Diving into Period Poverty Research at The Period Purse

From August 2024 to March 2025, The Period Purse (TPP) embarked on a menstrual equity and community needs assessment research project to understand a bit of the underlying needs and challenges associated with achieving menstrual equity in Canada. In the summer of 2024, an extensive literature review took place to understand what topics around period poverty and menstrual equity were being researched. What we found was Canada often was left out of the conversation, or lumped into North American data. While there are a lot of groups doing great work in the menstrual equity space, not a lot of groups have time or resources to create extensive projects to unpack community needs and develop pathways forward for Canadian communities. Thanks to funding from the Women and Gender Equity Committee (now Ministry of Women and Gender Equality), The Period Purse team was able to design a small scale research project to start to address the gap in specific Canadian data around menstrual equity and period poverty.  Starting in October, 2024, the team at The Period Purse started collecting stories and data around menstrual equity and period poverty. In addition to developing an anonymous survey for participants, the team conducted virtual and in person meetings with key informants (directors or program managers, case workers, outreach or health staff, frontline program staff or volunteers) from:

• Organizations working towards menstrual equity (7); such as the United Way, Menstrual Equity Fund partners, and campus based menstrual equity groups.
• Organizations supporting equity deserving communities (19); such as shelters, food banks, newcomer community organizations, drop in clinics, and family support organizations and indigenous centers.
• Service users and clients from our community partners (87)
• Open invitation to individuals to participate anonymously in a survey shared through our social media channels and newsletter (49)

In all 170 people shared their experiences in period poverty candidly throughout the sessions with TPP team members. The data collected was rich with information on the state of menstrual equity in Canada now, and has highlighted specific pathways for further exploration to unpack needs and remove barriers to successfully creating an equitable experience for Canadian menstruators. This was the first of many regular assessments The Period Purse hopes to lead in the months and years to come. It is important to monitor trends, successes, and failures, so that we can develop supportive and sustainable programming that responds to community needs as they evolve and grow. In the 2025 snapshot report the following areas were explored to help set the stage for future direction of research and programming at The Period Purse and throughout the menstrual equity space.

• Research and publications on menstrual equity and period poverty in Canada
• Period Education and Stigma
• Period Poverty
• Barriers to menstrual equity identified by community members

In each of these sections we discovered successful experiences and areas for growth and improvement. There is a growing awareness around the needs of menstruators however there is a lack of information and resources to support those organizations interested in providing support within their organization. Our biggest takeaways from the research project are:

• Start small and where you have influence - offering free period supplies, if even a box of pads at reception or in a washroom is a great way to say “we value menstrual equity here”.
• Evaluation and ongoing needs assessments are essential, especially in changing communities and as further areas of inequity are identified throughout Canada.
• Menstrual education is lacking in fundamentals, resulting in underinformed practice around menstrual health and equity.

What we have identified through our research will help drive key areas of work for The Period Purse, including:

• Program development and educational support in communities.
• Deeper development of networks of practice to engage in outreach and advocacy with community partners.
• Increase attention to developing workplace and community resources to promote period-friendly spaces.

Lastly, we took time to imagine, with participants, what a world with menstrual equity looks like. Allowing opportunities to brainstorm for a future more equitable country allowed us some insights into what is priority now, and will continue to be in the future. Namely access to affordable products of choice for all menstruators. Through continuous reflection as a team at The Period Purse, along with regular engagement with community members and the organizations that support them, will ensure the menstrual equity movement continues to grow and include more partners in every province and territory across Canada. We are looking forward to more opportunities to connect and grow together into a period-friendly country for everyone.