A few weeks ago, I posted an Instagram Reel on this topic. It tanked. Completely. My 1:59 second video was too long for the algorithm. This conversation deserves more a rushed reel, it deserves a proper argument. So here it is.
In February, CBC’s White Coat Black Art ran an episode on the rise of paid menopause clinics in Canada. It profiled a 46-year-old woman from Nanaimo, BC, who had been experiencing debilitating symptoms — frozen shoulder, hot flashes, crushing fatigue — and was facing a year long wait to see a menopause specialist through the public system. She eventually went private. She paid out of pocket. And she is far from alone.
Private menopause clinics are opening across Canada. Women are paying for care that should be available to them through the system they have already paid into. And the response from many corners has been to scrutinise the clinics — their pricing, their protocols, their credentials.
That scrutiny misses the point entirely.
The clinics are not the problem. They are the response to the problem.
The Canadian healthcare system was not designed with midlife women in mind. It is fragmented, under-resourced, and in many cases, staffed by practitioners who received little to no training on perimenopause and menopause during their medical education. This is not a criticism of individual doctors — it is a structural failure that has been decades in the making.
Consider what a woman in perimenopause is actually navigating. Her symptoms may include disrupted sleep, mood changes, joint pain, cognitive shifts, irregular cycles, and metabolic changes — none of which fit neatly into a standard GP appointment. There is no single billing code that captures this complexity. There is no coordinated care pathway. There is no specialist she can be referred to without waiting the better part of two years.
So she does what women have always done when the system fails them. She figures it out herself. She pays for it herself.
The gold standard exists — but the system isn’t built around it
The Menopause Society has offered a certification examination since 2002, specifically designed to set the standards for menopause practice. Practitioners who pass earn the credential of Menopause Society Certified Practitioner — MSCP. These are clinicians who have gone out of their way to develop genuine expertise in this area, and they are widely regarded as the gold standard in menopause care.
There are Canadian MSCPs practicing across the country — in hospital menopause clinics in Toronto, Winnipeg, and Saskatoon, in university-affiliated practices in Alberta, and in private women’s health clinics in Calgary. Many now offer virtual appointments. The expertise exists. The commitment exists.
What does not exist is a publicly funded system built to deploy that expertise at scale. The MSCP credential is a voluntary pursuit — clinicians seek it out because they care, not because the system requires or incentivises it. There are no dedicated funding models, no mandated menopause care pathways, and no political will to treat this as the public health issue it plainly is. The result is that some of the best menopause practitioners in the country are operating in private and virtual clinics — because that is where the system has pushed both them and their patients.
This is not a wellness trend. This is a healthcare gap with a price tag on it.
The women accessing paid menopause clinics are not buying into a fad. They are buying access to someone who will take their symptoms seriously, connect the dots, and offer a coherent plan. That is not a luxury product. That is basic medical care — and it should not require a credit card to access.
What concerns me about the growth of this industry is not that it exists, but what it tells us about who gets left behind. The women who can afford to go private will. The women who cannot will continue to wait, continue to be dismissed, and continue to manage debilitating symptoms without adequate support.
What needs to change
The gap in menopause care will not be closed by clinics alone — private or otherwise. It will be closed when menopause education becomes mandatory in medical training. When billing structures reflect the complexity of this care. When the excellent practitioners who hold MSCP certification are not a well-kept secret but a known, accessible resource for every woman who needs them.
Until then, the clinics will keep opening. And honestly—given what women are up against—I understand exactly why.
Suzie Geria is a former government policy analyst in Australia and Canada, strength coach, and founder of Her Strength Protocol, specialising in evidence-based training for women in perimenopause and midlife.
Sources
CBC Radio Why more Canadians are paying for menopause care — White Coat Black Art, February 3, 2026 https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/private-menopause-clinics-in-canada-9.7067244
The Menopause Society Certification Examination — Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP) https://menopause.org/professional-resources/mscp-certification
Canadian Menopause Society / International Menopause Society CAMS — Canadian Menopause Society Board and Practitioner Profiles https://www.imsociety.org/membership/cams/cams-canadian-menopause-society-societe-canadienne-de-menopause/
Menopause Foundation of Canada Find a Physician https://menopausefoundationcanada.ca/resources/find-a-physician/
