Sexual Wellness Statistics in Canada 2026 | Telehealth, Market & Facts

Sexual Wellness in Canada 2026

Sexual wellness in Canada has moved decisively out of the shadows and into the mainstream of everyday healthcare and retail spending. The Canada sexual wellness market was valued at more than US$2.5 billion as of the most recent institutional market analysis, and growth has accelerated since then on the back of two converging forces: a telehealth infrastructure that expanded rapidly during and after the pandemic, and a landmark federal policy shift that made prescription contraception free for millions of Canadians starting in 2026. At the same time, Canada’s official disease surveillance data tells a more sobering story — chlamydia, gonorrhea, and infectious syphilis rates have climbed sharply over the past decade, with syphilis notifications up 393% since 2013, underlining why sexual health has become a national public health priority rather than a private, rarely-discussed matter.

This report compiles the newest verified statistics on sexual wellness in Canada for 2026, drawn from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Statistics Canada, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and institutional market research covering the Canadian sexual wellness industry. It covers market size and consumer behaviour, the rapid rise of virtual and telehealth-based sexual health consultations, the national STI surveillance picture, and the 2026 rollout of free contraception under Canada’s first phase of national pharmacare. Every statistic below is sourced from official government releases or recognised institutional research and cross-checked against publication dates.

Interesting Facts: Sexual Wellness Statistics in Canada 2026

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada; Statistics Canada; Canadian Institute for Health Information; Government of Canada, 2024–2026.

Canada’s sexual wellness landscape in 2026 reflects a country moving in two directions simultaneously: rapid expansion of access and normalization on one side, and a rising infectious disease burden on the other. The free contraception rollout, which reached British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon ahead of the rest of the country before becoming nationally funded from 1 March 2026, is projected to benefit 9 million women of reproductive age, removing what researchers have repeatedly identified as the single biggest barrier to using the most effective contraceptive methods. British Columbia’s early experience — 188,000 recipients accessing free contraception in just eight months — gives a clear preview of the scale of demand once the national program reaches full coverage.

At the same time, the PHAC surveillance data on sexually transmitted infections shows a genuine public health emergency building over the past decade. Syphilis rates alone have nearly quadrupled since 2013, a trajectory the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada has flagged as a serious ongoing concern. Layered on top of this is the structural shift in how Canadians access sexual and reproductive healthcare: virtual care, which barely existed as a mainstream option before 2020, now accounts for a meaningful share of all healthcare interactions, with the Canadian Institute for Health Information confirming that physicians delivered close to a third of all services virtually at the pandemic’s peak — infrastructure that has since been retained and adapted for ongoing sexual and reproductive health consultations.

Sexual Wellness Market Size in Canada 2026

CANADA SEXUAL WELLNESS MARKET — SIZE & CONTEXT
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Canada market (last verified valuation  ██████████████   US$2.5 billion+
  Global sexual wellness market (2026)    ████████████████████████████ US$41.8–55.66 billion
  North America share of global market    ████████████████████████  Largest single region
  Global market CAGR (2026-2035/2036)     ████████████████          7.05%–9.7%
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Bonafide Research, Canada Sexual Wellness Market Overview; Research and Markets, Sexual Wellness Market Report 2026; Emergen Research, Sexual Wellness Market Report.

Independent research firms tracking the global sexual wellness market consistently place North America — including Canada — among the largest and fastest-normalising regional markets, driven by increased public funding for sexual health services and by regulatory changes expanding access to contraceptive and sexual health products. The spread between different firms’ 2026 global market estimates — from roughly US$42 billion to US$56 billion — reflects genuine methodological differences in what each researcher counts as part of the category, ranging from physical products alone to broader inclusion of telehealth consultation revenue and subscription-based digital services.

What all these market estimates agree on is the direction and durability of growth. Research firms cite national sexual health strategies in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia as having measurably increased public funding for sexual health services and normalised the purchase of sexual wellness products and information. Combined with the expansion of telehealth platforms offering consultations and prescriptions for conditions ranging from erectile dysfunction to contraceptive management, Canada’s market sits within a global category expected to roughly double in size between 2026 and the mid-2030s under even the most conservative growth projections.

Telehealth and Virtual Sexual Health Care in Canada 2026

VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE USE IN CANADA — 2023 SURVEY DATA
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  In-person appointments only        ████████████████████████████ 57.5%
  Both virtual and in-person         ███████████████████          37.2%
  Virtual appointments only          ██████                        5.3%
  Declined a virtual appointment     ████                          8.9%
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Social Survey, 2023; Canadian Institute for Health Information, Virtual Care in Canada, 2024.

Virtual care in Canada expanded from a marginal option — used in just 2% to 11% of patient services depending on the province in 2019 — into a mainstream fixture of the healthcare system almost overnight once the pandemic began, with physicians delivering close to one-third of all services virtually in 2020. That surge has not fully reversed: by 2023, more than four in ten health care users (42.5%) had at least one virtual appointment in the preceding year, whether alone or combined with in-person visits, and CIHI’s ongoing tracking confirms virtual care has become a durable feature of how Canadians access primary care, specialist consultations, and increasingly, sexual and reproductive health services specifically.

The provincial variation in virtual care adoption is striking and directly relevant to sexual wellness access, since telehealth has become a key channel for discreet, confidential sexual health consultations. Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador were more than six times as likely as those in Saskatchewan to rely on virtual care exclusively — a gap Statistics Canada attributes partly to differences in rural geography and provider availability. Notably, mental health and addiction consultations saw the highest video-based usage of any category at 46.3%, a pattern relevant to sexual wellness given how frequently sexual health concerns intersect with anxiety, relationship stress, and broader mental wellbeing — a connection explored further in the latest mental health statistics in Canada, which similarly documents rising demand for virtual mental health services nationwide.

Sexually Transmitted Infections in Canada 2026

NATIONAL STI RATE CHANGES — CANADA, 2013-2022 (10-YEAR TREND)
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Syphilis rate change         ████████████████████████████████ +393.1%
  Gonorrhea rate change        ████████████████████             +181.7%
  Chlamydia rate change        ██████                            +33.1%
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and Infectious Syphilis in Canada surveillance data; Canada Communicable Disease Report, 2024.

Sexually transmitted infection rates in Canada have risen at a pace that has alarmed public health officials for over a decade. Infectious syphilis is the standout case: the national rate climbed from 5.1 cases per 100,000 in 2011 to 36.1 per 100,000 by 2022 — a 393% increase over the decade to 2022 that makes syphilis the fastest-growing nationally notifiable STI in Canada. What is particularly notable in the PHAC data is the shifting demographic pattern: while syphilis rates have historically run higher in males, rates among females increased by 1,446.8% between 2010 and 2019 — nearly five times the rate of increase seen in males over the same period, a shift with direct implications for congenital syphilis risk during pregnancy.

Gonorrhea’s 181.7% rate increase over the same decade is compounded by a growing antimicrobial resistance problem: the proportion of tested gonorrhea isolates identified as multi-drug resistant rose from 8.6% in 2015 to 12.4% in 2019, according to PHAC’s enhanced surveillance program, complicating standard treatment protocols. Chlamydia remains the most commonly reported STI in Canada by volume, with 104,426 cases reported in 2021 alone, though its decade-long rate increase of 33.1% is comparatively modest next to gonorrhea and syphilis — reflecting both genuinely lower transmission growth and the fact that chlamydia was already the most heavily surveilled and tested infection prior to 2013. Rates run consistently higher in young adult women than in men of the same age, a pattern PHAC attributes to more frequent testing among women through routine reproductive healthcare visits rather than necessarily higher true prevalence.

Free Contraception Access in Canada 2026

NATIONAL PHARMACARE — CONTRACEPTION ROLLOUT TIMELINE
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Feb 2024   Bill C-64 (Pharmacare Act) introduced to Parliament
  Oct 2024   Pharmacare Act receives Royal Assent
  Apr 2023   BC becomes first province with universal contraception coverage
  Mar 2026   National pharmacare funding for contraception takes effect (BC)
  Ongoing    Manitoba, PEI, Yukon also covered ahead of full national rollout
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Government of Canada, Health Canada; Prime Minister of Canada, Office of the Prime Minister, 2024; Province of British Columbia, PharmaCare.

Canada’s move toward free prescription contraception represents one of the most significant sexual and reproductive health policy shifts in a generation. The Pharmacare Act, which received royal assent on October 10, 2024, established the legal framework for universal, single-payer, first-dollar coverage of a range of contraception and diabetes medications as the first phase of a national pharmacare program — with then-Health Minister Mark Holland describing the moment as ensuring contraception access becomes “a matter of right and not privilege” for the first time in Canadian history. The $1.5 billion in federal investment behind this first phase is projected to give 9 million Canadian women of reproductive age more affordable choices, covering everything from birth control pills to IUDs, implants, and emergency contraception.

British Columbia’s early rollout provides the clearest real-world evidence of what full national coverage will likely produce. Since becoming the first province to implement single-payer contraception funding in April 2023, BC recorded over 188,000 recipients in just the first eight months, prompting an expansion of pharmacist-prescribed contraception access to meet rising demand. As of March 1, 2026, BC’s program transitioned to national pharmacare funding, alongside Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and the Yukon, which had also moved ahead of the rest of the country in extending coverage — while Alberta and Quebec have signalled intentions to negotiate separate arrangements. Given that one in five Canadian adults reported inadequate medication insurance in 2021, the significance of removing cost as a barrier to the most effective contraceptive methods is difficult to overstate, and researchers have already linked BC’s policy to more women choosing higher-efficacy contraceptive options once cost was no longer a deciding factor.

Sexual Wellness Product Trends and E-Commerce in Canada 2026

CANADA SEXUAL WELLNESS — CONSUMER & CHANNEL TRENDS
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Purchases completed online                   ████████████████████████ 82%
  Adults viewing wellness products as healthy  ██████████████████       70%+
  Consumers checking material composition      ███████████████████      75%
  Wand massager demand growth (YoY)            ██████                  +25%
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Industry market analysis of Canadian sexual wellness retail trends, 2026.

The shift toward online purchasing is the single most consistent operational trend across Canada’s sexual wellness retail sector, with an estimated 82% of intimacy product purchases now completed online, disproportionately via mobile devices. Industry analysis attributes this heavily to the category’s inherent need for discretion in both packaging and billing, alongside consumers’ desire for access to specialized, high-end brands not available in local retail and the value of educational resources and customer reviews that inform purchase decisions for products many buyers have limited prior experience evaluating.

Material safety and product purity have become defining purchase criteria for Canadian consumers, with three in four buyers checking a product’s material composition before purchasing — a level of due diligence that has pushed medical-grade silicone, 316L stainless steel, and borosilicate glass to the top of demand rankings over older, more porous materials. Within product categories, wand massagers have emerged as a standout growth segment, with demand projected to grow by roughly 25% year-over-year as these once niche muscle-relaxation tools have been repositioned as a primary choice for external stimulation — part of a broader pattern researchers describe as the rapid normalization of wellness products, with a clear majority of Canadian adults now viewing items like adult toys and intimacy guides as legitimate components of a modern self-care routine, alongside major urban centres such as Toronto and Vancouver recording the country’s highest per-capita online sales volumes. For a direct comparison of how a demographically similar market is evolving just across the border, the latest sexual wellness statistics for the US show a strikingly similar e-commerce dominance pattern, with online retailers capturing over 62.6% of category revenue south of the border.

Access Barriers and Population Health Context in Canada 2026

HEALTHCARE ACCESS CONTEXT RELEVANT TO SEXUAL WELLNESS — CANADA 2026
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  Adults without a regular healthcare provider ████████████████  17%
  Cannot get same/next-day appointment         ████████████████████████ 75%+
  ED visits manageable in primary care         ██████████████   1 in 7
  Of those, manageable virtually               ████████   Over half
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey; Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2024; C.D. Howe Institute, Disconnected: Inside Canada’s Patchwork of Virtual Care, 2026.

The broader primary care access gap in Canada shapes how sexual wellness and reproductive health services are actually delivered and accessed nationwide. With 17% of Canadian adults lacking a regular healthcare provider and more than three-quarters unable to secure same- or next-day appointments, virtual and telehealth-based sexual health services fill a genuinely structural gap rather than simply offering convenience. The finding that one in seven emergency department visits could be managed in primary care, and more than half of those potentially managed virtually, according to CIHI’s 2024 analysis, reinforces why policymakers increasingly view telehealth expansion — including for sexual and reproductive health consultations — as essential infrastructure rather than an optional add-on to Canada’s healthcare system.

These access pressures disproportionately affect the same demographic groups driving demand growth in fertility, contraception, and sexual wellness services. 85.7% of women reported needing at least one healthcare service in the year preceding Statistics Canada’s most recent national survey, alongside 90.3% of those with a chronic health condition — figures that sit alongside Canada’s ongoing demographic shifts, including the record-low fertility trends documented in the latest Canada birth rate statistics, where delayed childbearing, contraceptive access, and reproductive healthcare infrastructure are shown to be closely interconnected factors shaping the country’s population trajectory.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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