New services added under P.E.I.'s gender-affirming care policy

The P.E.I. government has expanded the list of procedures covered under its gender-affirming care policy.

The updates include the addition of services such as voice therapy and face and chest feminization surgeries.

Jay Gallant is a community member of Health P.E.I.'s gender-affirming care steering committee.

"I think it'll make some really significant differences for folks who are gender-diverse, having access to appropriate medical care ... because it's very basic health care services for folks who are gender-diverse," he said. 

Gallant says things were very different when he was looking to access care.

"A big part of kind of the advocacy work that I've been doing is trying to make it so that other folks don't have to go through what I went through ... the only surgery that was available to me wasn't really an appropriate surgery or what I wanted," he said. 

"So it did cause harm and I wanted to try to prevent that from happening to anyone else."

Gallant said when he was looking to access gender-affirming care, P.E.I. was at the bottom of the list in terms of what was being covered. 

"Now we're kind of moved our way up to close to the top of the list, which is pretty wonderful," he said. 

"It feels pretty amazing to me to be honest, especially having been a part of the committee since it was formed back in 2016-2017."

Important for mental well-being

Gallant said things like voice therapy are really important to expressing gender. 

"And the expansion of surgeries such as female chest feminization and facial feminization, things like that are also really important in terms of feeling at home in your own body, is such an important part of our mental well-being." 

Health P.E.I. said the province is now following the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care, which is always updating its policies and guidelines.

Gallant said there are some improvements that could be made, though. 

"There are still some significant wait times for surgeries and procedures, so that's something definitely that we want to work more toward. Hopefully having more clinics open up and have more options for choosing where to get procedures done will help with the wait list," Gallant said.  

Surgeries are offered off-Island, while things like voice training and hormone replacement therapy are offered on the Island, he said. 

Some services on P.E.I.

"We do have a gender-affirming care clinic now, which is wonderful. That operates twice a month in the Charlottetown area. So it's wonderful that we have a place here where folks can receive those kind of hormone replacement therapies, but also receive the letters and the referrals they need in order to get their surgical procedure done."

A full list of gender-affirming services, including the procedures covered under the new policy, is available on the Health P.E.I. website.