Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✔ Legal
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✔ Legal, no restrictions
    Gender-Affirming Care
    Varies by Region
    Non-Binary Gender Recognition
    ✔ Recognized
    Discrimination
    ✔ Illegal
    Employment Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Housing Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Adoption
    ✔ Legal
    Intersex Infant Surgery
    ✖ Not banned
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✔ Banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal
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Surveys in Canada have shown mixed views towards LGBTQ+ rights and issues.

Perception of LGBTQ+ People

Survey results from 57 LGBTQ+ Equaldex users who lived in or visited Canada.

Overall

Overall

Perceived Safety*

Feel safe being open
Absence of verbal harassment
Absence of threats and violence
*Survey results represent personal perceptions of safety and may not be indicative of current actual conditions.

Equal Treatment

Treatment by peers
Treatment by family
Treatment at work
Treatment at school
Treatment by general public
Treatment by businesses
Treatment by law enforcement
Treatment by religious groups

Visibility & Representation

Inclusion in education
Representation in entertainment
Representation in news
Political support
Out public figures

Culture

Pride/events
Nightlife
Dating life
Interest groups and clubs

Services

Health and wellness
Gender-affirming care
Support and social services
Advocacy and legal

History

Homosexual activity in Canada

?

Homosexual activity in Canada is legal.

Current status
Since Jun 27, 1969
Legal
Homosexuality is legal under Canadian Law.
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Jul 1, 1867–Jun 27, 1969
Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)
Indefinite Imprisonment as "Dangerous Sex Offender" - origin of law was included from confederation in 1867.

Same-sex marriage in Canada

?

Same-sex marriage in Canada is legal.

Current status
Since Jul 20, 2005
Legal
Same-sex marriage in Canada became legally recognised nationwide with the Civil Marriage Act, making Canada the fourth country in the world to legalise gay marriage.
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Jun 10, 2003–Jul 19, 2005
Varies by Region
On June 10th, 2003, Ontario became the first province in Canada to legalize civil unions for gay couples. The second province to legalize it was British Columbia less than a month later on July 8th, 2003.
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Censorship of LGBT issues in Canada

?

Censorship of LGBT issues in Canada is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
In Canada, there are no laws restricting to discussion or promotion of LGBTQ+ topics. In 2020 a whistleblower revealed that staff at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights had been told by management to censor LGBTQ exhibits, a move which was condemned by Federal Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault.
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Right to change legal gender in Canada

?

Right to change legal gender in Canada is legal, no restrictions.

Current status
Since 2017
Legal, no restrictions
Changing legal gender is a provincial matter. Since 2017, all provinces and territories now allow their residents to change their official gender marker without surgery.
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Apr 11, 20122017
Varies by Region
Most provinces in canada require surgery to legally change gender, however, since 2012 Ontario has not required surgery to change gender.
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Gender-affirming care in Canada

?

Gender-affirming care in Canada is varies by region.

Current status
Since Dec 3, 2024
Varies by Region
Gender Affirming Care is legal for adults in all provinces, however, with the passage of the Health Statues Amendment Act (No 2), 2024 in the Alberta Legislature, Hormone Therapy and Puberty Blockers are banned for minors under the age of 16, and Gender Affirming Surgeries are banned for all individuals under the age of 18 in Alberta.
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Legal

  1. Ontario 2000
  2. British Columbia
  3. Manitoba
  4. New Brunswick
  5. Newfoundland and Labrador
  6. Northwest Territories
  7. Nunavut
  8. Nova Scotia
  9. Prince Edward Island
  10. Quebec
  11. Saskatchewan
  12. Yukon

Legal, but restricted for minors

  1. Alberta 2024
2000–Dec 3, 2024
Legal
Gender-affirming care falls under provincial jurisdiction. Currently no province or territory restricts it, however some provinces like Alberta have spoken about restricting or outright banning care for minors in the future.

In 2000, Canada adopted the ICD-10 classification, which contains codes for diagnosing transsexualism in adulthood and childhood, which authorize the initiation of medical transition.
Jan 1, 19692000
Restricted
In 1969, the first gender identity clinic opened in Toronto at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry and the first gender-affirming surgery in Canada was performed in 1970.

To qualify, applicants had to be employed, be straight, never have been convicted of a crime, have lived as their identified gender for at least two years, and have changed all their legal documents.

In 1979, Canada adopted the ICD-9 classification, which included codes allowing for the diagnosis of transsexualism in adults. That same year, Canada legalized sterilization.
Until Jan 1, 1969
Banned
Medical transition was not possible in Canada at the time.

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Canada

?

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Canada is recognized.

Current status
Since Jun 4, 2019
Recognized
The Canadian federal government now allows individuals to put "X" on their passport to indicate an unspecified gender.

Other IDs are under provincial/territorial jurisdiction. Only Nunavut currently has no legal recognition for non-binary identities.
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Jul 28, 2017–Jun 4, 2019
Varies by Region
On July 28th, 2017, the Government of Northwest Territories became the first jurisdiction in Canada to offer a third gender option.
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Until Jul 28, 2017
Not legally recognized
Before July 28th, 2017, no jurisdictions in Canada allowed a third gender option.
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LGBT discrimination in Canada

?

LGBT discrimination in Canada is illegal.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2017
Illegal
Bill C-16 amended the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.
Apr 17, 1985–Jan 1, 2017
Illegal in some contexts
Non-inclusion of Gender Identity in Charter.

LGBT employment discrimination in Canada

?

LGBT employment discrimination in Canada is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Jun 19, 2017
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Bill C-16 received Royal Ascent on 19 June 2017, revising the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code.
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Jun 1, 1996–Jun 18, 2017
Sexual orientation only
Federal human rights law applies directly to only federal government employment and employers which fall under federal jurisdiction. Gender identity is only implicitly protected under interpretation of the law by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Attempts have been made to have gender identity and gender expression added as protected classes to both the Canadian Human Rights Act and Criminal Code, though none of these attempts so far has been successful.

Provincial human rights acts are separate, but Supreme Court precedent exists for requiring provinces to protect the same classes as the Canadian Human Rights Act. At this time all provinces protect against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Of the provinces only Ontario has explicit protection on the basis of both gender identity and gender expression in its human rights code, though several provide implicit protections on the basis of gender identity or "transsexualism" under the category of "sex" or "gender".

LGBT housing discrimination in Canada

?

LGBT housing discrimination in Canada is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Dec 7, 2015
Sexual orientation and gender identity
“Gender identity and gender expression” were added by Bill 7, the Alberta Human Rights Amendment Act which received royal assent in 2015.

Same-sex adoption in Canada

?

Same-sex adoption in Canada is legal.

Current status
Since May 25, 1995
Legal
Homosexual couples can legally adopt children.

Intersex infant surgery in Canada

?

Intersex infant surgery in Canada is not banned.

Current status
Not banned
Section 268 of Canada's Criminal Code (1985) makes aggravated assault illegal, including actions that cause injury or harm to a victim's sex organs. However, there is an exception in Section 268(3)(a) for medical practitioners performing surgeries to establish a "normal sexual appearance." Therefore, medical practitioners performing surgeries on intersex youth is not banned.
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Serving openly in military in Canada

?

Serving openly in military in Canada is legal.

Current status
Since Oct 10, 1992
Legal
LGBT soldiers are permitted to serve in the Canadian military.
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Blood donations by MSMs in Canada

?

Blood donations by MSMs in Canada is legal.

Current status
Since Sep 30, 2022
Legal
After having a 3 month deferral for MSMs to donate blood was deemed unfair, it is now completely legal for MSMs to donate blood with no deferral as long as they have been tested negative for HIV, which everyone has to do before donating blood, regardless of sexuality.
Jun 3, 2019–Sep 30, 2022
Banned (less than 6-month deferral)
Banned with 3 months deferral
Jun 20, 2016–Jun 3, 2019
Banned (1-year deferral)
Health Canada approved Canadian Blood Services’ proposal to reduce the blood donation ineligibility period for men who have sex with men from five years to one year.
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May 22, 2013–Jun 20, 2016
Banned (5-year deferral)
Health Canada changed the indefinite deferral period to a 5-year deferral, effective May 22, 2013.
1977–May 22, 2013
Banned (indefinite deferral)
Men who had sex with men, even just once, were banned indefinitely from donating blood in Canada from 1977 to 2013.
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Conversion therapy in Canada

?

Conversion therapy in Canada is banned.

Current status
Since Jan 7, 2022
Banned
Conversion therapy in Canada is banned nationwide under bill C-4(44-1) which recieved Royal Assent on December 8th 2021 and went into effect 30 days after on January 7th 2022. Two previous legislative attempts failed.
Jun 4, 2015–Jan 7, 2022
Varies by Region
Ontario became the first province in 2015 to ban conversion therapy.

It only became banned federally in 2022.
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Until Jun 4, 2015
Not banned
Before June 4th 2015, conversion therapy was not banned anywhere in Canada.
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Equal age of consent in Canada

?

Equal age of consent in Canada is equal.

Current status
Since Jun 21, 2019
Equal
Age of consent equalized to age 16.
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May 1, 2008–Jun 21, 2019
Unequal
The age of consent in for anal sex in Canada is 18, whereas the age of consent for acts of sex is 16.
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LGBT Rights by Province

View the LGBT laws in each individual province of Canada.