You do not need to be referred by a doctor or nurse. For information on making an appointment, please visit the Making an Appointment section.

If you are from outside Yellowknife, the NOW Program can assist you with arranging Medical Travel. For those travelling from communities, you will need to stay in Yellowknife for the night before and the night after the procedure, either at the boarding home or with an escort as you cannot stay alone the night after the procedure.

Please bring your treaty card with you if you have one.

Note that you do NOT need to be fasting for the initial appointment (ultrasound/counselling).
Health Care Providers: If a person has seen you and is requesting an abortion, please refer them to the NOW program instead of calling the booking number. The clinical information to be provided is helpful, though to facilitate access the NOW Program does not require a person to first see a health care provider.

Please note that abortion services are routinely provided in Yellowknife up to 18 weeks from the first day of the last menstrual period. 

If you suspect that the pregnant person you are referring may be over 18 weeks, please call the NOW Program number at (867) 765-4018, or from outside Yellowknife call (888) 873-5710 and leave a message. You will be called back with information on whether the patient should go to Yellowknife or if you will need to refer them to a southern centre. If a southern referral is required, either the referring community health center or the patient is responsible for booking this appointment and arranging medical travel. An appointment can be arranged by calling the National Abortion Federation at (877) 257-0012.  Medical travel will be covered for referrals to the closest abortion center (Edmonton, Vancouver or the US). 

For referrals from health care providers to the NOW program, please provide the following information by fax to (867) 669-4272, preferably on the NWT Specialist Referral form and Pre-Anaesthetic Information form:

• GTPAL status
• LMP (if unknown, a clinical exam is helpful)
• Palpate the abdomen for fundal height
• Height, weight and BMI
• Past medical history
• Past surgical history
• Blood type (if available)
• Results of gonorrhea, chlamydia, BV, syphilis testing (if available)
• HIV and Hep * results
• Contraception used in the past and type of contraception desired (counselling will be provided in the program as well). Please note that IUDs and the Nexplanon insert can be inserted immediately after an abortion.