Period inflation? Why more workplaces are being urged to offer free pads, tampons
Global News
A majority of Canadians who menstruate say period products are over-priced in the country with 23 per cent saying they’re 'very expensive,' a recent survey shows.
As inflation has increased the price of menstrual products in Canada, more workplaces should provide them at no cost to their employees, advocates say.
Appearing at a meeting of the House of Commons status of women committee Monday, company CEOs and other industry stakeholders welcomed recent changes to the Labour Code by the federal government to give free access to period products in all federally regulated workplaces.
But they said more needs to be done to eliminate “period poverty,” including in the private sector.
“Women and gender non-conforming folks are always exposed to increased prices just because the marketplace is going to try and attempt to increase those prices,” said Suzanne Siemens, co-founder and CEO of Period Aisle, a Canadian company that specializes in washable pads and period underwear.
The federal government nixed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from menstrual products in 2015.
Siemens said the removal of the “pink tax” on essential period products has helped, but inflation overall is “always going to increase the cost of having a period,” she told MPs.
The status of women committee is conducting a study on menstrual equity in Canada.
This comes as a quarter of people who menstruate in Canada say they struggled to afford period products within the last year and had to choose between getting them or paying for other essential items, according to a recent survey by Plan International Canada.
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