By Gray Moloy

In November 2020, the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) passed a motion that promised menstrual products would be available for free in the Student Campus Centre (SCC) via menstrual product dispensers in every bathroom, as previously reported by The Eyeopener. 

The motion was meant to provide equitable access to products on the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) campus—but as of November 2025, the SCC is still the only building on campus that consistently restocks the menstrual products. The SCC refills dispensers every two weeks through an external vendor, according to the TMU website. 

Free menstrual products can be found in three other buildings on campus but only in select spots.

Centre for Safer Sex and Sexual Violence Support (C3SVS), provides a service where students can order menstrual products for pick up at their office in the SCC. They offer a range of products including pads, tampons, period underwear, Diva Cups, condoms, reusable pads and other contraceptive devices. 

Products are restocked and maintained in the Podium building in the Tri-Mentoring Program office (POD-54) and the International Student Support office (POD-50A). In Kerr Hall West, products can be found at the Gdoo-maawnjidimi Mompii Indigenous Student Services room (KHW-389)—and in Ted Rogers School of Managemnt (TRSM) on floors 7, 8 and 9 in the women’s and all-gender bathrooms. 

Joni, a sustainable period care company, has partnered with student groups, including Ted Rogers Students’ Society (TRSS) and Society of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities (SASSH) to provide products in select campus buildings. 

Still, menstrual products are often unavailable in campus bathrooms. 

Some students say they have struggled to find products when they need them—often in emergency situations.

“Trying to access menstrual products on campus is a little bit of a nightmare. They’re kind of hard to find,” said Oliver Bullington-McGuire, a third-year sociology student and representative from Mask Bloc TMU—a pro-face mask organization on campus. 

“I didn’t know where to find anything until I started working with Mask Bloc and distributing period products myself and working with other organizations around campus that are distributing them,” they said.  

Third-year biomedical sciences student, Georgia Amponsah-Fordjour said while she thinks the menstrual product distribution program run by the C3SVS is great for students, she also feels the lack of stocked dispensers around campus leaves menstruating students stranded when they’re caught off-guard by the start of their periods. 

“Last year I unexpectedly got my period and I was literally stuck because there was nothing in the washroom and I had to wait ages for my friends to even find one in their bags,” said Amponsah-Fordjour. 

“It’s become a little inaccessible in the event that you unexpectedly get your period,” she says. 

One of the issues individuals come across while looking for menstrual products on campus is the many bathroom dispensers being empty. Yumna Hussain, coordinator of C3SVS, said this may connect to the larger systemic issue of period poverty in Canada. 

“The issue we have come across is that we must ensure there is equitable and safe access to the menstrual products we provide,” Hussian wrote in an email statement to The Eye. “An example of inequitable distribution we have seen includes students taking large supplies of products while leaving none for other students, or an example of unsafe distribution is not having menstrual products in all bathrooms.”

One of C3SVS’s goals is to provide equitable access to menstrual products on campus, “our funding comes from students, which means we must provide fair and equitable access to our services and products,” Hussain said. 

“When students have to ask others if they have spare menstrual products or where you can get them for free on campus, that is a problem,” she said.  

“We go through our very large supply of menstrual products very quickly, and typically re-order the bulk quantity and range of menstrual products we carry at least once every 4 weeks,”  Hussain said. 

Amponsah-Fordjour accesses this service monthly to restock her menstrual products. She only became aware of the program recently, though she hopes new and incoming students will do the same for their menstrual product-needs.

She also volunteers with Help a Girl Out (HAGO), a non-profit organization based in Brampton, Ont. that aims to combat period poverty through donations and period product support programs. 

“I don’t believe individuals should be paying for the products in general. We don’t ask to have our periods—it’s a natural thing that so many individuals on this earth go through,” she said.

According to C3SVS, none of their funding comes from TMU. “The C3SVS is funded by a student levy titled “Good Food and SASSL” and additional funding from the TMSU,” said Hussain.   

“In an ideal world [C3SVS] would love to provide products in every campus building,” Hussain said. 

Correction: A previous version of this article said that C3SVS receives a small portion of their funding from TMU. TMU has no financial contribution to C3SVS. The Eye regrets this error.