Members of the New Brunswick Transgender Health Network met with the province’s health minister on the issue of covering the cost of gender reassignment surgery for the first time Thursday.

The meeting between the two sides was several months in the making and lasted for one hour.

“It seems like we're moving forward on this issue,” says Amy Otteson, a Fredericton psychologist and group member.

“I think it was really great to see how the minister was open to meet with us, see us,” says Jean-Roch Savoie, group member.

New Brunswick is the only province in Canada that does not pay for gender reassignment surgery.

Members of the New Brunswick Transgender Health Network say Health Minister Victor Boudreau did not guarantee that would change. Instead, they say they got a commitment that the issue is being taken seriously.

“I think we were met with interest, and genuine concern for our community,” says Michelle Leard, with the New Brunswick Transgender Health Network. “I think they were open to the dialogue, I think they were acknowledging the need and urgency of the issue.”

For his part, Boudreau says it was a positive face-to-face meeting.

“I took the time to listen to their concerns and issues and I made a commitment to take them to government. As we are going through the strategic program review process, I did ask them to be patient and I would get back to the group later this fall,” says Boudreau.

Dominic Cardy, leader of the provincial NDP, says Boudreau should have begun the meeting by announcing an immediate policy change.

“The costs to the province are so minimal, we're talking about less than a couple hundred thousand dollars and the amount of money based on all the evidence from the world is huge, because you have folks who are going to be suffering from depression, increasing mental illness,” says Cardy.

Those who met with Boudreau say the importance of getting an answer soon was made clear.

“We're not talking years, we're talking months,” says Leard.

The group also says their patience depends on that timeline.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore