All provinces and one territory in Canada provide public health insurance coverage for various gender/transition-related medical treatments or surgical procedures — with New Brunswick being the last to announce coverage in June 2016. Coverage varies widely among various jurisdictions, with PEI notably offering only very limited coverage for its residents. (see chart below)
The availability of procedures tends to favour the trans male population, with only one province (Ontario) offering conditional publicly funded breast augmentation for trans women, while all provinces cover mastectomies for trans men.
Typically, coverage does not include such procedures as: breast augmentation, pectoral implants, facial feminization, tracheal shaving, hair removal, travel, accommodation or medications prescribed outside of hospital.
Some of the more straightforward surgeries, such as mastectomies, hysterectomies and orchiectomies are often performed in-province. In 2017 only Quebec had facilities and expertise for some of the more advanced procedures, such as vaginoplasties and phalloplasties which are offered at the Centre métropolitain de chirurgie in Montréal. However, the government of Ontario announced in June 2017 that it intends to expand the services at Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital to include so-called bottom surgeries beginning sometime in 2018.
The following chart offers a snapshot of the various publicly-funded transition-related medical treatments or surgical procedures across jurisdictions in Canada.
| Province / Territory | Services Covered | Services not covered | Services not tracked/unclear/ or case by case |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy Chest contouring Erectile & testicular implant |
Voice training | |
| Alberta | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Erectile & testicular implant |
Voice training | Hysterectomy Chest contouring |
| Saskatchewan | Hysterectomy Mastectomy |
Chest contouring | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Erectile & testicular implant Voice training |
| Manitoba | Vaginoplasty Hysterectomy Mastectomy Chest contouring |
Phalloplasty Erectile & testicular implant |
Voice training |
| Ontario | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy Erectile & testicular implant |
Chest contouring Voice training |
|
| Quebec | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy Chest contouring Erectile & testicular implant |
Voice training | |
| New Brunswick | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy Chest contouring Erectile & testicular implant |
Voice training | |
| Prince Edward Island | Mastectomy Hysterectomy Penectomy Orchidectomy |
Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Chest contouring Erectile & testicular implant Voice training |
|
| Nova Scotia | Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy |
Chest contouring Erectile & testicular implant Voice training |
|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Vaginoplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy |
Phalloplasty Chest contouring |
Erectile & testicular implant Voice training |
| Yukon Territory |
Vaginoplasty Phalloplasty Mastectomy Hysterectomy Chest contouring |
Erectile & testicular implant Voice training |
|
| Northwest Territories | No services covered | ||
| Nunavut | No services covered | ||