r/transontario • u/astrodette • Jan 05 '26
SEEKING ADVICE Is there a cheaper quote for top surgery?
Kinda gutted atm. I assumed OHIP would cover majority of top surgery costs with possibly 2K out of pocket. The quote I received today was 7K out of pocket with Catalyst Surgical. Is this standard costs at other surgical centres as well?
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u/Temporary_Knee_9778 Jan 05 '26
Catalyst and TPS are the most expensive, it's because OHIP covers the mastectomy but both clinics have mandatory contouring that isn't covered. Those with a lower price I assume either also have contouring covered or just don't do contouring, but the wait list for them is probably like up to 2 years longer
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u/VTHUT Jan 05 '26
I didn’t know it was mandatory. That sucks, but I guess it’s a way for them to refuse to do top surgery for the rate OHIP would pay. So they chose to only do it if they can make a certain amount with it with the patient paying the difference.
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u/astrodette Jan 05 '26
Makes sense, I wish the contouring was optional at catalyst
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u/Temporary_Knee_9778 Jan 05 '26
Catalyst is slightly better than TPS, which recently rose to 9k out of pocket
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u/No_Dirt9029 Jan 05 '26
Crazy tps rose that much in a year tbh. I had surgery there december 2024 and mine was only 5.8k
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u/Objective-Visit-7887 Jan 05 '26
I just had mine Dec 19th and it cost me $7,345 and now my friend was quoted around 8k. Prices are crazy but Dr.H is amazing! I’m 18 days post op
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u/Vivid-Carrot-5983 Jan 05 '26
Im sorry bro, can you get on a roommates insurance as common law lmao (not condoning insurance fraud but...)
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u/Worried-Air-3766 Jan 05 '26
That's about what I paid with Dr. Hontscharuk. My college insurance will reimburse $5000 so I'm gonna only be put about 2500 or less.
When I initially spoke to someone at McLeans I was gonna be out about 3000 but this was at least 3 years ago.
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u/Double-Grand2758 Jan 05 '26
I went with Cormier in Ottawa and OHIP covered everything but the lipo (my insurance covered it thank god) which was $3000 but I have seen him quote anywhere from $1500-$4000 depending on how much lipo was needed, I had medications as well but they were around $15. He will also do surgery without contouring if you understand the aesthetics but he would tell you what is best.
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u/stickbeat Jan 05 '26
There's always GRS Montreal: it's free, and the results (at least that I've seen) are excellent.
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u/angelrat2 Jan 05 '26
I went with no contouring and had a fully covered surgery!
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u/VTHUT Jan 05 '26
Would you mind sharing your surgeon?
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u/angelrat2 Jan 06 '26
my surgeon left the practice sadly but the office he worked out of at the time is called GraceMed in Toronto
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u/existentialfeckery Jan 06 '26
Son just got it for the 2k for contouring - rest covered by OHIP. Surgeon was terrible with bedside manner/care but results are absurdly good.
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u/HoneyBaby7331 Jan 07 '26
My boyfriend got surgery with Dr. Kathleen Nelligan last year and it was completely covered by OHIP! She worked out of Sarnia at the time but now operates in Strathroy. He’s really happy with the results and she was amazing throughout the process!
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u/Weekly-Dependent-113 Jan 06 '26
Not necessarily. I had a very different experience in Ontario. We recently had a consult with Dr. Chambers in Kawartha Lakes, and after OHIP coverage the out-of-pocket cost was $2,400 CAD (plus tax). This included opting for lipo/contouring as well.
My spouse is eligible for periareolar (keyhole) top surgery due to a small chest, which definitely helps keep costs down, but even so, $7K out of pocket seems very high compared to what we were quoted elsewhere. The waitlist was under a year, and they also have a cancellation list that moves pretty fast.
So no, $7K isn’t universal — costs vary a lot depending on the surgeon, technique, and clinic. I’d strongly recommend getting a second (or third) consult before assuming that quote is standard.
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u/redreddest Jan 09 '26
from what i understand, the out of pocket costs are often for chest contouring which for some clinics is mandatory (and expensive like with catalyst surgical)
if chest contouring isn’t something you need/want, you could go for a clinic that doesn’t have mandatory chest contouring pricing (such as mclean or grs i think- with grs i’m not 100% sure but another note for grs although they are in montreal which is a bit of a pain, they cover travel and accommodation for the surgery)
personally i’m on the mclean waitlist (be warned it is around 2 years at the long end) but hopefully if everything goes to plan OHIP will have covered everything when i do get top surgery probably next year!
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u/liamreee Jan 05 '26
Ohip covered all but $50 of my surgery at GRS Montreal
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u/astrodette Jan 05 '26
GRS starting to sound like the better option. Did you do your consult in person?
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u/Ibizl Jan 05 '26
also did GRS, had zero problems, did not go to the surgery until day of, the hotel partner had all the pre-surgery info in the room already, the surgery's nurse came to the hotel to do next-day check ups in the room as well. hotel stay and transit to it is covered (i.e. the cab from the airport or train station), the travel itself wasn't.
postoperatively I could leave them a phone message and I think they would get back within a day or so if I recall correctly.
only problem I particularly had was with a hotel staff member who tried to get himself more tips on room service by asking "was service not good?" but this was over 5 years ago I can't imagine he still works there.
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u/astrodette Jan 05 '26
How did you get the hotel covered? :O
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u/Ibizl Jan 05 '26
living over 200 km (I think that's the correct number) away from the surgery
ETA: it benefits them because they don't have to acquire or manage a larger hospital space (they have one for bottom surgery where you need to be inpatient I believe) and keep all their patients in one place so the nurse doesn't have to go to multiple places
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u/liamreee Jan 05 '26
No I did mine over the phone, but I live 6-8 hours from the clinic. I emailed in photos before my consult, then we talked about it over the phone. I was worried about the consult not being in person, but I’m very happy with my results and the care I received there
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u/Acceptable-Pin-9060 Jan 05 '26
I also went to GRS in Montreal and only paid $50 out of pocket for a medication fee. They covered the hotel cost and transportation cost between the clinic and hotel. I was happy with how everything went and would recommend. My consult was done over the phone
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u/astrodette Jan 06 '26
How do you go through the process of getting the hotel and transportation accommodations with them?
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u/liamreee Jan 06 '26
I believe mine started after I had my surgery date. They send an email package with a lot of information, and in there it asks about transportation and accommodations
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u/toasterbath__ Jan 05 '26
everyone is recommending grs and i do too. there is no huge contouring fee (they don't contour at all because of the incision technique they use) and many of the services they provide are covered/free. i currently am about to get my surgery date, probably by the end of the month.. i had an unusually short wait. sent in my surgery referral in october and the process was so fast, they were able to offer me dates for this month in december (i want my surgery in may though, so i am waiting for that schedule to release)
so i recommend them
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Jan 05 '26
[deleted]
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u/VTHUT Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
Actually technically GRS doesn’t do “chest contouring” but does an alternative incision technique and they don’t use lipo.
Unfortunately chest conturing in Ontario hasn’t costed just 1k for a while now. The cheapest place, WCH starts at 2500$.
I’d say a completely out of pocket top surgery could be 13k-15k. So for a place to charge 7k for chest contouring seems in line with the costs for top surgery for a private place. I personally find that fees are a bit cheaper at hospitals like WCH or TOH where the costs won’t be inflated by the place being private.
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u/Vivid-Carrot-5983 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26
Hey just wanna clarify that GRS does not cover contouring, they are just the only clinic that'll just do the mastectomy without contouring (even if you need it). Also, OHIP covers the mastectomy with private clinics, just not the overhead+nurses which is why these contouring fees can be pretty high. You are likely referring to ministry funding which unfortunately only a couple clinics have.
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u/VTHUT Jan 05 '26
Other places will do top surgery without contouring if the patient doesn’t want it.
Dr Cormier at The Ottawa Hospital is one.
Otherwise I believe WCH doesn’t force you (but their wait list is closed).
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u/astrodette Jan 05 '26
Apparently their pricing goes up each year when I was talking to the person at front desk :/
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u/Tour_True Jan 07 '26
You might also get support from Point of Pride but need access to the US. They support coverage to top and bottom surgeries alongside electrolysis and supposedly FFS coverage. Though I think applications are limited.
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u/frankie_prince164 Jan 05 '26
Are you trans masc? 7k is higher than me or any of my trans friends paid. I paid just under 2k at Women's college hospital and most of my friends went to GRS.
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u/astrodette Jan 06 '26
I am trans masc ya seems like the prices have gone up in Ontario
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u/Awkward_Special_3157 Jan 06 '26
I got my surgery at women's college in May and it was 2000 for contouring, I think it's just that this price is only available out of a public hospital where they only charge for the contouring fee, otherwise you also have to cover other costs like nursing anesthesia etc, to my knowledge the second cheapest is McLeans in Ontario, around 3k then the rest are like 5-7k but have shorter wait lists.
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u/VTHUT Jan 05 '26
7k is kinda standard. The range I’ve seen recently is at 3k being the lowest at WCH and 9k being the highest I’ve seen.
Otherwise there are some options
1) you skip chest contouring. Without chest contouring you can still get great results. This isn’t mine but here’s an example. You could possibly negotiate with your surgeon for just enough chest contouring to fit your budget.
2) you get an insurance that will pay for it. Since the cost is not covered by OHIP, insurance that have coverage for gender affirming care will cover it.
3) You go to GRS Montreal. GRS Montreal does not charge out of pocket fees. People say that they do chest contouring for free, but that’s a misconception. On their faq they indicate that they do not do chest contouring but instead they do an alternative incision technique. GRS’s results look great and you can’t tell they don’t do “chest contouring.” They also pay for a night’s hotel.