We have recently received some great news from SFU.
Tess Williams and APSA have been advocating for gender-affirming care for members since our last round of negotiations in 2022. We gave previous updates on both SFU's commitment to gender-affirming care coverage and to proactively complete preliminary work to provide a basic suite of gender-affirming benefits with our benefits carrier, Pacific Blue Cross. In a letter on August 1, 2024, Chris Hatty, Executive Director, Human Resources and Labour Relations, wrote to us:
"Beginning today, August 1, 2024, Simon Fraser University is making gender-affirming care benefits available to all SFU employees eligible for the Pacific Blue Cross Extended Health Care plan.
"Providing gender-affirming care is an important step towards creating a more inclusive and supportive workplace for all employees, and we acknowledge and thank the members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community at SFU who provided guidance and advice throughout this process."
Tess Willams was crucial in advocating for the need for gender-affirming care to be included in APSA extended health care benefits — we can't thank her enough for her brilliant work on behalf of our members. You can find out more about Pacific Blue Cross' gender-affirming care plan. You can also direct any questions about these new benefits to hradmin@sfu.ca.