On World Menopause Day 2023 The Globe and Mail hosted a webcast on Navigating Menopause. Janet Ko, President and Co-Founder of the Menopause Foundation of Canada (MFC) was a panelist, along with MFC’s medical advisory board member Dr. Shafeena Premji, Shirley Weir of Menopause Chicks, and Dr. Shawna O’Hearn, director Global Health, Dalhousie University.

Interest in the topic was high, with the event recap, published on the Globe and Mail’s website, becoming one of the Globe’s most read stories on women and work for 2023.

The audience heard about MFC’s groundbreaking research report, Menopause and Work in Canada, learning that menopause costs employers $237 million annually in lost productivity, and costs women a staggering $3.3 billion in lost income due to a reduction in hours and/or pay or having to leave the work force altogether. Janet stressed the importance of making workplaces inclusive to support women going through menopause, and offered suggestions on easy ways employers could begin to make those changes. The panel also discussed lack of knowledge, proper language and research surrounding menopause, symptoms women experience, support they can look for and actions women can take to deal with their symptoms and dispelling myths.

You can watch the full event replay.