Image courtesy the University of Ottawa

We were excited at the prospect of showcasing the CAA Annual Conference and receiving you all in the Capital Region in October. Beautiful views of the Gatineau hills and Rideau canal in full autumn colors were on the agenda. Alas, COVID-19 decided otherwise! Still, this does not stop us “Ottawans." We have eight articles highlighting the breadth of research and training activities in audiology at the University of Ottawa and partner organizations.

The first article reports on a special clinical placement initiative in a First Nations community in Northern Ontario. The next two articles present mobile equipment and software testing solutions to improve hearing healthcare in at-risk populations and for hearing screening in Canada. This is followed by a research summary of a Canadian survey of hearing loss prevalence and noise exposure. The next contributions deal with specific applications and populations. An article compares the acoustic and psychoacoustic performance of two alarm systems intended to alert workers and passersby of reversing heavy vehicles. This is followed by an article on the auditory effects of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury. The next two articles are on children hearing impairment. One discusses the response and engagement of hearing-impaired children to piano lessons and music learning. The other examines cochlear implant decision making for children with residual hearing from the perspectives of families and health practitioners in the Canadian context.

We hope that you will enjoy these articles as a brief glimpse of hearing healthcare activities and research in the Ottawa region. As for the on-site conference in beautiful Ottawa, “ce n’est que partie remise”!

Christian Giguère, PhD