Nearly 40 per cent of Canadian women don't know where to seek menopause care, GreenShield research finds

GreenShield responds with free menopause support for underserved communities while expanding access for Canadians nationwide.

TORONTO, Oct. 15, 2026 /CNW/ -- New GreenShield research reveals a significant menopause care gap in Canada, with nearly 40 per cent of Canadian women reporting that they do not know where to seek menopause care. In response, GreenShield is expanding its Women's Health Signature Initiative to provide 12 months of free, personalized menopause care for eligible women from equity-seeking communities, while making its clinician-led menopause support program directly available to Canadians nationwide.

The barriers are particularly concerning for women from equity-seeking communities. Among racialized survey respondents, 45 per cent said they did not know where to seek help for perimenopause or menopause symptoms, compared with 40 per cent of women overall. Only a third of racialized women reported having discussed their symptoms with a health professional, compared to roughly half of women overall. Nearly one in four respondents said the menopause supports available through their workplace were not culturally appropriate.

For women navigating menopause, these gaps can mean spending months or years trying to connect symptoms that may seem unrelated, searching for credible information and moving through a fragmented health care system without a clear path forward. The effects can extend across their health, relationships, confidence, careers and daily lives.

"Menopause support should not depend on a woman's ability to navigate a complex system, find culturally appropriate care, or pay out of pocket for services. Yet our research shows too many women continue to face those barriers," said Mandy Mail, Executive Vice President, GreenShield Cares. "By combining GreenShield Cares' social impact investments with GreenShield Health's clinical capabilities, we're helping create more equitable access to personalized menopause care so more women can get the support they need through this important stage of life."

As part of its Women's Health Signature Initiative, GreenShield's menopause support pilot will support women from equity-seeking communities who do not currently have access to private or public coverage, with the goal of helping remove financial barriers to menopause care. The pilot will launch in November through partnerships with Black Mental Health Canada, the Black Women's Institute for Health and the Windsor-Essex Community Health Centre, with GreenShield using insights and learnings to inform future expansion opportunities to additional underserved communities in 2027.

The menopause support pilot combines GreenShield Cares' social impact investments with the clinical capabilities of GreenShield Health, one of Canada's largest and fastest-growing providers of integrated health services, including pharmacy, mental health, telemedicine, care navigation and health coaching. By reinvesting the organization's health care capabilities to support priority underserved communities, GreenShield is helping reduce barriers to care and create more equitable access to personalized menopause support.

Eligible participants will receive 12 months of free, clinician-led personalized menopause care through GreenShield Health, along with three free hours of health coaching and three free hours of mental health counselling.

Expanding access to menopause care beyond the pilot

Beyond the pilot, GreenShield Health's menopause support program is now available to Canadians nationwide through GreenShield+™, regardless of whether they have an existing relationship with GreenShield.

GreenShield+™ is GreenShield's integrated health care and insurance ecosystem, bringing together benefits coverage and a range of health services, including pharmacy, mental health, telemedicine, care navigation and health coaching. The menopause support program is delivered by GreenShield Health, one of Canada's largest and fastest-growing providers of integrated health services.

As a leading integrated menopause support offering, the service brings multiple aspects of care together through personalized, clinician-led support tailored to individual needs. This includes clinical assessment and guidance to help women understand and manage their symptoms, alongside health coaching and mental health support to address the broader impacts menopause can have on their health and well-being.

"Menopause symptoms can be complex and interconnected, and too often, women are left playing detective with their own bodies, trying to understand symptoms that may initially seem unrelated and searching for credible answers on their own," said Harriet Ekperigin, Vice President, Clinical Services Growth, GreenShield Health. "Our approach helps women better understand what they are experiencing, get the answers they need and take the next step in their care."

Together, the pilot and broader availability of GreenShield Health's menopause support offering demonstrate how GreenShield combines social impact investments with health care delivery to address gaps in care. By reducing financial barriers for underserved communities while expanding access to personalized menopause support nationwide, GreenShield is helping create more equitable pathways to care for women across Canada. This builds on GreenShield's broader Women's Health Signature Initiative, which has connected nearly 200,000 women from equity-deserving communities with free, culturally relevant mental health services since 2021.

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 positively impacted the health and well-being of over one million Canadians between 2020 and 2025.

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

For media inquiries or further information, please contact: Sarah Mortimer, Communications Manager, [email protected] | 647-221-9037