Funded or Private IVF in Ontario: What’s Covered, What You’ll Pay, and How to Choose

If you live in Ontario and you’re thinking about IVF, two questions usually come first: will the province pay for it, and what will it cost if it doesn’t? The answer depends on your age, your health card and whether you’ve had a funded cycle before. The Ontario Fertility Program covers one IVF cycle per person for patients under 43 with a valid Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card, but medication, genetic testing and storage are paid separately. Private IVF is an option if you don’t qualify or have already used your funded cycle. Here’s what each route covers, what you can expect to pay at Tripod Fertility, and the questions worth asking before you decide.

What the Ontario Fertility Program covers

The Ontario Fertility Program pays for one IVF cycle per person, plus one more if you’re acting as a surrogate. The province pays enrolled clinics like ours directly, so you don’t pay for the funded part of your treatment yourself.

Your funded cycle covers the IVF treatment itself: your eggs are fertilized in our lab, followed by your embryo transfer. ICSI is included if you need it, and so is any type of anesthesia. Fresh and frozen transfers are funded for every viable embryo created in your funded cycle, so if your first transfer doesn’t work, a later frozen transfer from that cycle is covered too. The program also funds one fertility preservation cycle (freezing eggs or sperm) when there’s a medical reason, such as an upcoming treatment that can cause infertility.

Many of the tests you’ll have before treatment are covered by OHIP as well, including physician consultations, a hormone profile, a baseline pelvic ultrasound, a sonohysterogram and semen analysis.

IUI works differently. Only some clinics are approved to offer funded IUI, and Tripod isn’t one of them. Even where IUI is funded, the sperm wash isn’t covered, and that’s most of the cost. Our IUI fee is $1,200 per cycle, and you can see what it includes on our Pricing page.

Who qualifies for a funded IVF cycle

You may qualify for a funded IVF cycle if you live in Ontario with a valid health card (OHIP), you’re under 43 when treatment begins, and you haven’t already used your one funded IVF cycle. The age limit applies to when treatment starts, so if you’re getting close to 43, book your consultation early. That leaves time for your tests, your plan and the funding application.

Only clinics enrolled in the program can offer funded treatment, so check before you book anywhere. At Tripod, funded IVF is open to single parents, couples, surrogates and 2SLGBTQI+ families who meet these conditions, and our team submits the funding forms to the Ministry of Health for you.

What you’ll still pay for with funded IVF

Ontario Fertility Program funding doesn’t cover medication, some tests and screening, or egg, sperm or embryo storage. Medication is usually the biggest of these costs: expect $5,000 to $8,000 for stimulated IVF, or $600 to $1,000 for natural IVF, depending on your protocol and how your body responds. If you have a workplace benefits plan, ask whether it covers fertility medication. Some plans do.

If your specialist recommends genetic testing of your embryos (PGT-A), there’s a $2,500 biopsy fee plus $515 for each embryo tested. Some patients also need AMH testing ($125) or carrier screening ($600), which OHIP doesn’t cover. We’ll go through these costs with you openly at your consultation, so there are no surprises.

Storage is $700 a year for each batch of embryos, eggs or sperm.

What private IVF costs at Tripod

A stimulated IVF cycle at Tripod is $11,495, and a natural IVF cycle is $6,500. Medication is extra in both cases.

A stimulated cycle includes your cycle monitoring bloodwork and ultrasound visits, IV sedation with a registered nurse, your egg retrieval, standard IVF fertilization, extended blastocyst culture, time-lapse incubation, a fresh embryo transfer, embryo freezing and your first year of embryo storage. Medication usually adds $5,000 to $8,000.

Stimulated IVF is generally more expensive than natural IVF, even before medication costs are considered, because it requires more intensive clinical monitoring, more frequent blood tests and ultrasound scans, and greater laboratory and embryology involvement. As a result, a full stimulated IVF cycle typically costs between $16,500 and $19,500 before any additional services or treatment options.

A natural IVF cycle uses little or no stimulation medication and usually results in 1 or 2 eggs. It includes the same services but with less intensive monitoring, and medication usually adds only $600 to $1,000. It can suit patients who have a low ovarian reserve, who haven’t had success with stimulated IVF or have an adverse reaction to medications, and those who prefer low-intervention care.

As a private patient, you may also need some of these:

• ICSI: $2,000 with a stimulated cycle, or $1,000 with a natural cycle
• Pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT-A): a $2,500 biopsy fee plus $515 for each embryo
• IV deep sedation with an anesthetist: $400
• Frozen embryo transfers for future IVF cycles: $2,850, plus $200 to $1,000 for medication depending on your protocol
• Storage after the first year: $700 a year

You can see every fee on our Pricing page.

Why some patients choose private IVF

Most people who pay for IVF privately do so because funding isn’t open to them. They may be 43 or older when treatment begins, or not yet have a valid Ontario health card, perhaps because they’ve recently moved here. Others have already used their funded cycle and want to try again.

At some clinics, waiting is another reason. When the wait for a funded cycle runs to many months, some patients decide to pay rather than lose that time. At the moment, Tripod does not have a wait list for funded IVF, so if you qualify, you can start your funded cycle as soon as you’re ready. Our article How Long Is the Wait for Funded IVF in Ontario? explains how waits work and how to check them.

Whichever way you pay, the steps at Tripod and the team looking after you are the same. Funded patients have one extra step before their cycle begins, whereby we submit your eligibility for funding and you sign a consent form.

To compare our costs, take a stimulated cycle. With funding, you pay for your medication (usually $5,000 to $8,000), plus any genetic testing, storage or tests you need. As a private patient, you pay those same costs plus $11,495 for the cycle, and ICSI, anesthesia or a later frozen transfer if you need them. If you qualify, funding usually saves you more than $11,000.

Help with costs: financing and grants

IVF is a big expense even with funding, and there’s some additional help available. We offer interest-free financing through Affirm, so you can spread the cost of treatment. Our doctors also founded the Fertility Friends Foundation, a Canadian registered charity that offers grants towards IVF and other assisted reproduction. Fertility treatment costs can often be claimed as medical expenses on your tax return too, so keep your receipts and ask your accountant what applies to you.

Questions to ask at your consultation

Whether you’re comparing clinics or deciding between funded and private treatment, it helps to go in with a few questions:

• Do I qualify for a funded cycle, and how long is your wait for one today?
• Which costs will I pay myself, and roughly how much will my medication be?
• Do you recommend ICSI, AMH testing or genetic testing for me, and why?
• What does storage cost after the first year?
• If my first transfer doesn’t work, what will a frozen embryo transfer cost me?
• What financing or grants can I apply for?

If you’d like to talk through which route suits you, book a consultation with us at Tripod Fertility. Physician consultations are covered by OHIP, and you can refer yourself using the form on our website. You’ll find more about funding and how to apply on our Funding page.