Periods, contraception, menopause, and where you are in Ontario's five-year cervical screening cycle. When you call, ask whether a screening sample can be taken here or is booked elsewhere. If you would rather be seen by a woman, ask which days a female physician is in.
What the visit covers
- Where you are in the cervical screening cycle, and what a positive HPV result means
- Starting, changing or stopping contraception
- Periods that are heavy, painful, irregular or have stopped
- Menopause symptoms, and whether hormone therapy is an option for you
- Which breast and bone-density screening to ask about at your age
- Pregnancy planning, and who to see once you are pregnant
- Urinary or yeast infections that keep coming back
Cervical screening in Ontario: the HPV test, the five-year gap and the letters
As of March 2025 the Pap test has been replaced with a new, more accurate cervical screening test. A doctor, nurse practitioner or midwife still takes the cells with a small, soft brush. What changed is what the lab looks for: the types of HPV that cause cervical cancer. Because the test is more accurate, most people who are eligible now get screened every five years.
Nothing happens before 25, whatever age you started having sex. You may need screening more often than every five years if your immune system is weakened or you have had a colposcopy before. Screening ends for most people somewhere in the 65-to-69 window — most, not all, so ask whether that applies to you.
A positive HPV result is not a cancer diagnosis. HPV is common and the infection will often go away on its own without doing any harm. What follows depends on what else the lab finds: either you repeat the screening test in two years, or you are sent for an exam called a cervical colposcopy, done by a specialist doctor such as a gynecologist. The letter with your result tells you to follow up, and that is a visit to book rather than sit on.
Ontario Health mails you the result of a test, a reminder to follow up, and a reminder when the next test is due. Bring the letter with you — it says where you are in the cycle, so nobody has to guess.
What OHIP covers
There is no cost for the cervical screening test if you are eligible for it, and Ontario sets six conditions: an OHIP number, at least 25 years old, a cervix, having ever had sexual contact with another person, no symptoms such as different bleeding or discharge, and being due for it under the program's schedule. No OHIP number means no free test — call and ask what an uninsured visit costs. If you do have symptoms, that is not screening; book a visit about the symptoms instead.
Walk in, or book?
Call ahead rather than walking in. Say what the visit is for: a screening test or a contraception change takes longer than a walk-in complaint, and reception can then tell you what they are able to fit in.
What to bring
- Your health card
- The month and year of your last cervical screening, mammogram or bone density scan, if you know them
- Any letter from Ontario Health about a result or a test now due
- The box or package of any contraception or hormone therapy you take
- The dates of your last few periods, if that is what the visit is about
Questions people ask
I have moved. Will my screening letter follow me?
Only if you update your address. Ontario Health sends invitations and reminders to talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about screening, and results after a test, to the address it holds. Update it with ServiceOntario, tell your doctor, and for Ontario Health itself send the Screening Programs Participant Information Form with the request-to-change section filled in. Worth knowing too: across its cervical, breast, colon and abdominal aortic aneurysm programs most people get only one or two of these letters a year, so a long silence on a five-year cycle is normal.
I have had a hysterectomy. Do I still need cervical screening?
Ontario's answer is to talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about whether to continue. Having a cervix is one of the program's eligibility conditions, so it turns on what was removed and why.
How often is a bone density scan covered?
Since 1 April 2026, OHIP covers a baseline bone mineral density test once per lifetime after age 50, or earlier when there is a clinical reason. Repeats then go by risk: five years or more apart if you are not high risk, three years or more if you are high risk or being monitored on treatment, and every 12 to 36 months for specific risk factors such as secondary osteoporosis, a new fragility fracture or a risk of rapid bone loss. If you were used to one every couple of years, that is why the answer has changed.
Is my birth control free?
The prescription is a drug cost, not a doctor's fee, so it turns on your age and your insurance. At 24 and under with OHIP and no private plan, OHIP+ pays the pharmacy — no enrolment, no second card. Any private plan cancels that, a parent's work plan included: if you are covered, the plan pays. OHIP+ ends the day you turn 25. Which methods can be started or fitted here is a question for the front desk before you book.
I am past school age. Can I still get the HPV vaccine?
Yes, though you will likely pay. Ontario funds it for students in grades 7 to 12; after that it can be bought privately through a pharmacy and a private plan may cover it, so start with a primary care provider or Peel Public Health. It is usually two injections at least six months apart. Vaccination is not one of the screening program's eligibility conditions, so having had it does not take you off the five-year cycle.
Still have a question? Call the front desk.
Related
- Physicals and what Ontario screens forAnnual check-ups and screening by age
- Prescription renewalsBring the bottle or a photo of the label
- Flu shots and routine immunizationsFlu shots in season, routine vaccines
