MLAs say fertility treatment should have medical travel coverage

A Yellowknife resident and business owner says she has spent at least $10,000 so far accessing in vitro fertilization in Calgary, including travel and accommodation.

Amanda – not her real name – said while she’s wiling to pay for the fertility treatment herself, she’s asking the territorial government for help covering the medical travel. She requested anonymity to discuss a personal health matter.

“It is a necessary thing,” Amanda said.

“At the end of the day, the NWT offers a medical travel program for things that aren’t offered here in the North – and it’s not offered here.”

The NWT government has said in most cases it does not provide coverage for fertility treatment as it is not considered medically necessary and the territory’s tax base is too small to cover it.

Travel to access that treatment outside the territory is also not covered.

Amanda said she experiences infertility due to an unexpected surgery she had a year and a half ago.

She said having to leave the territory and pay out-of pocket for fertility treatment – alongside travel, accommodation and other costs – is “a blow after having a big surgery.”

“I always pictured myself [having] children,” she said.

“Money’s tight for everybody. So to come up with that extra cost, it’s a lot.”

Range Lake MLA Kieron Testart has been advocating for Amanda to get medical travel support. He told Cabin Radio it is not the first time constituents have voiced concerns with the lack of in vitro fertilization – or IVF – coverage in the NWT, and his thinking on the issue has changed over time.

“Many years ago, it seemed more like a boutique treatment option for well-to-do parents. Now I completely think that’s an inappropriate way to think about this,” Testart said, adding the treatment is commonplace and helps people to start families and stay in the North.

“This is about reproductive rights. This is about supporting women who need these kind of treatments.”

Motion calls for financial assistance

Testart introduced a motion in the Legislative Assembly last week, seconded by Great Slave MLA Kate Reid, urging the NWT government to include fertility treatment as an eligible service under the territory’s medical travel program.

The motion also calls for funding in the next territorial budget to establish a financial assistance program that helps cover the costs of fertility treatment for residents.

“Access to fertility treatment should not be determined by how much money someone has or where someone happens to live,” Testart told the legislature.

He said fertility treatment includes not only IVF, but also intrauterine insemination and fertility preservation for people undergoing cancer treatment or medically necessary surgeries that can affect their ability to conceive. He said it’s an issue that affects couples, single parents and 2SLGBTQIA+ northerners.

Reid said receiving an infertility diagnosis “can be life-altering” and NWT residents “face a complex and inconsistent pathway to information, referrals and treatment.”

“In a time when individuals need support the most, they should not be left to navigate a fragmented system that ultimately leaves access to care dependent on personal finances,” she said, adding a round of treatment can cost $25,000 to $30,000.

The non-binding motion passed with nine regular MLAs voting in favour and cabinet abstaining. The NWT government has 120 days to respond.

New health minister Denny Rodgers told the legislature while he recognizes “fertility challenges can be very difficult and personal,” fertility treatment is not an insured service in the NWT and is therefore not eligible for medical travel coverage.

“I know this is not the news that we want to hear but certainly this, like other issues [that] have been brought to my attention since I’ve been in this role, is something that I will commit to take a look at,” he said.

The Department of Health and Social Services did not respond to Cabin Radio’s request for comment prior to publication.

‘Incredibly unsupported’

The lack of support for NWT residents pursuing fertility treatment was raised in 2022 by MLAs Katrina Nokleby and Caitlin Cleveland.

Reid also presented a petition in 2024, signed by 189 NWT residents, urging the territory to introduce a tax credit, similar to the Yukon, for people undergoing fertility treatment.

The petition further called on the finance minister to investigate the feasibility of such a tax credit, the impacts of a declining birth rate on the NWT, and the demand for fertility treatments in the territory.

“The most heartbreaking part of all of this is there is the ability to get diagnosed in the territory, but then there’s this feeling of ‘now you’re on your own,'” Reid recently told Cabin Radio.

“I’m just trying to find any amount of support from the government to these folks who are wanting to deal with their fertility issues, such that they don’t feel so incredibly unsupported.”

In a letter supporting the petition, Fertility Matters Canada said one in six Canadians face fertility struggles at some point in their lives and the national fertility rate had decreased 15 percent since 2010.

The national organization said most employers do not cover fertility treatment, a round of IVF can range from $10,000 to $20,000, and multiple cycles are often needed to get the desired outcome.

Responding to the petition, finance minister Caroline Wawzonek said a lower birth rate with an ageing population could affect federal transfers, lead to a smaller workforce, and deter investments in education, housing and local businesses.

She said while the annual birth rate declined between 2013 and 2022, the territory’s overall population increased during that period due to factors like migration.

Wawzonek said a tax credit for fertility treatments would cost the NWT revenue and could increase spending if the credit ended up being greater than the tax owing. She said there was no mechanism for the territory to track demand for fertility treatment.

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Lana de Bastiani, a fertility doula in Yellowknife who has undergone IVF, spearheaded the 2024 petition. She questioned the territory’s response and whether it would actually be difficult to track treatment referrals. She added it is inconsistent for the territory to say a tax credit could end up increasing spending when it is not collecting that data.

De Bastiani told Cabin Radio it is financially, emotionally and physically exhausting going through fertility treatment with little to no support from the government.

“Any time I meet with new clients, they’re just mind blown that there’s no medical travel, there’s no financial support,” she said.

“I don’t believe the government should be the fallback for absolutely everything. But seriously, it’s 2026, IVF has been around for decades at this point.”

Coverage of fertility treatment varies across Canada, with Yukon and some provinces offering refundable tax credits, grants or other funding arrangements. Alberta, the NWT and Nunavut do not have publicly funded fertility programs.

During the 2025 federal election campaign, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government promised to fund up to $20,000 per round of IVF treatment.

The campaign promise to create a national IVF program has not materialized through funding commitments in either last year’s or this year’s tabled federal budget.