The committee’s hearings on menopause and perimenopause consistently emphasized that symptoms are a whole-body biological event affecting cardiovascular, bone, metabolic, and cognitive health, not merely hot flashes. Witnesses across multiple meetings agreed that symptoms are trivialized and that a lack of awareness among women, employers, and health care providers is a primary barrier. There was broad consensus that education and public awareness campaigns are the necessary first step before legislating workplace accommodations, and that accommodations should be flexible—such as temperature control, flexible schedules, and hybrid work—rather than standardized leave policies that could stigmatize women. Witnesses also agreed that the current health care system lacks knowledgeable providers, leading to misdiagnosis and inappropriate prescriptions, and that access to effective treatments like bioidentical hormone therapy is limited by cost and confusion among medical societies.

A recurring theme was the economic impact of menopause, with witnesses citing that symptoms cost the Canadian economy $3.5 billion annually and that 10% to 47% of women miss work or consider leaving their jobs. Witnesses from the Menopause Society of Nova Scotia, Women’s Health Collective Canada, and Menovate all called for a national research strategy, a federal framework for menopause-inclusive workplaces, and dedicated Canadian research funding, noting that only 7% of health research funding goes to women’s health. Several witnesses recommended prioritizing menopause hormone therapy in the national pharmacare plan and establishing publicly funded, nurse practitioner-led virtual clinics, such as the Cycles to Cessation Clinic in Alberta. There was disagreement on whether menopause should be explicitly recognized under human rights legislation as a disability, with some witnesses arguing that pathologizing a normal life stage could be counterproductive, while others noted that symptoms can be functionally disabling and should be accommodated.

The committee also heard from a range of constituencies, including family physicians, nurse practitioners, researchers, and advocates from the DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada, the Réseau québécois d’action pour la santé des femmes, and the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec. Indigenous women and two-spirit people were identified as facing additional barriers due to a lack of culturally safe, holistic care and mistrust of health care systems. Witnesses generally agreed that workplace solutions must include all types of workers, not just office-based professionals, and that bringing men into the conversation is essential to breaking stigma. Over the course of the hearings, the committee moved from general testimony on the need for awareness to more specific recommendations on pharmacare coverage, virtual clinics, and mandated workplace policies, with several witnesses pointing to the United Kingdom and Australia as models for parliamentary study and legislative action.