Port Moody is considering providing free menstrual products in civic facilities.
At its meeting Sept. 10, city council unanimously endorsed a motion by Coun. Amy Lubik to direct staff to report back on the cost and implementation of making such products available at the city’s recreational spaces and libraries. Lubik said such a program would put into action the United Way’s Period Promise campaign to encourage increased access to menstruation products to vulnerable populations.
In a letter to council, United Way’s president and CEO, Michael McKnight, said that almost 25% of Canadian women claim they’ve struggled to afford menstrual products for themselves or their children.
“Period poverty is the widespread lack of access to menstrual products due to financial limitations,” McKnight said.
Earlier this month, the city of Coquitlam announced it will launch a four-month pilot program to provide free menstrual products in washrooms at Town Centre and Mundy parks, as well as the City Centre Aquatic Complex, the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex and Pinetree community centre.
The Coquitlam pilot program is expected to cost $20,000 to cover the installation of dispensers as well as keeping them stocked. Data and feedback will be collected during the four months to be presented to city council in the new year, when it can consider expansion of the program to all of the city’s 72 women’s and universal washrooms.
Lubik suggested Port Moody staff could reach out to Coquitlam for more information “without having to reinvent the wheel.”
Feminine hygiene products are being made available for free to students in schools across the province, including School District 43, by the end of the year, following a ministerial order announced last spring by Education Minister Rob Fleming.
