Ontario government makes deal with Shoppers Drug Mart to offer free menstrual products in all schools

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a news conference as Education Minister Stephen Lecce listens at Queen's Park in Toronto on Friday, March 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO — Students across Ontario will have access to free menstrual products this fall after the Doug Ford government partnered with Shoppers Drug Mart to give students equitable access to the essential hygiene item, CTV News Toronto has learned.

The program, set to be announced by Education Stephen Lecce today, will see sanitary pads distributed to school boards across the province, which can then be accessed by students in school washrooms free of charge.

Sources within the Ministry of Education say the three-year deal will see Shoppers Drug Mart pick up the cost of the menstrual products, and any dispensers required in student washrooms, while school boards would be responsible for determining which schools would be prioritized for the products to ensure equitable distribution.

CTVNewsToronto.ca will stream Lecce’s announcement live at 9 a.m.

Ontario is far from the first province to make menstrual products available to students for free.

Since 2019 the governments of British Columbia and Nova Scotia announced similar programs, while Prince Edward Island began offering the products to school-aged children in 2020.

The need for free period products in Ontario, however, was highlighted by a number of groups -- including the four main education unions, People for Education, the Toronto Youth Cabinet, and the Ontario Human Rights Commission -- which wrote an open letter to Premier Doug Ford in March highlighting the impact of inequitable access.

People who can't access menstrual products "are more likely to miss school and work and face higher health risks" the groups argued and said everyone should be able to focus on their education without having to worry about access to tampons, pads and other menstrual products.

The Toronto District School Board, which announced its own free mensural product program in 2019 in partnership with Brands Canada, penned its own letter to Lecce asking for a provincially funded program for all 72 school boards in Ontario.

TDSB Chair Alexander Brown said in some cases menstrual products were being provided to students only upon request "which invades student privacy" and since the products were being donated by charitable organizations the board was left with limited supplies.

Sources in the Ministry of Education said while the program will begin with period pads for the initial phase of the three-year program, the government will eventually expand the program to include tampons and other necessary items.