The old brick warehouse at the edge of Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant district doesn’t look revolutionary from the outside. But inside, chemist Suzanne Siemens and her small team are rethinking what menstruation products can be in the 21st century.
“We started with a simple question,” Siemens tells me as we tour Aisle’s bright manufacturing space. “Why are we still using period products designed in the 1930s when everything else in our lives has evolved?”
That question has fueled a Canadian-led revolution in menstrual products that’s gaining momentum across North America. What began as a fringe movement has transformed into a $2 billion industry segment, with Canadian companies leading innovation in sustainable, body-safe alternatives to traditional tampons and pads.
When I first reported on period products a decade ago, options were limited to the disposable products most of us grew up with. Today, menstrual cups, period underwear, and reusable pads have moved from alternative health stores to mainstream retailers like London Drugs, Shoppers Drug Mart and even Costco.
The shift reflects changing consumer priorities around sustainability and health concerns. Health Canada estimates Canadians dispose of approximately 770 million menstrual products annually, creating nearly 200,000 tonnes of landfill waste that can take centuries to decompose.
“The average menstruator uses over 11,000 disposable products in their lifetime,” explains Dr. Anna Reid, a Vancouver-based physician who studies environmental health impacts. “We’re increasingly understanding the connection between planetary health and human health, and menstrual products represent a significant opportunity to reduce waste.”
Canadian companies are answering this call with impressive innovation. Aisle’s reusable period underwear can hold up to four tampons’ worth of fluid. Toronto-based nixit offers a one-size-fits-most menstrual disc that creates no waste. Meanwhile, The Eco Well, founded in Edmonton, has pioneered biodegradable tampon applicators that decompose in backyard compost within six months.
Beyond environmental concerns, health considerations are driving the shift. Recent studies by Environmental Defence Canada found potentially harmful chemicals including phthalates, pesticide residues and undisclosed fragrance compounds in mainstream disposable menstrual products. Since period products are classified as medical devices, manufacturers aren’t required to disclose their ingredients.
“Consumers are asking more questions about what’s actually in these products that contact some of the most absorbent tissue in the body for decades of their lives,” says Sherry Tran, a reproductive health researcher at UBC. “The vaginal mucosa absorbs chemicals more readily than external skin, so the composition of these products matters.”
This awakening has created opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs. In Kelowna, I met with Jillian Leigh, founder of Selene Cups, who left her engineering career to develop a more anatomically correct menstrual cup after experiencing discomfort with existing options.
“I literally took plaster casts of different vaginal canals with the help of medical professionals to understand the true variations in anatomy,” Leigh explains as she shows me prototypes in her small manufacturing facility. “The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for most body types.”
Her attention to anatomical diversity has paid off. Selene now exports to 12 countries, and Leigh recently secured a $1.5 million investment to scale operations after appearing on Dragons’ Den.
What’s particularly striking about this industry transformation is how it’s being led by women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs. According to a 2023 report from Women’s Enterprise Centre, 72% of Canadian menstrual product startups have female founders, compared to just 16% of startups overall.
“There’s something powerful about having products designed by the people who actually use them,” says Rachael Newton, who founded her period underwear company Period Aisle in Victoria after experiencing homeless youth struggling to access period products. “For too long, large corporations dominated this space without much innovation or consideration of different needs.”
The movement has also sparked important conversations about period poverty. A 2022 Plan International Canada survey found that 23% of Canadian menstruators have struggled to afford period products at some point—a figure that jumps to 34% among Indigenous respondents and 38% for those living with disabilities.
British Columbia became the first province to require free menstrual products in all public schools in 2019. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario have since implemented similar programs, while federal legislation removed GST from menstrual products in 2015.
“Access to period products is a matter of dignity and equity,” explains Sophia Mathur, advocacy director at Period Parity, a national organization working to end period poverty. “The innovation happening in this space is exciting, but we need to ensure these products are accessible to everyone who needs them.”
As consumer interest grows, major retailers are taking notice. Loblaw Companies Limited recently expanded its shelf space for reusable period products by 300% across its stores nationwide, while Canadian Tire acquired a minority stake in Calgary-based reusable pad maker LunaPads last year.
At Montréal’s annual Expo Manger Santé et Vivre Vert, I witnessed firsthand the enthusiasm for these products. Hundreds of attendees crowded booths featuring the latest in sustainable period care, many expressing surprise at how far the technology has come.
“I thought this stuff was just for hippies,” laughs Monique Tremblay, a 54-year-old teacher I met at the expo. “But my daughter convinced me to try a menstrual cup, and I can’t believe I spent decades using tampons. This is so much better.”
The innovation continues. Several Canadian universities now have research partnerships with menstrual product companies. At Ryerson University’s Biomedical Zone, researchers are developing smart period underwear that can track flow volume and detect potential health issues through fluid analysis.
“We’re only beginning to understand what’s possible when we actually invest in reimagining products that half the population uses regularly,” says Dr. Mei Lin, who leads the research team.
As I wrap up my tour at Aisle’s facility, Siemens shows me their newest prototype—a reusable pad made entirely from reclaimed ocean plastic that biodegrades after five years of use.
“Twenty years ago, people thought we were weird,” she says with a smile. “Now we’re part of a global movement that’s creating better options for bodies and the planet. That feels pretty good.”
In the quiet revolution of menstrual products, Canada has found an unexpected position of leadership—proving that sometimes, the most meaningful innovation starts with questioning the most basic aspects of everyday life.
