The average Canadian woman spends $65.82 per year on menstrual products, according to a 2017 estimate by Chatelaine magazine. That might not sound like much but, in 2018, Plan International Canada found that fully one-third of Canadian women under the age of 25 have struggled to afford menstrual products. South of the border, a U.S. survey conducted in November 2019 reported that 69 percent of women have budgeted specifically for tampons and related products, sometimes forgoing other items in order to ensure they can afford pads.

Hoping to ease the financial burden for some Vancouver women, a pair of city councillors are scheduled to table a motion tomorrow (March 10) that asks staff to report back on a plan to provide menstrual products in all civic facilities, free of charge.

The proposal drafted by NPA councillor Melissa De Genova and independent councillor Rebecca Bligh asks staff to investigate funding initiatives, including private partnerships, and report back by the fourth quarter of 2020.

In April 2019, B.C.’s provincial government said that all public schools should provide free menstrual products to students.

“This is a common-sense step forward that is, frankly, long overdue,” Education Minister Rob Fleming said then. “We look forward to working with school districts and communities to make sure students get the access they need with no stigma and no barriers,’ said Fleming.

“Students should never have to miss school, extracurricular, sports or social activities because they can’t afford or don’t have access to menstrual products.”

The motion that’s scheduled to go to Vancouver council tomorrow notes the city’s women’s advisory committee has recommended “free-vending tampon and pad dispensers in schools, colleges, government service centres and homeless shelters”.