Ontario Replaced the Pap Test. Here Is What Changed
By the Albion Health team · Medically reviewed by Dr. Mirza Shaharyar Babar, M.D., CCFP · 2026-10-29
If your last cervical screen was a Pap test, the next one will feel much the same. What the lab looks for is different. Since March 2025, Ontario tests for the virus behind almost all cervical cancer, rather than waiting for the cell changes it causes. For most people that means fewer tests, further apart.
What changed
On 3 March 2025 the Ontario Cervical Screening Program replaced the Pap test with an HPV test as its main screening test. HPV, the human papillomavirus, causes almost all cervical cancers. Testing for the virus directly is better at finding cancer and pre-cancer than looking for abnormal cells alone, and it gives fewer falsely reassuring results.
Ontario Health says an HPV test every five years is as effective as a Pap test every three years. That is why the gap between tests is now longer.
Who should be screened
Ontario recommends cervical screening if all of the following apply to you:
- You have a cervix. This includes women, and Two-Spirit, trans and non-binary people
- You are between 25 and 69
- You have ever had sexual contact of any kind
- You have no symptoms (see below)
- You have OHIP coverage
You still need screening if you have had the HPV vaccine. The vaccine is very effective, but it does not protect against every type of HPV that can cause cancer.
How often, and what your result means
When HPV is found, the lab automatically checks the same sample for cell changes and for the type of HPV. You do not need to give a second sample. Those results together decide what happens next.
| Your result | What happens next |
|---|---|
| HPV not found | Screen again in 5 years (3 years if you are immunocompromised) |
| HPV found, average risk | Back to routine screening |
| HPV found, moderate risk | Repeat the test in 2 years |
| HPV found, elevated risk | Referral to colposcopy, a closer look at the cervix |
A positive HPV result is common and is not a cancer diagnosis. Most HPV infections clear on their own; screening exists to catch the few that do not.
If your last test was a Pap test
There is no need to rush in. Your first HPV test is due when your next screen would have been due based on your last Pap test result. The programme discourages screening more often than recommended.
When you can stop
Most people can stop between 65 and 69 after a negative HPV test. Keep going until 74 if you were not screened between 65 and 69, or if you are immunocompromised. Routine screening is not recommended from 75, but symptoms should be checked at any age.
Symptoms are not a screening question
Screening is for people who feel well. If you have unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge, bleeding after sex, or pelvic pain, book a visit or walk in. Do this whatever your age and however recently you were screened. Most of the time the cause turns out to be something else, but it should be examined rather than left for a routine test.
What about testing yourself?
Ontario is phasing in a self-collected test, starting with a small number of primary care sites. For most people the sample is still taken by a family doctor, nurse practitioner or midwife, who uses a small, soft brush. Ontario Health describes it as feeling like a Pap test.
Getting screened at Albion Health
We take cervical screening samples here, as part of our women’s health care. If you would rather see a woman for it, you can ask for Dr. Zoyia Shaharyar, a female family physician with a focus on women’s health. If you are not sure when you are due, ask us at your next visit.
If you do not have a family doctor, we are accepting new patients. You can also call Health811 to find somewhere to be screened. While you are thinking about screening, Ontario has also lowered the breast screening age to 40.
The New HPV Screening Test
Not as the main screening test. Since 3 March 2025 the Ontario Cervical Screening Program uses an HPV test instead. If HPV is found, the lab checks the same sample for cell changes, which is what a Pap test used to look for.
For most people aged 25 to 69, every five years after a negative HPV test, or every three years if you are immunocompromised. If HPV is found, you may be asked to repeat the test in two years or be referred for colposcopy.
Yes. Ontario recommends screening whether or not you have been vaccinated, because the vaccine does not protect against every type of HPV that can cause cancer.
Cervical screening through the Ontario Cervical Screening Program is publicly funded for eligible people with OHIP coverage. Bring your OHIP card.
Yes. You can ask to see Dr. Zoyia Shaharyar, a female family physician at Albion Health with a focus on women's health. Call 416-234-8977.
Not sure if you are due?
Male and female doctors, walk in Monday to Saturday.