Cancer survivor fights to axe the U.K.’s sunscreen tax. Should Canada do the same?

When Jessica Zbinden-Webster was diagnosed with skin cancer at the age of 26, it upended everything she thought she knew about sun safety. 

“I had always mistakenly assumed that skin cancer was a disease that exclusively affected older people and people who had used sunbeds to excess and who had sun bathed to excess,” the West Sussex, U.K., woman told As It Happens guest host Paul Hunter.

“And now, of course, I’m living proof that it can happen to anyone at any time.”

Now recovered, Zbinden-Webster is on a mission to convince the U.K. government to scrap its 20 per cent tax on sunscreen. Canadian cancer organizations told CBC this country should also consider making sunscreen tax-free.

“Affordability is particularly important because effective sun protection is not a one-time purchase. Sunscreen needs to be applied generously and reapplied at least every two hours during sun exposure,” Falyn Katz, CEO of Melanoma Canada, said in an email. 

“For families, outdoor workers and people spending significant time outdoors, the cost can add up quickly. Those costs can create an additional barrier for lower-income Canadians.”

An unexpected diagnosis 

Zbinden-Webster’s cancer journey began in 2018, when she developed what she thought was an unsightly pimple beneath her right eye.

“I had a lot of pimples growing up and that extended into my 20s,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh goody, another one to deal with.'”

But several months passed, and the pimple didn’t go away.

“One morning, I was sat at my desk and I rubbed the skin on my eye, where the pimple was, and it began to bleed. And that was my red flag. That prompted me to visit my doctor the following day,” she said.

“To my surprise, he diagnosed me with skin cancer on the spot.”

She had infiltrative basal cell carcinoma, an aggressive, but highly treatable, form of skin cancer that is often hard to detect, but can burrow deep beneath the surface.

The Canadian Skin Cancer Foundation recommends using sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher on any exposed skin any time you’re outside.

“I actually only used sunscreen the way most Brits use sunscreen, which is as a seasonal product. I would use it during the summer months and I would also use it more frequently when on holiday,” Zbinden-Webster said. 

“But I most definitely did not regard it as an everyday essential.” 

Daily sunscreen is expensive

That’s changed. Now that she’s cancer-free after a successful surgery, Zbinden-Webster uses sunscreen every day.

It’s a healthy habit, she says, but also an expensive one.

Non-prescription sunscreen in the U.K. is classified as a cosmetic product, and subject to a 20 per cent value-added tax (VAT).

“Not only does this send a damaging message about the importance of sun safety to our public health, but it prices the poorest out of skin cancer prevention,” Zbinden-Webster said.

Zbinden-Webster’s online petition, “Tell the Government to axe VAT on Sunscreen,” has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. 

She’s not alone in her mission. Several U.K. skin health organizations, including Melanoma Focus are also calling for the government to remove VAT from sun protection products with an SPF of 30 or higher. 

A 2026 report from the U.K. parliamentary UV Safety Inquiry recommended the same. 

CBC was not able to reach the U.K. government for comment, but a spokesperson told the BBC: “As part of our 10-year plan to reform the health service, and through a national cancer plan, we will fight cancer on all fronts, from prevention, to diagnosis, treatment, and research.”

What about Canada?

In Canada, sunscreen is regulated as a health product. 

However, like many health-care products, it is subject to the five per cent federal Goods and Services Tax, as well as provincial sales taxes, which vary from five to 15 per cent.

“From our perspective, there is therefore a disconnect between recognizing sunscreen as a regulated health product and an important cancer-prevention measure, while continuing to tax it as an ordinary consumer purchase,” said Katz of Melanoma Canada. 

Lindsay Timm, executive director of the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network, says she welcomes any effort to make sunscreen more accessible, including making it publicly available in parks, outdoor pools and hiking trails. 

“We believe that making sunscreen more affordable/accessible is an excellent goal for all countries, including Canada,” she said in an email.

WATCH | Sunscreen use declining in Canada:

Canadians are spending more time in the sun – but many are ditching sunscreen

Some experts say while sun exposure is on the rise in Canada, sunscreen use is losing popularity. Skin cancer rates are also growing. In Quebec, the incidence of melanoma per 100,000 people, jumped by more than 430 per cent in the last three decades, according to Statistics Canada.

Health Canada referred questions about the sunscreen tax to the Department of Finance Canada.

“Applying the GST/HST to a broad base of goods and services helps keep the tax more efficient, simpler, and lower,” Finance Canada said in an emailed statement.

A handful of basic necessities — including prescription drugs, medical devices, menstrual hygiene products and some groceries — are tax-free in Canada.

Asked whether the government would consider adding sunscreen to that list, the department said: “The government is continually reviewing the tax system to ensure it is both effective and efficient and will continue to do so.”

Zbinden-Webster says it’s easy to get bogged down in the bureaucracy. 

But then she remembers Australia, where sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or more has long been exempt from the 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax.

“There is hope,” she said. “It has been done, and it can be done again.”