services. The AAS Sector includes multiple disciplines and sectors like healthcare, social services, justice, corrections, public safety. The proposed National Standards of Canada (NSCs) applies to all types of AAS such as therapies, activities, assistance, crisis response, and interventions accessed by persons with visible and invisible disabilities and other daily challenges.
The Situation - Canada's Animal-Assisted Services Marketplace and Why National Standards of Canada are Needed
Animals have been helping humans since the beginning of time. Furthermore, there is no shortage of historical information, research, and testimonials capturing the many ways that animals improve the lives of people of all ages with visible and invisible disabilities, life-altering injuries, and other daily challenges. AAS has evolved into a competitive marketplace whereby anyone can hang a shingle on their door to work or volunteer within this promising unregulated environment keeping in mind that the government does not accredit organizations, programs, certify the practitioners or service providers, because there are no provincial, territorial, or federal framework developed through an impartial national or internationals consensus-decision making process.
Without NSC, this long-standing gap continues to pose risks to consumers, the animals, businesses, and practitioners because there is no way to ensure public safety, animal welfare or to inform existing or propose new public policy. Moreover, donors, sponsors, and grant-makers are also often unaware of the many challenges facing this rapidly growing sector and the barriers it creates for consumers, end-users, and their families. Furthermore, the absence of NSC compromises practitioners' and service providers' credibility while driving up the cost of AAS, including insurance premiums. Long wait times to access AAS are also creating barriers to serve and accommodate Canadian consumers and support end-users.
NSC will act as the building blocks, bricks and mortar needed to co-create a foundation of solidarity, functional framework, structural requirements, ethics, and a common language to work or volunteer in this burgeoning sector.
Our National Response
In response to thousands of Canadians and, on occasion, people from other countries for more than two decades, The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS) proposed four Notices of Intent (NOI) to initiate the development of a suite of National Standards of Canada (NSC). NSC benefit Canadians daily by hearing and informing consumer choices, the businesses and practitioners that provide services in the marketplace, the government, and other stakeholders. To find out how NSC fit into the grand scheme of this evolving landscape please click here.
Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) are mutually beneficial relationships that nurture One Health for People, Pets, and Partners™. Health in this context includes the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of people of all ages and the welfare of pets and other animals involved in delivering services. The AAS Sector includes multiple disciplines and sectors like healthcare, social services, justice, corrections, public safety. The proposed National Standards of Canada (NSCs) applies to all types of AAS such as therapies, activities, assistance, crisis response, and interventions accessed by persons with visible and invisible disabilities and other daily challenges.
The Situation - Canada's Animal-Assisted Services Marketplace and Why National Standards of Canada are Needed
Animals have been helping humans since the beginning of time. Furthermore, there is no shortage of historical information, research, and testimonials capturing the many ways that animals improve the lives of people of all ages with visible and invisible disabilities, life-altering injuries, and other daily challenges. AAS has evolved into a competitive marketplace whereby anyone can hang a shingle on their door to work or volunteer within this promising unregulated environment keeping in mind that the government does not accredit organizations, programs, certify the practitioners or service providers, because there are no provincial, territorial, or federal framework developed through an impartial national or internationals consensus-decision making process.
Without NSC, this long-standing gap continues to pose risks to consumers, the animals, businesses, and practitioners because there is no way to ensure public safety, animal welfare or to inform existing or propose new public policy. Moreover, donors, sponsors, and grant-makers are also often unaware of the many challenges facing this rapidly growing sector and the barriers it creates for consumers, end-users, and their families. Furthermore, the absence of NSC compromises practitioners' and service providers' credibility while driving up the cost of AAS, including insurance premiums. Long wait times to access AAS are also creating barriers to serve and accommodate Canadian consumers and support end-users.
NSC will act as the building blocks, bricks and mortar needed to co-create a foundation of solidarity, functional framework, structural requirements, ethics, and a common language to work or volunteer in this burgeoning sector.
Our National Response
In response to thousands of Canadians and, on occasion, people from other countries for more than two decades, The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS) proposed four Notices of Intent (NOI) to initiate the development of a suite of National Standards of Canada (NSC). NSC benefit Canadians daily by hearing and informing consumer choices, the businesses and practitioners that provide services in the marketplace, the government, and other stakeholders. To find out how NSC fit into the grand scheme of this evolving landscape please click here.
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Benefits of NSC
The benefits of developing and applying standards encompass, but are not limited to:
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Published Notices of Intent (NOIs) - How Standards are Developed
Notices of Intent - Read more The information below is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort. The March 25, 2021 timeline was for the SDOs to respond, not the public. Public consultations only take place during the standards development process, not before. To access the published NOIs, please double right click on the underlined text that follows. For a summary, please click the + signs. CAN/HRSO-500.01-2021 - The Development of a Management System for Animal-Assisted Services (AAS)
The National Standard of Canada (NSC) about a Management System for AAS will encompass all types of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS). The Technical-Committee Members (TC) will consider documentation available to the public concerning existing practices such as policies, procedures, and private standards. This NSC will serve as a generic baseline by identifying, specifying, defining, and establishing requirements and objectives regardless of the size of an organization, business, or the type of AAS being provided. CAN/HRSO-500.02-2021 - Production and Delivery of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS)
This National Standard of Canada (NSC) will specify the service delivery requirements by type of service, e.g., therapies, activities, assistance, crisis response, and interventions to establish suitability for their performance under actual service conditions. CAN/HRSO-500.03-2021 - Training, Handling, and Care of Animals in Service
This National Standard of Canada (NSC) will specify benchmarks for the training, handling, and care of pets and other animals involved in delivering services regardless of type or the size of a business, practice, or organization. CAN/HRSO-500.04-2021 - Production and Delivery of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) During Publicly Declared Emergencies
CAN/HRSO-500.04-2021 - Production and Delivery of Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) During Publicly Declared Emergencies This National Standard of Canada (NSC) will specify benchmarks for the handlers' safety, training, handling, and care of animals during natural or human-induced publicly declared emergencies and hazardous situations. Future Animal-Assisted Services Notices of Intent
During the process of developing the first four National Standards of Canada (NSC), a need to drill-down to create additional standards that fall under each of the four generic NSC may be required. CAN/HRSO-500.03-2021 For example, the basic training, handling, and care of a dog involved in crisis response work are different from the basic training, handling, and care of a horse engaged in a mental health modality or hippotherapy sessions. Therefore, additional NOIs can be written and published to announce intentions to develop more in-depth NSC that further breakdown corresponding specifications. |
