Unmanaged symptoms of menopause are costing the Canadian economy around $3.5 billion per year, according to a new report from the Menopause Foundation of Canada (MFC).

It states women are bearing the brunt of those costs.

The report says menopause costs employers $237M annually in lost productivity and costs women $3.3B in lost income due to a reduction in hours and/or pay or leaving the workforce altogether.

With more than two million working women in Canada aged 45-55,  the MFC is calling on employers to provide better support.

Symptoms of menopause range from hot flashes, sleep disturbances, brain fog, anxiety and joint pain.

“I regularly provide care to menopausal working women and know that they often struggle for years before taking action to get some help. While menopause is a natural life transition, women do not need to suffer through symptoms that can impact their work and their quality of life,” Dr. Shafeena Premji says.

Thurty-two percent of working women say their menopause symptoms negatively impacted their performance at work.

One-quarter said they hid their symptoms at work.

Over two-thirds would not feel comfortable speaking to their supervisor or to someone in HR about what they were experiencing.

Half said they were too embarrassed to ask for help at work.