The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights launched the Abortion Access Tracker in March 2024 as a tool for advocates and policymakers working to protect and strengthen access to abortion in Canada.
Since then, we’ve received incredible feedback, both on its utility for advocates and policymakers, as well as on improvements we can make. There have also been changes to the abortion access landscape in Canada since the website was launched – some of which have been greatly impactful for people seeking abortions.
Accordingly, LEAF and Action Canada have worked together to update the Abortion Access Tracker, and the information throughout is now current as of April/May 2026. Following the lead of abortion rights organizations, we have shifted away from the term “crisis pregnancy centres” and towards “unregulated pregnancy centres” (UPCs) to ensure our language more accurately reflects the nature of these organizations. The website also now includes information on telemedicine (or virtual) medication abortion providers, who have been essential in expanding abortion access, particularly for people who live in rural communities, who can’t take time off work to go to appointments, or who are at risk of stigma or discrimination.
Here are some additional highlights from our update that are wins for abortion access:
• New Brunswick amending the Medical Services Payments Act in November 2024 to remove the legal barrier restricting funding for surgical abortions outside of hospitals
• New Brunswick launching a centralized phone service to connect people to abortion services in March 2026
• New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador adding information about abortion on their government websites
• New abortion bubble zone legislation in Manitoba, which came into effect in February 2025
• A new effective referral policy in PEI that means doctors who deny care to their patients due to their personal beliefs must provide a timely referral to another health care provider
At the same time, there are some changes and new information that we urge action around:
• The relocation of Yukon’s sole abortion clinic to a shared space in the Whitehorse Hospital, which has raised concerns around patient safety and privacy
• The lack of coverage for medication abortion outside of Yukon's Opal Clinic
• 3 new Unregulated Pregnancy Centres (UPCs) with one in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario – bringing the total number of UPCs in Canada to 157
We invite you to browse the updated Abortion Access Tracker and explore how abortion access looks in your province/territory in 2026 – and how we can fill any gaps that exist. Together, we can make equitable access to abortion a reality in Canada.
