Rick DeSylva is a clinical herbalist with quite a breadth and depth of experience with herbal medicine in Canada—he has been in private practice since 1977, he’s been a co-founder of multiple herbal organizations including the Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations (2003), the Ontario Herbalists Association (1982), and the Central Canadian Herbal Practitioners Association (1993), and he has been in the herbal product manufacturing business since 1977.

In this 20-minute interview we dive into some aspects of the last 45 years of the history of herbal medicine in Canada, including changes in federal and provincial government regulations regarding clinical practice and herbal products, lobbying efforts, and more.

3 learning objectives:

• Learn about the history of herbal medicine in Canada
• Learn about government involvement in herbal medicine in the past 40 years
• Understand some of the changes in clinical practice between now and the 1970’s