Guides
How to get PrEP in Toronto
Four steps, from finding someone to prescribe it to staying on it. And where to start today, because this clinic is not open yet.
The short version
You need someone who can prescribe it, an HIV test and some bloodwork first, and a way to pay for the medication. With OHIP, the visits and the tests are covered.
PrEP is medication taken by people who are HIV-negative, on an ongoing basis, to prevent HIV. It needs a prescription, so the first step is a person who can write one.
If something has already happened in the last 72 hours, that is a different question. PEP is the urgent one, and it cannot wait for an appointment.
Step one: find someone to prescribe it
Your family doctor or nurse practitioner
If you have one, ask. Wanting PrEP is reason enough to bring it up, and you do not need a story to go with it.
A sexual health clinic
Hassle Free Clinic, at 66 Gerrard St E, provides PrEP and PEP. Toronto Public Health lists it as a partner clinic. The city’s own clinics test and treat, but do not provide PrEP.
Ontario PrEP’s clinic finder
The Ontario HIV Treatment Network keeps a map of providers who know PrEP, at ontarioprep.ca. Contact a clinic before you go: not every one has room for new patients.
No family doctor?
Health Care Connect is the province’s service for finding a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Register online, or by calling 811. It can take time, so do not wait on it to start PrEP.
Steps two to four
The first visit
A conversation about why PrEP would be useful to you, then tests: an HIV test, kidney function and other baseline bloodwork, and usually testing for other infections.
The prescription
Once the results are back. There is more than one form of PrEP, including a daily option and a longer-acting one, and which suits you is decided with your prescriber.
A check-in every three months
A repeat HIV test, STI screening and kidney monitoring, then the next supply. This is the part that most often lapses, so it is worth booking ahead.
With OHIP, the visits are covered, and so are the lab tests a doctor or nurse practitioner orders. Toronto Public Health’s clinics also test without a health card.
Paying for the medication
OHIP pays for the visits and the tests, not for prescriptions filled outside a hospital. Which program pays for the medication depends on your age, your plan and your income:
- 24 or under, with no private plan: OHIP+
- 65 or older, or on Ontario Works or ODSP: the Ontario Drug Benefit
- A private or workplace plan: the plan pays first
- 25 to 64, with no plan: PrEPStart for three months, then the Trillium Drug Program
The PrEP page shows what is left for you in each of those situations, and links to the rule behind each one.
While Kind Clinic is not open
Kind Clinic is not open yet and is not booking appointments. When it opens, PrEP will be one of its services, and the PrEP page describes how it will work.
Until then, the places above are open now. Starting PrEP somewhere else and moving your care later is ordinary, and nothing about it needs to wait for us.
Common questions
Can I get PrEP without a family doctor?
Yes. Some sexual health clinics provide it, including Hassle Free Clinic, and Ontario PrEP’s clinic finder lists other providers who know it.
Do I need a referral?
Not for a sexual health clinic. Toronto Public Health says the sexual health services on its list can be used without a referral.
Do I need a health card?
For OHIP to cover the visits, yes. For the medication, PrEPStart also accepts people with federal health coverage, such as refugees and refugee claimants. If you have neither, a sexual health clinic is the place to ask.
How often will I need tests?
About every three months, for as long as you take PrEP: an HIV test, STI screening and kidney monitoring.
Does PrEP protect against other STIs?
No. It is specific to HIV, which is why STI testing is part of every check-in.
I may have been exposed already. Should I start PrEP?
No, that is PEP, and it has to start within 72 hours. Read the PEP page now.