Canada Offers Free Menstrual Products To All Genders

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

OTTAWA (Worthy News) – With the world in turmoil, Canada’s Armed Forces and other federally regulated workplaces are preparing to offer free menstrual products to workers, including in male-identified toilets.

Starting Friday, the products will have to be freely available in male-identified and all-gender toilet rooms as part of government efforts to tackle “period poverty.”

Increased awareness of “period poverty” — a term used to describe “financial barriers” to accessing menstrual products — already led various jurisdictions to make menstrual products more widely available in Canada.

The new changes apply to workplaces that employ about 1.3 million people, about 35 percent of which, the government estimates, “require menstrual products on a regular basis.”

Traditionally, persons using these products were identified as women.

Yet, the government of Canada’s liberal prime minister, Justin Trudeau, says it is “Committed to advancing equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.”

That process includes “the inclusion of people of all genders, including women, in Canada’s economic, social, and political life.”

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Canada’s Liberals already promised in their 2021 election campaign to make free tampons and pads available in public service workplaces, and set up a fund to make menstrual products available to vulnerable people.

Last year’s budget allocated $25 million to establish a national pilot for the so-called “menstrual equity fund,” which aimed to “help make menstrual products available to people who may not be able to afford them.”

Minister Seamus O’Regan, who was responsible for the changes to the Canada Labour Code, said everyone would now be able to access such products.

The regulations specify that menstrual products must be available in all toilet rooms “regardless of their marked genders.” Every female-identified, male-identified, and all-gender toilet rooms will need to have menstrual products.

Unrestricted access to menstrual products better protects “menstruating employees” and ensures they feel safe to use the toilet room that best reflects their gender, the government argues.

Employers must also ensure a covered container for disposal of menstrual products is provided. A disposal container must be placed in each toilet room that has one toilet. In areas with multiple restrooms, containers must be in each toilet stall under the new government regulations.

Conservative commentators have wondered whether these rules will encourage “real men” to enlist in the army, where they will find tampons and pads among their necessities.

The Canadian Armed Forces need staff as recruitment was reportedly down last year by 35 percent from 2021.

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