Toronto 
Ontario is lowering the age for publicly funded colorectal cancer screening, a move the province says will make early detection available to more than one million additional people.
Treated Human colorectal cancer cells/ National Cancer Institute
Starting July 1, people in Ontario will be eligible for routine colorectal cancer screening at age 45 instead of 50. For those considered at increased risk, eligibility will begin at age 40, or 10 years earlier than the age at which a close relative was diagnosed. Increased risk includes having a parent, sibling or child diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 60, or multiple relatives diagnosed at any age.
Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, said the decision comes as colorectal cancer rates continue to rise among younger people in Canada.
Under the current system, people under 50 often need a referral after symptoms appear before they can access screening. With the new rules, eligible Ontarians will be able to request screening directly through a health-care provider or by contacting Health811, without needing a referral first.
Beginning in July, people between 45 and 49 will start receiving letters through Ontario’s ColonCancerCheck program inviting them to complete an initial screening test. Those without a family doctor can also access testing through Health811 at 866-797-0007.
The province says ColonCancerCheck already performs more than 780,000 fecal immunochemical tests, or FITs, each year.
Colorectal cancer is currently the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Ontario. It is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men and the third among women in the province. Health officials say early detection makes a major difference, with nine out of 10 people able to be cured when colon cancer is caught early.
In 2024, Ontario lowered the age for self-referrals for mammograms to 40.
