For millions of Canadians hoping to build their families, infertility is a deeply personal and often isolating challenge. Fortunately, there’s a growing network of support systems—spanning financial aid, peer groups, advocacy, and clinical care—dedicated to helping Canadians navigate this journey with compassion and clarity.
1. Support & Community
Fertility Matters Canada
- Known as Canada’s fertility voice, Fertility Matters Canada offers support groups (online and in-person), educational materials, advocacy tools, and clinic referrals. It aims to empower the 1 in 6 Canadians facing fertility challenges through accessible, community-based support.
- Their resource directory even allows you to search for local and regional support groups by province or territory.
Oasis Fertility Support Network
- A free nationwide support initiative, Oasis offers both in‑person and virtual peer support groups, run by people who have walked the fertility path themselves. They also host a podcast featuring real, honest conversations about infertility.
Informed Fertility’s Peer Support Groups
- These free, professionally facilitated virtual support groups include:
- Primary Infertility (for those trying for their first child),
- Secondary Infertility (for those expanding their family),
- Men’s Infertility & Loss
- Groups meet monthly via Zoom and provide a healing, confidential space for those affected.
2. Financial Support & Funding Programs
Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC)
- At the federal level, Canada expanded the METC (Medical Expense Tax Credit) in 2022 to cover more fertility-related expenses, helping offset treatment costs via eligible tax deductions.
Provincial Public Funding
Funding varies significantly across provinces:
- British Columbia: As of July 2, 2025, the province offers a publicly funded IVF program—providing up to CAD 19,000 per eligible patient for one IVF cycle.
- Newfoundland & Labrador: Their Fertility Subsidy Program now covers up to CAD 20,000, including IVF, frozen transfers, donor cycles, ICSI, cryopreservation, and related meds—available to eligible NLFS patients since March 2025.
- Prince Edward Island (PEI): Offers support for IVF, IUI, and prescribed medications via a funding program that requires pre-approved applications.
Coverage may also exist in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and New Brunswick, though details vary—countrywide oversight is limited to select provinces.
Charitable Grants
- Fertility Friends Foundation: A Canadian charity awarding grants to offset costs for IVF, egg/sperm donation, and surrogacy. They prioritize diversity in applicants across ethnicity, orientation, and family structure.
3. Counseling & Mental Health Support
Infertility affects not just the body but the mind and emotions.
- Verywell Mind highlights the importance of therapy and support groups in helping individuals and couples process grief, anxiety, relationship strains, and emotional upheaval.
- Ottawa Fertility Centre (OFC) offers access to BRIA, a virtual mental health service specializing in fertility-related care—from individual/couples therapy to reproductive ethics counseling. OFC also partners with Femade, an allied healthcare center offering trauma-informed reproductive and wellness support.
4. Surrogacy & Legal Considerations
- In Canada, only altruistic (unpaid) surrogacy is permitted under the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (2004); commercial surrogacy is illegal. Surrogates may be reimbursed only for reasonable expenses (like travel or medical supplies), and provincial laws dictate parental rights and paperwork.
- The federal agency Assisted Human Reproduction Canada (now dissolved) once provided regulatory oversight, but responsibilities now lie with Health Canada.
5. Unique Considerations for LGBTQ2S+ Families
- Canadian law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation or marital status in access to assisted reproduction. However, LGBTQ2S+ individuals may still face systemic barriers, such as outdated clinic forms, assumptions about family configuration, or legal complications with parentage and identity.
Newsletter Takeaway – Infertility Resources in Canada
- Connect with Fertility Matters Canada, Oasis, or Informed Fertility for peer support.
- Explore financial aid—METC at the federal level, provincial IVF programs (e.g. BC, NL, PEI), and charitable grants from Fertility Friends Foundation.
- Seek counseling: mental health services like BRIA or community-based peer support can help you—and your relationship—heal.
For surrogacy pathways, ensure you understand both federal and provincial legal limits before proceeding.
LGBTQ2S+ Canadians have rights—but may need to advocate for inclusive and supportive care.
Author’s Note
By Ola Taiwo, Fertility Advocate & Founder of Fertility Conversations
As someone who has personally navigated the complex and emotional journey of infertility, I understand just how overwhelming it can be—especially when you don’t know where to turn for support.
Canada has made strides in recent years, but access to fertility care and emotional support still varies greatly by province, income level, and cultural background. That’s why it’s so important that we continue to amplify these conversations and make sure no one feels alone or forgotten.
Whether you’re just beginning to ask questions, actively undergoing treatment, or seeking alternatives like surrogacy or adoption, you deserve support, respect, and access to the information that helps you make empowered choices.
At Fertility Conversations, we’re committed to creating safe spaces where your journey is valid—whatever path you’re on. Thank you for being part of this ongoing movement toward compassion, equity, and visibility for all Canadians facing fertility challenges.
Let’s keep talking. Let’s keep fighting stigma. Let’s keep showing up for one another.
