Findings highlight systemic gaps in care, workplace support, and navigation during midlife health transitions.
TORONTO, March 26, 2026 /CNW/ - A new national survey from GreenShield, Canada's only national non-profit health care and insurance organization, reveals a significant gap in menopause care: one in three Canadian women wait at least two years for effective menopause support, while nearly half are waiting up to a year.
The survey of Canadian women aged 35 to 60 found that many are facing multiple barriers to accessing effective care. These include difficulty recognizing symptoms as part of a hormonal transition, uncertainty about where to turn for help, long wait times, and having their concerns dismissed by health professionals. Taken together, the findings point to a system that is not designed to support women through predictable life‑stage health changes.
As a result, menopause symptoms, including fatigue, mood swings, "brain fog," hot flashes, weight gain, and anxiety, are widespread and often unmanaged. Nearly two‑thirds of women say these symptoms affect their job performance, while more than half report that the time spent seeking care disrupts their work.
Despite the clear health and workforce implications, workplace support remains limited. Only 13 per cent of women say their employer provides adequate hormonal health or menopause benefits – leaving many to navigate finding care on their own.
"Too many women are forced to navigate menopause without clear pathways to care or timely support," said Mandy Mail, Executive Vice President, GreenShield Cares. "This research shows how difficult it can be to know where to go, be taken seriously, and get effective treatment. When access breaks down, the consequences extend beyond health – affecting careers, workplaces, and equity. Closing these gaps requires removing barriers and designing care around women's real experiences at every stage of life."
Highlights from the survey include:
- Extended waits for effective care: One‑third of women (33 per cent) waited more than two years after first noticing symptoms to receive effective treatment, while nearly half (46 per cent) waited at least one year.
- Gaps in navigation and awareness drive delays: Many women struggle to recognize symptoms or know where to turn for help. Nearly 40 per cent say they did not know where to seek menopause or hormonal health care, while more than one‑quarter (26 per cent) did not initially recognize their symptoms as part of a hormonal transition.
- Symptoms often go untreated: While half of women say they have experienced symptoms they associate with perimenopause or menopause; and another 24 per cent believe they may have – fewer than half (48 per cent) have discussed their symptoms with a health care professional.
- Significant impact at work: Nearly two‑thirds of women (64 per cent) say menopause symptoms affect their job performance, and more than half (54 per cent) say the time spent seeking care has disrupted their work.
Limited workplace support – including in female‑dominated sectors: Only 13 per cent of women say their employer provides adequate menopause or hormonal health benefits. This includes just 15 per cent of women in education and childcare and 24 per cent in health care, highlighting that even in sectors where women make up most of the workforce, support remains limited.
"Women's hormonal health sits at the intersection of health, work, and equity," said Joe Blomeley, Executive Vice President, GreenShield. "Supporting women through every life stage is essential to building an inclusive workforce. As a non-profit founded on the belief that health care is a right, we see this as a critical gap that demands personalized, accessible solutions."
Launched in 2025, GreenShield's Personalized Hormonal Health Program is designed to address these gaps by seamlessly supporting Canadian women through life-stage hormonal changes. Delivered through GreenShield+, the nurse-led program combines clinical expertise with personalized support to help plan members better understand and manage the impact of hormonal changes on their everyday health. By embedding hormonal health within both coverage and care navigation, the program is designed to improve access to timely, personalized support for women across life stages.
GreenShield's focus on hormonal health builds on its long‑standing commitment to advancing women's health and well‑being across Canada. Since 2021, the organization has taken a solutions‑oriented, equity‑first approach to making women's health more accessible – beginning with the launch of its Women's Mental Health Signature Initiative. To date, the program has connected nearly 200,000 women from equity‑deserving communities to free, culturally relevant mental health services. This commitment spans generations. Through GreenShield Cares' Youth Mental Health Initiative, launched in 2025, GreenShield expanded early, preventative mental health supports for young women, regardless of GreenShield membership. Together, these efforts reflect a sustained, multiyear effort to supporting women's health across life stages, informed by evidence and grounded in equity.
In addition to this, GreenShield supports women through a broad range of Women's Health services, delivered through its integrated health care services and insurance benefits platform. These supports include financial and legal services, career coaching, and resources to navigate health and life transitions – reflecting a holistic view of women's health that extends beyond clinical care.
Collectively, GreenShield's products and signature initiatives reflect an approach focused on addressing gaps where traditional health and benefits systems fall short. Later this year, GreenShield will further expand its hormonal health offering to reach more women facing barriers to care.
About the survey
The survey was conducted in Canada among 1,000 women aged 35 to 60 across regions and employment sectors. It examined experiences with perimenopause and menopause symptoms, healthcare access, workplace impacts, and employer support.
About GreenShield
As Canada's only national non-profit health care and insurance organization, GreenShield believes health care is a right, not a privilege. We're dedicated to improving health outcomes, driving systemic change, and building a future where every Canadian can reach their full health and well-being potential.
We are revolutionizing the health care and insurance experience by bringing coverage and care together in one place. Through our unique integrated payer-provider ("payvider") model, we offer insurance, administer benefits and pay claims as a 'payer' while offering health care services such as mental health, pharmacy, telemedicine and chronic disease management as a 'provider'.
As a non-profit social enterprise without shareholders, we reinvest our excess earnings to directly support underserved communities. Through GreenShield Cares, we've positively impacted the health and well-being of over one million Canadians since 2020.
What's driving us now is the commitment to measurably impact an additional three million Canadians by 2030 – across mental health, essential medicines, and chronic disease management – through scalable initiatives that deliver meaningful change in pursuit of our mission of Better Health for All. GreenShield is proud to be recognized multiple times as one of Canada's Most Admired Corporate Cultures, certified annually as a leading Imagine Canada Caring Company, and honoured with repeat placement on Fortune's prestigious Change the World list – a testament to our sustained commitment to purpose-driven innovation and impact.
SOURCE GreenShield
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