Ontario students went back to school this month for the final year of a three-year provincial supply of free menstrual products. The products are made available through Ontario’s Menstrual Equity Initiative, which the province renewed in 2024 with a donation of 23 million products and 1,380 new dispensers for school washrooms.
The initiative responds to “period poverty,” the difficulty in affording or accessing menstrual products. In a 2023 national survey, one in four Canadian women said they had chosen between buying menstrual products and paying for essentials such as food or rent in the past year. Among adolescents in Nova Scotia, two-thirds reported difficulty affording products, and about 40 per cent had missed school, sports or social activities as a result.
