Question Period Note: PROVISION OF MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS IN THE WORKPLACE

On December 16, 2021, the Minister of Labour was mandated to lead the efforts to provide menstrual products in federally regulated workplaces to help ensure employees’ participation in work.

Menstrual products are essential to the health of workers, allowing them to participate fully in the workforce and society at large.

Providing workers with access to menstrual products is expected to support better physical and psychological health outcomes and increase workplace productivity.

This is why the government has undertaken several consultations since 2019 on potential amendments to occupational health and safety regulations to require federally regulated employers to provide menstrual products in the workplace.

During consultations in April 2022, employer and employee organizations indicated their strong support for the proposed regulations.

As a result of our efforts, regulations are expected to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I in late 2022. We will then be a step closer to making menstrual products available to all federally regulated menstruating employees.

Current regulations under Part II of the Canada Labour Code (the Code) require employers to provide supplies such as toilet paper, soap, warm water, and a means to dry hands. No requirements are currently in place to require employers to provide menstrual products.

There has been increasing public awareness and acknowledgement that menstrual products constitute necessary items that are essential to the health of a large proportion of Canadians.

This issue is linked to a broader movement aimed at ending the stigma and shame associated with menstruation, and ensuring that every person can access essential menstrual products as needed. In fact, public awareness was further increased in November 2020, when Scotland passed the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act and became the first country in the world to provide universal access to menstrual products.

The absence of menstrual products in the workplace can translate into physical and psychological health and safety risks for menstruating employees because improvised solutions, such as using toilet paper and paper towels to act in place of tampons or menstrual pads are used when they do not have access to menstrual products. Psychological health may also be at an increased risk as menstruating employees may avoid the workplace due to the anxiety, shame and stigma that often surrounds menstruation, having a particular impact on mental health, performance and productivity. For employees in remote locations, the negative impact to their physical and psychological health may be heightened due to greater barriers, such as higher costs of and the lack of accessibility to menstrual products. The cost of menstrual products varies significantly from location to location in Canada, and the financial burden is borne exclusively by menstruating employees.

To begin consultations, a Notice of Intent was published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on May 4, 2019, for a period of 60 days to provide a range of stakeholders with the opportunity to submit comments regarding the Labour Program’s proposal.

The Labour Program received 42 submissions during the consultation period; 13 from labour organizations and federal and provincial employer groups and 29 from individual Canadians. The feedback that was received indicated neither strong support nor disapproval of the proposal. At this time, neither employer nor employee stakeholders have listed this topic as a priority occupational health and safety item. The Notice of Intent did help create a broader public dialogue on this important issue.

On December 21, 2020, the Government of Canada published a What We Heard report outlining the feedback that was received in response to the Notice of Intent.

As part of its commitment to assess possible amendments to require federally regulated employers to provide menstrual products in the workplace, the Labour Program convened a roundtable of experts on June 8, 2021. Twelve experts who have experience in developing, implementing and/or evaluating policies or initiatives participated.

A summary of findings from the roundtable of experts was published and a survey was launched online for public feedback on August 3, 2021, and closed on September 7, 2021. 734 Canadians completed the survey.

On December 16, 2021, the Minister of Labour was mandated to lead the efforts to provide menstrual products in federally regulated workplaces to help ensure employees’ participation in work.

During April 2022 consultations, employer and employee organizations indicated their strong support for the proposed regulations. Employers asked for flexibility for implementation noting that the proposed regulations should not be too prescriptive due to a wide variety of worksites.

The Labour Program has initiated the regulatory process and regulations are expected to be published in the Canada Gazette, Part I in 2022 to advance this initiative and to make menstrual products available to all federally regulated menstruating employees.

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