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The Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture is now active. You are required to register by April 1, 2013. Information required for registration is on their website:

Health Canada is aware that ear candles are being advertised and sold for use in ear candling procedure in Canada.

Ear candling presents a risk for users. Health Canada has been made aware of incidents in Canada and the United States where people who have undergone an ear candling procedure have had ears plugged by candle wax, punctured ear drums, or burns. Some of these users suffered temporary hearing loss. Medical intervention was required in some cases.

In accordance with the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act and the Medical Devices Regulations, Health Canada considers that ear candles are a class of medical devices, which requires a license issued by Health Canada before they can be sold. To date, Health Canada has not issued any license for ear candles. Therefore, the manufacture and sale of any ear candle in Canada is illegal.

An ear candle is a hollow cone about 25 centimetres (10 inches ) long made from a fabric tube soaked in beeswax, paraffin or a mixture of the two. Ear candling, also called ear coning or thermal auricular therapy, involves placing an ear candle in the outer ear while the patient lies on his or her side and lighting the top of the candle. Some advocates claim that the procedure relieves sinus infection and pain, cures ear infection and relieves earaches, improves hearing, purifies the blood, strengthens the brain, cures cancer, in addition to cleaning the ears. However, ear candles have no proven medical benefits and pose a high risk of fire and injury to the ear from dripping wax during the ear candling procedure (1,2). Tests performed by Health Canada found that ear candles produce no measurable effect in the ear and have no therapeutic value.

The Canadian Examining Board of Health Care Practitioners Inc. is a private not-for-profit, federally chartered organization which promotes health care programs of Complementary Medicines. This progressive body has set standards of professional qualifications for health care practitioners in this field, and provides a forum for the development, exchange, and dissemination of knowledge and skills appropriate to the requirements of professional complementary health care practice.

Having established a Code of Ethics, Conduct, and Practice, the Canadian Examining Board recognizes institutions which meet our stringent standards and offers legal designations for professional health care practitioners who have graduated from these approved programs.