No single prevention method covers every infection or every situation — condoms don't fully prevent skin-to-skin infections like HSV or HPV, vaccination only covers specific infections, and PrEP is HIV-specific. The realistic picture is layered: different tools closing different gaps, combined based on your actual risk and circumstances rather than picking one and assuming it handles everything.
Barrier methods
- External and internal condoms. Reduce transmission risk for most STIs during penetrative sex significantly, though not to zero — they don't cover all skin that can transmit infections like herpes or HPV. See our full condom guide for correct use and common mistakes, and our birth control comparison for how condoms compare to other pregnancy-prevention methods, since they're the only common method that does both.
- Dental dams. A thin barrier used during oral sex, reducing transmission risk the same way a condom does for penetrative sex — see our full dental dam guide for how to actually use one, including how to make one from a condom.
- Gloves. Reduce transmission risk during manual sex, particularly relevant if either partner has any cuts or broken skin on their hands.
Correct, consistent use matters as much as using a barrier at all — checking expiration dates, using water-based or silicone lubricant with latex specifically (oil-based can degrade latex), and applying before any contact rather than partway through all affect how well a barrier actually works.
Vaccination
The HPV vaccine is real, effective prevention against the HPV strains most associated with genital warts and several cancers — it's most effective before exposure, which is why it's often recommended at younger ages, but can still offer benefit later depending on which strains you've already been exposed to. It's relevant regardless of gender, not just for people who could get cervical cancer specifically. A doctor can advise on eligibility and catch-up schedules if you didn't get it earlier — see our full guide to the HPV vaccine for adults.
PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis)
PrEP is a medication — daily pill or a longer-acting injectable, depending on the option — that significantly reduces the risk of acquiring HIV specifically when taken as prescribed. It does not protect against other STIs or pregnancy, which is why it's one layer, not a replacement for barriers if other infections are also a concern. It requires a prescription and regular follow-up testing; a doctor or sexual health clinic can advise on whether it's a fit for your situation. See our full PrEP guide for more, and our PEP guide for the after-exposure emergency version.
The other layers: testing and communication
Regular testing on a schedule — not just after a specific concern — combined with honest conversation with partners about status and testing history closes gaps that barriers and vaccination don't. Our STI testing timing guide covers when a test is actually reliable after a specific exposure. If reducing physical risk while still being intimate is the goal for a specific occasion, non-penetrative contact — covered in our frotting guide — lowers risk further, though it isn't risk-free either.
How often Canadians actually use condoms
A related 2020 study by Tina Fetner and colleagues — drawn from the same national Sex in Canada survey, published in PLOS ONE — asked 1,026 Canadian adults (everyone in the larger 2,303-person survey who'd had at least 10 penile-vaginal encounters) how many of their last 10 involved a condom.
Two other patterns held up in the same study: single Canadians used condoms more consistently than Canadians who were married or living with a partner — married/cohabiting respondents were significantly more likely to report using a condom zero of their last 10 times. Condom use also varied by sexual orientation, with gay and bisexual cisgender men showing the highest predicted frequency and heterosexual cisgender women the lowest.
Two other Canadian studies — different populations from the adult survey above — add more context. The 2019 Trojan/SIECCAN study of Canadian university students (ages 18–24) found condom use at last intercourse was considerably higher for men who'd met their partner through a dating app than those who hadn't, and higher for single men than men in a serious relationship:
A separate 2016 study of 2,400 Canadians ages 40–59 found the opposite pattern worth flagging honestly: among single respondents in this age group, most did not use a condom at their most recent intercourse.
See all our verified Canadian sex-research stats →
Putting it together
There's no one "right" combination — it depends on your specific partners, activities, and risk tolerance. Someone in a long-term, mutually tested relationship has a different realistic risk profile than someone with new or multiple partners, and the right layers reflect that rather than a one-size answer. What matters is treating prevention as a stack of overlapping tools rather than betting everything on one method covering all of it.
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