While roughly half of Canada’s provinces now provide some form of public coverage for fertility treatments such as in-vitro fertilization, the cost is still too prohibitive for many people.
Employers are starting to help bridge the gap, “but there’s definitely still room for improvement,” said Tara Wood, principal of Purpose PR and co-founder of Fertility Benefits Matter, during Benefits Canada’s 2025 Toronto Benefits Summit in a session sponsored by Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
Read: Fertility benefits coverage is limited, outdated in Canada: report
She highlighted the patchwork of public coverage: Ontario and Quebec each cover one round of IVF, with Quebec also paying for fertility medications and embryo freezing and storage. Manitoba and Nova Scotia have tax credits and New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island offer reimbursements of either annual or lifetime amounts. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and the territories have no coverage.
Fertility coverage is one of the fastest-growing benefits offered by Canadian employers, said Wood, with a 25 per cent increase in employers covering it in just the past two years. However, in total, just 47 per cent of employers have this coverage and 98 per cent of them cover only the cost of drugs.
She recommended employers consider covering treatments as well. “The average cost of one round of IVF, which is the most common infertility treatment, is . . . about $20,000, including treatment costs and drug costs. But most people are going to need two or three rounds. People are throwing a lot of money into this — and their hearts and souls.”
Read: Claims for fertility drugs up nearly 15% among female plan members in 2024: report
While one in six people will deal with the medical condition of infertility, the number of people who’ll need to use fertility services is higher, said Wood, encompassing single people trying to build their families, the LGBTQ2S+ community, those facing recurrent pregnancy loss, people with genetic conditions and people trying to preserve their fertility for the future.
Providing fertility coverage has been shown to be good for the bottom line, she added, citing a 2-23 survey that found 65 per cent of employees would change jobs to work for a company with fertility benefits. Coverage also reduces costs associated with sick leave and resignations, said Wood, and boosts productivity, engagement and mental health and well-being.
As well, despite many plan sponsors’ assumptions, fertility coverage doesn’t have an adverse impact on the plan, she added. “This is a very high-cost benefit, but it is low usage.”
Read more coverage of the 2025 Toronto Benefits Summit.