Transgender health access is a rarely discussed but highly contentious topic in Canada. While nine out of ten provinces offer some access to some surgeries—though there is only one hospital, in Montreal, that provides the full gamut of treatments—New Brunswick stands alone by not offering any funded procedures to transgender individuals.

That’s why we went to Fredericton to let AJ Ripley, a non-binary transgender person who prefers the pronouns “they and them,” take us through their life in New Brunswick fighting for access to proper health services. We then took AJ to Toronto to see how services differ in a big city, but even there, it’s far from perfect.

Watch our documentary On Hold to hear from transgender patients who are desperately battling for fair treatment in the healthcare system, and doctors and experts who say providing this care is possible, and in fact the difference between life and death.

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