Egg freezing in Canada: from 217 cycles a year to 2,663

2,663 egg-freezing retrieval cycles were reported in Canada in 2025, up from just 217 in 2013, according to Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS) data reported by CBC News – a twelvefold rise in a decade. The number of eggs in storage has climbed even faster: from 775 in 2013 to more than 22,000 last year.

Why the surge

Doctors point to the high cost of living, career ambitions and later parenthood. The average age of mothers at delivery has climbed from 26.7 in 1976 to 31.6 in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. “There is definitely a rise in elective fertility preservation,” CFAS president Dr. Mohamed Bedaiwy told CBC.

What it costs

One cycle typically runs about $8,000, with another $2,000 to $8,000 for medication, and a full cycle with drugs and a year of storage can reach $11,000 to $16,000, according to doctors who spoke to CBC News. Public funding for fertility treatment varies by province and generally does not cover elective egg freezing, though some workplace benefits do.

Success is not guaranteed – odds depend on the number of eggs retrieved and the patient’s age at the time. “If you’re in your early 30s and you freeze 20 to 25 eggs, there’s about a 75 per cent chance you’ll have a baby,” said Dr. Rhonda Zwingerman of Toronto’s Twig Fertility clinic. And a recent systematic review found only about 11% of people who froze eggs have returned to use them – a figure Zwingerman expects to climb.

Sources: CBC News and the CFAS CARTR 2026 report.