Wednesday April 1, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC
by AccessBC – Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, AccessBC Committee Chair and Co-Founder
Posted by Island Social Trends
AccessBC is celebrating the third anniversary of free prescription contraception in British Columbia, along with the over 400,000 people who have benefited from this policy. The grassroots campaign that advocated for universal coverage of prescription contraception applauds the B.C. government’s leadership on reproductive justice issues and calls for further improvements to access to prescription contraception in BC and across Canada.
“Access to contraception doesn’t just help people choose when and if to have children – it also increases equity in educational attainment and income, improves infant and maternal health outcomes, and decreases the likelihood of poverty among both parents and children,” said Devon Black, AccessBC Campaign national liaison and co-founder. “I’m thrilled to be able to celebrate three groundbreaking years of free prescription contraception in B.C., and I’m looking forward to seeing free prescription contraception become a reality for all Canadians.”
On April 1, 2023, BC became the first jurisdiction in Canada to make prescription contraception free. The 2023 provincial budget dedicated $119 million over three years for a program that covers prescription contraception options, including most oral pills, injections, hormonal rings, copper and hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants, and Plan B (emergency contraception, also known as the morning after pill). Additional contraceptives have also been added to the program over the intervening years. Prior to the implementation of this policy in B.C., cost was the most significant barrier preventing British Columbians from accessing prescription contraception. In jurisdictions where these costs are not yet covered, a hormonal IUD can cost more than $500, a contraceptive implant costs $350, oral contraceptive pills cost at least $240 per year, and hormonal injections as much as $180 per year. These costs fall disproportionately on people who can become pregnant.
In addition to helping prevent unintended pregnancies, people are prescribed contraceptive medications for a wide range of reasons, including treating chronic pelvic pain, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, irregular cycles, hormonal acne, cyclical mood changes, and gender-affirming care.
“Free prescription contraception has helped transform lives and improve the health and well-being of hundreds of thousands of British Columbians, and I am so proud that our province has become a beacon of hope for reproductive justice at a time when such hope is desperately needed,” said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, AccessBC Campaign chair and co-founder. “The increased use of prescription contraception after the policy took effect makes it clear – cost was a major barrier preventing access to this life-saving and life-changing medicine. By removing this barrier, we empower people to access the medicine they need to exercise reproductive autonomy.”
Ensuring that prescription contraception costs are fully covered has helped hundreds of thousands of people across B.C. access this life-saving and life-changing medicine. The success of this policy is clear from the significant increase in prescription contraception use in B.C. since its implementation.
Between April 1, 2023 and February 28, 2026, the Ministry of Health reports that 407,000 people were able to access a wide range of prescription contraceptives at no cost (including emergency contraception). Please note that people can be counted under multiple types. These include the following types of contraception:
| Category | PharmaCare patients |
| Hormonal pill | 232,000 |
| Hormonal IUD | 105,000 |
| Emergency pill | 101,000 |
| Implant | 17,000 |
| Copper IUD | 16,000 |
| Hormonal injection | 14,000 |
| Vaginal ring | 7,000 |
| Total | 407,000 |
UBC researchers examining the policy’s impact found that in the first 15 months of the program, the number of people in B.C. using any form of prescription contraception increased by 10%. This research, published in the BMJ, found a 49%-per-cent jump in long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) use after BC made contraception free, and estimated that of the 80,200 people who accessed long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) through the program, at least 11,400 of them would not have been able to access these contraceptives had the government not made prescription contraception free.
While the policy has been a massive success in BC, efforts to see the roll out of universal no-cost prescription contraception across Canada appear to have stalled. The Pharmacare Act (Bill C-64), passed in October 2024, committed to funding nationwide coverage for diabetes medication and supplies and free prescription contraception. However, since the Act’s passage, only four agreements have been signed, all of them prior to the most recent federal election, and it is unclear where the current government stands on negotiating new agreements. More than 60% of funding allocated for pharmacare implementation has been earmarked in these four agreements and the most recent federal budget did not include any additional funds for pharmacare. It is noteworthy that the four implementation agreements, signed with B.C., Manitoba, the Yukon, and PEI, only cover 17% of Canada’s population.
At a time when the federal government is seeking to sharply reduce operational costs, BC has demonstrated that providing coverage for free contraception is highly effective at reducing healthcare expenditures. Studies have found that free prescription contraception is a revenue-positive policy. Dr. Wendy Norman, from UBC’s Contraception and Abortion Research Team’s Contraception Cost-effectiveness modelling project team, estimated that the policy would save the BC health system $27 million annually, or around $5 per BC resident, per year.
“The success of BC’s free prescription contraception program throws into stark contrast a growing inequality across Canada, where someone’s access to this life-saving and life-changing medication now depends both on their income and their postal code,” said Phelps Bondaroff. “As we celebrate the 3rd anniversary of free prescription contraception in BC, we are calling on the federal government to show leadership on this issue and get back to negotiating Pharmacare agreements with outstanding jurisdictions across the country. Because someone’s ability to exercise reproductive autonomy should not depend on their income or postal code.”
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NEWS SECTIONS: HEALTH | WOMEN IN SOCIETY