Ontario Taxpayers Fund Sex-Change Operations

Ontario began covering the bill for “sex-change” operations in 1971, but ceased doing so in 1998 under the Progressive Conservative government. In 2006, the Ontario Human Rights Commission required compensation for three patients midway through preparation for sex-change surgery during the 1998 insurance plan change. Now public funding is back regardless, at about $17,000 an operation. Health Minister George Smitherman estimates only ten Ontarians a year will have the surgery.