{"id":68331,"date":"2024-07-29T11:52:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T15:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/?p=68331"},"modified":"2024-08-13T09:59:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T13:59:22","slug":"ontario-increasing-access-to-free-menstrual-products-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/29\/ontario-increasing-access-to-free-menstrual-products-in-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario Increasing Access to Free Menstrual Products in Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Ontario government is breaking the stigma around period poverty by making sure schools across Ontario can offer free menstrual products to their students. Today, Todd Smith, Minister of Education, announced a new three-year agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart to expand the province\u2019s Menstrual Equity Initiative and provide more than 23 million free menstrual products to students over the next 3 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that when students can\u2019t access or afford menstrual products, it often results in them missing school, work or other activities \u2013 but we’re changing that,\u201d said Minister Smith. \u201cAccess to products through Ontario\u2019s Menstrual Equity Initiative is just one more way we are removing barriers for women and girls so they can reach their full potential and realize their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to free menstrual pads and tampons, Shoppers Drug Mart will provide 1,380 dispensers in the first year to facilitate the delivery of these critical health products in schools. Along with the 23 million free menstrual products \u2013 an increase of 3 million compared to the previous agreement \u2013 this represents an in-kind contribution of more than $8 million.<\/p>\n

Free menstrual products will be available to all school boards and school authorities across Ontario, as well as the Consortium Centre Jules-L\u00e9ger, which will distribute products to individual schools based on their local student needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, inequitable access to menstrual products has held millions back from reaching their full potential \u2013 every absent day of school or sick day at work is a missed opportunity to learn, grow and thrive,\u201d said Jeff Leger, President of Shoppers Drug Mart. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to continue this important partnership with the Ontario government to ensure more students have access to the menstrual products they need and deserve, helping to get more women and girls in school and keeping them in class, where they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe continuation of the Menstrual Equity Initiative strengthens equality and inclusion in Ontario schools,\u201d said Charmaine Williams, Associate Minister of Women\u2019s Social and Economic Opportunity. \u201cBy providing essential products, we are not only supporting the physical and emotional health of students, but also enabling them to focus on their education and extracurricular activities without financial barriers. This initiative underscores Ontario\u2019s commitment to fostering a supportive and healthy learning environment for every student across the province.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ontario government is breaking the stigma around period poverty by making sure schools across Ontario can offer free menstrual products to their students. Today, Todd Smith, Minister of Education, announced a new three-year agreement with Shoppers Drug Mart to expand the province\u2019s Menstrual Equity Initiative and provide more than 23 million free menstrual products …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":31649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 10:34:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68331"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68332,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68331\/revisions\/68332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}