Meet Carolynn Dubé of Fertility Matters Canada, Based in Moncton, New Brunswick
One in six Canadians experience infertility. That is not a statistic Carolynn Dubé recites from a report, it is a reality she lived and then decided to do something about.
Carolynn Dubé is the Executive Director of Fertility Matters Canada, a national non-profit organization advocating for equitable access to fertility care across the country. She is based in Moncton, New Brunswick, and has spent over a decade making sure that where you live and how much money you have does not determine whether you get to become a parent.
She has presented to the Canadian Senate. She has worked with Health Canada on changes to the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. She founded East Coast Miracles, an Atlantic Canada patient advocacy group. She co-founded the Fertility Benefits Matter campaign. She hosts the Fertility in Focus podcast. She was named a 2024 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Social Change Finalist.
And she is a mom: her three sons were all conceived through IVF.
How Carolynn Dubé Became One of Canada's Most Powerful Fertility Advocates From Moncton New Brunswick
Carolynn and her husband were diagnosed with infertility 2012. They were told that IVF was their only path to parenthood. What followed was one of the most emotionally and financially challenging experiences a couple can navigate: the cost, the physical toll, the emotional weight, the isolation of feeling like nobody around you truly understands what you are going through.
That experience lit a fire in her. She joined Fertility Matters Canada as Executive Director in February 2015 and has been transforming the organization and the national conversation around fertility access ever since.
Her work is not abstract advocacy. It is specific, persistent, and measurable. In April 2025, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt announced expanded provincial funding for fertility treatments, a change Carolynn has been advocating for for years. Real change for real families in this province. That is what a decade of showing up looks like.
Why Fertility Access Matters Specifically in Moncton and Atlantic Canada
Moncton is home to New Brunswick's only fertility clinic. For families across Atlantic Canada navigating infertility, that means Moncton is often the destination. It means travel, time off work, costs in Canadian dollars if you can access care locally, and an enormous amount of uncertainty about what comes next.
Carolynn has been fighting to make that journey easier and more equitable for every family in this region. Her advocacy has focused specifically on the barriers that disproportionately affect people in Atlantic Canada: geographic isolation, limited clinic capacity, and a historical lack of provincial funding.
As she told me in this episode: it is not just a women's issue. It is a people's issue. It is a men's issue. And it is a New Brunswick issue that deserves a New Brunswick solution.
Inside the Meet Me in Moncton Podcast Conversation with Carolynn Dubé
Have you ever been faced with a challenge you could not bring yourself to talk about? Maybe you felt like you did not know a single person who had ever been in your shoes. That is where so many people are when they first encounter infertility. Alone. Embarrassed. Unsure where to turn.
Carolynn walked through that herself. And then she made it her life's work to make sure nobody else had to walk through it the same way.
In this conversation we talk about vulnerability. About what it costs to share the hard parts of your story publicly. About what it gives back. About the moment she realized that her willingness to talk about something painful and private was the most powerful professional asset she had.
We talk about what it is like to advocate at the highest levels of government, to sit across from senators and health ministers and make the case for families who are counting on you to get it right. And we talk about Moncton, about what it means to do national work from a mid-sized city in Atlantic Canada, and why she would not have it any other way.
What You Will Learn from This Moncton Podcast Episode
Why sharing your story, even the hard parts, can become the most powerful thing you do professionally and personally
What fertility advocacy actually looks like at the policy level from provincial legislatures to the Canadian Senate
How Moncton and New Brunswick are becoming better places for families navigating fertility challenges
Why Carolynn believes this is not just a women's issue but a people's issue that affects one in six Canadian families
What a decade of persistent advocacy can actually change in terms of real policy and real funding
What Carolynn Dubé Taught Me About Showing Up
I think about this conversation often. About the particular kind of courage it takes to turn your most painful personal experience into your life's work. To stand in front of senators and say: this happened to me, and it is happening to one in six people around you, and we need to do better.
Carolynn does that. Consistently. With clarity and warmth and a conviction that does not waver. She is one of the most quietly remarkable people I have had the privilege of sitting across from on this podcast. And her work is changing lives in this province right now.
If you or someone you love is navigating a fertility journey and looking for support and resources, Fertility Matters Canada is exactly where to start.
About Carolynn Dubé, Executive Director of Fertility Matters Canada in Moncton New Brunswick
Carolynn Dubé is the Executive Director of Fertility Matters Canada, a national non-profit based in Moncton, New Brunswick. She is a 2024 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Social Change Finalist, founder of East Coast Miracles, and co-founder of the Fertility Benefits Matter campaign. She hosts the Fertility in Focus podcast, has presented to the Canadian Senate, and has worked with Health Canada on fertility policy reform. She lives in Moncton with her husband and three sons, all conceived through IVF.
Visit: fertilitymatters.ca Podcast: Fertility in Focus by Fertility Matters Canada
Meet Me in Moncton is hosted by Natalie Davison, team lead at Meet Me in Moncton Real Estate and a REALTOR® with 21 years of experience. New episodes are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
