TORONTO — Ontario’s health minister says the province is looking “closely” at British Columbia’s plan to make prescription contraception free.
B.C. announced in its budget last week that it would spend $119 million over three years to fund prescription contraception.
That will include most oral hormone pills, contraceptive injections, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices and subdermal implants, along with so-called Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill.
The Opposition NDP in Ontario asked Health Minister Sylvia Jones today if the province will follow suit and Jones said she is “looking closely” at what B.C. has proposed.
The NDP proposed having prescription contraception covered by the provincial health plan OHIP in last year’s election and says it would be one way to make life more affordable.
Jill Andrew, the party’s critic for women’s social and economic opportunity, says it’s vital to lowering barriers to reproductive health care.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2023.
