Canadian
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
, and
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
(
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
) rights are some of the most extensive in the world.
Same-sex sexual activity was made lawful in Canada on June 27, 1969, when the ''
Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69
The ''Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69'' (french: Loi de 1968–69 modifiant le droit pénal) was an omnibus bill that introduced major changes to the Canadian ''Criminal Code''. An earlier version was first introduced as Bill C-195 by then-M ...
'' (also known as ''Bill C-150'') was brought into force upon
royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
.
In a landmark decision in 1995, ''
Egan v Canada
''Egan v Canada'', 9952 SCR 513 was one of a trilogy of equality rights cases published by a very divided Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1995. It stands today as a landmark Supreme Court case which established that sexual orientation cons ...
'', the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
held that sexual orientation is constitutionally protected under the
equality clause of the ''
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
''. In 2005, Canada was the fourth country in the world, and the first in the Americas, to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.
Canada was referred to as the most
gay-friendly
Gay-friendly or LGBT-friendly places, policies, people, or institutions are those that are open and welcoming to gay or LGBT people. They typically aim to create an environment that is supportive, respectful, and non-judgmental towards the LGBT ...
country in the world, when it was ranked first in the ''
Gay Travel Index'' chart in 2021, and among the five safest in
''Forbes'' magazine in 2019.
It was also ranked first (indicating least dangerous) in Asher & Lyric's LGBTQ+ Danger Index in 2022. The country's largest cities feature their own
gay areas and communities, such as
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
's
Church and Wellesley
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
neighbourhood,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
's
Gay Village
A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establish ...
commercial district
A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is Commerce, commercial activities (Retailing, shops, offices, Theater (structure), theaters, restaurants and so on), as opposed to a residential ...
,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
's
Davie Village
Davie Village (also known as Davie District or simply Davie Street) is a neighbourhood in the West End, Vancouver, West End of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the home of the city's LGBT subculture, and, as such, is often considered ...
and
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
's
Bank Street Gay Village. Every summer,
Canada's LGBT community celebrates
gay pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...
in all major cities, with many political figures from the federal, provincial and municipal scenes.
In recent decades, Canada went through some major legal shifts in support of
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
(e.g. decriminalization, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, gay marriage, homoparentality, blood donations, transgender rights and outlawing of
conversion therapies
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...
). The 2020 Pew Research showed that 85% of Canada's general population (92% among Canadians aged between 18 and 29) had favoured
social acceptance
Acceptance in human psychology is a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it. The concept is close in meaning to ...
of
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
up from 80% in 2013.
Likewise, polls in June 2013 had shown an increase in the Canadian population's point of view, with a vast majority of Canadians to give their blessing to
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
, which was made available to all throughout Canada in 2005. The polls had also revealed that 70% of Canada's population had agreed that "same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do," and that 76% had also agreed that "same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children". By 2020, 91.8% of those surveyed in a poll commissioned by the
Privy Council Office said they would be "comfortable" if a next-door neighbour was gay, lesbian or bisexual and that 87.6% said they would be "comfortable" if a neighbour was a transgender person.
History
Transgender people and cross-dressing practices have been recorded and documented in Canada for centuries. Different
Indigenous groups
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
have had their own traditions and terms to refer to transgender people, gender variance or sexual identity. These
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
had perceptions towards
gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
and
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
which differed significantly to that of the Western world. Many transgender people in these traditional roles were in positions of reverence, where they acted as caretakers of children who had lost their families, spiritual healers and warriors in battle. The
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
term ''apêw iskwêwisêhot'' refers to people who are assigned male at birth but act, dress and behave as female, while the term ''iskwêw ka napêwayat'' has the opposite meaning, that being a person assigned female at birth but acts and behaves as male. Similarly, the
Kutenai
The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...
''
titqattek'' describes women who take on roles traditionally characterized as masculine, including hunting and warfare. The
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...
term ''aakíí'skassi'' (meaning "acts like a woman"; also spelt ''
a'yai-kik-ahsi'') describes men who dress as women and typically perform chores and activities associated with women, such as basket weaving and pottery making. Many other Indigenous groups recognise similar terms: the
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
''sipiniq'' (
ᓯᐱᓂᖅ), the
Assiniboine
The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...
''
wįktą'', the
Tlingit
The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ), ''
gatxan'', and the
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace, British Columbia, Terr ...
''kanâ'ts''. Among the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
, male-to-female individuals are known as ''
ikwekaazo'', which literally translates to "men who chose to function as women", whereas female-to-male individuals are known as ''
ininiikaazo''. The
European colonialists would describe such individuals as "homosexuals", "a curious compound of man and woman" or "berdache", meaning a
catamite
In Homosexuality in ancient Greece, ancient Greece and Homosexuality in ancient Rome, Rome, a catamite (Latin: ''catamitus'') was a Puberty, pubescent boy who was the intimate companion of an older male, usually in a pederastic relationship. ...
or a male prostitute. The term is now considered offensive and outdated. Following colonisation and the spread of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
by religious missionaries, many of these traditions began to die out. Transgender individuals were furthermore forced and assimilated into
Europe-centric culture, and even among the Indigenous peoples perceptions began to change. In the early 1990s, Indigenous groups sought to reclaim many of their customs and traditions. LGBT Indigenous groups proposed the term "
two-spirit
Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
" to refer to a traditional and cultural "
third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
". In modern times, two-spirit is frequently used by First Nations groups to refer to people who embody these gender traits, and is occasionally used to reference the entire Indigenous LGBT community. As such, the terms ''LGBT2S'' or ''LGBTQ2S'' are increasingly used, with the ''2S'' denoting two-spirited people; sometimes, this is denoted simply as ''2'', as in ''LGBTQ2''. Records of homosexuality and same-sex relations also exist, notably among the
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...
, where the common phrase ''Geenumu Gessalagee'', which translates to "he loves men", is used to refer to such individuals.
During the
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
n era, sexual activity between men was a
capital crime
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
. However, there is no surviving record of any executions; political figures were reluctant to enforce the law.
The death penalty was eventually repealed, though a broader law involving
gross indecency between men Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...
was often enforced in the late 19th century.
During the early to mid 20th-century, the law often portrayed homosexual men as
sex offenders
A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...
, including the court case of
Everett George Klippert. He admitted to having
sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...
with multiple men, which resulted in his
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was soon decriminalized in 1969 as a result of
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...
introduced in 1967, with then-Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada
The prime mini ...
who eventually became the 15th
Prime Minister of Canada
The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
and famously commented, "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation."
Up until 1973,
homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
was considered to be a mental illness. Many treatments were used to cure people of their homosexual orientation, including
electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
,
lobotomies
A lobotomy, or leucotomy, is a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections to ...
, and
conversion therapies
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...
. In 1973, the
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involve ...
decided that homosexuality is not a mental illness. As a result, homosexuality was withdrawn from the ''Diagnostic Statistical Manual'' (DSM), which is the diagnostic reference guide used by all health and social services professionals in North America. In 1999, the American Psychological Association acknowledged in its code of ethics that to treat homosexuality as a psychological problem, a sexual deviance or a form of
psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era.
Biological psychopatholo ...
is unethical.
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
became legal in Ontario in 2003, and was already legalized in eight of ten
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
and one of three territories when, on July 20, 2005, Canada became the first country outside Europe and the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide after the enactment of the federal ''
Civil Marriage Act
The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...
''. Likewise, same-sex adoption was legalized in all provinces and territories under varying rules. Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or expression in employment, housing and public and private accommodations is now prohibited by all provinces and territories, as well as the federal government. Transgender people are now allowed to change their legal gender in all provinces and territories under varying rules.
Constitutional framework
Legal and equality rights
![Pride Parade 2016 (28069955854)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Pride_Parade_2016_%2828069955854%29.jpg)
The Constitution of Canada does not explicitly grant or deny any
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...
to LGBTQ+ people, however the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
has held that the open-ended wording of
section 15 of the ''Charter'' protects LGBTQ+ people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Subsection 15(1) reads:
Section 15(1) was written so as to protect against discrimination generally, with the enumerated grounds of prohibited discrimination, such race and sex, being examples of prohibited grounds, rather than a closed list. In its landmark ruling in 1995 in the case of ''
Egan v. Canada'', the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
declared that
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
was included within the bounds of section 15, as an analogous ground. Individuals were therefore granted equal protection against discrimination on the basis of that ground. The concepts of sex and physical disability in s. 15 have been interpreted to include
transsexuality
Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...
and
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
/
STDs (see discussion
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
*Bottom (disambiguation)
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
).
[Walter S. Tarnopolsky, William F. Pentney & John D. Gardner (eds.), ''Discrimination and the Law'', (Thomson, Scarborough, Ontario, 2004) page 7A-21 (Discrimination) (2003-Rel. 7) ] As articulated, and reaffirmed in 2008, "the promotion of equality entails the promotion of a society in which all are secure in the knowledge that they are recognized at law as
human being
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedality, bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex Human brain, brain. This has enabled the development of ad ...
s equally deserving of
concern,
respect
Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...
and
consideration
Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions.
The court in ''Currie v Misa'' declared ...
".
Section 15 applies to all laws and government institutions in Canada, including
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...
authorities, but the ''Charter'' does not grant rights against the private sector. Instead, a complaint against a business would be brought under the applicable federal or provincial human rights statute. For example, a discrimination complaint against a restaurant would generally fall under provincial anti-discrimination legislation and not the ''Charter''. However, the ''Charter'' is part of the Constitution and therefore is part of the supreme law of the land. Courts must interpret statutes consistently with the ''Charter'', including human rights laws. In private litigation, including human rights cases, "courts should, from time to time, re-evaluate the consistency of the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
with evolving societal expectations through the lens of Charter values". Equality rights under the ''Charter'' therefore will provide guidance for the interpretation of equality rights set out in human rights laws.
In its 1998 decision in
Vriend v Alberta
''Vriend v Alberta'' 9981 S.C.R. 493 is an important Supreme Court of Canada case that determined that a legislative omission can be the subject of a Charter violation. The case involved a dismissal of a teacher because of his sexual orientation ...
, the Supreme Court found the failure of the provincial legislature to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination in its human rights law was itself a violation of section 15 Charter rights. As of 2017, all provinces, territories, and the federal government explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity as prohibited grounds of discrimination in their human rights acts.
Reasonable limits
The entire Charter is also subject to a general limit in
section 1 that allows "such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society." The
Oakes Test
Section 1 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is the section that confirms that the rights listed in the Charter are ''guaranteed''. The section is also known as the reasonable limits clause or limitations clause, as it legally all ...
sets out the Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of this exception. This analysis may consider conflicting Charter rights. For example, the right to equality based on sexual orientation under section 15 may be limited by the
freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
under
section 2, and vice versa. It may also be limited by the right to denominational (religious) schools under Section 93 of the Constitution.
Enforcement mechanism
In the last decades, the rights of LGBTQ+ Canadians were largely enhanced due to several court decisions decided under
Section 15 of the ''
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...
'' (''french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés''), which was included in the
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...
in 1982, and came into force in 1985.
Some of the cases were funded under the Federal Government's Court Challenges Program, which in 1985 was expanded to fund test cases challenging federal legislation in relation to the equality rights guaranteed by the Charter. There were also funding to challenge provincial laws under a variety of programs, but its availability had differed considerably from province to province.
Notwithstanding
In addition, section 15 is subject to the
"notwithstanding clause" of the Charter that allows the federal Parliament and the provincial Legislatures to declare that a law is exempt from certain sections of the Charter for up to five years, which exemption may be renewed any number of times. In 2000,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
amended its ''Marriage Act'' to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.
[''Marriage Act,'' RSA 2000, c. M-5, s. 2, as enacted by SA 2000, c. 3, s. 5]
archived from the original, January 13, 2007. The law invoked the notwithstanding clause of the Charter, but the amendment was nevertheless invalid since the capacity to marry is a matter of exclusive federal jurisdiction according to the Constitution.
The notwithstanding clause can only be used to make exceptions to the Charter; it cannot change the federal division of powers. In any case, the five-year exemption period expired in 2005.
The notwithstanding clause has never been used by the federal Parliament. It is generally believed that such a use would constitute a politically embarrassing admission that the law in question should violate human rights.
However, the notwithstanding clause is no gateway for a government to exercise unjust or oppressive uses of
political power
In social science and politics, power is the social production of an effect that determines the capacities, actions, beliefs, or conduct of actors. Power does not exclusively refer to the threat or use of force (coercion) by one actor against ...
.
Section 33 of the Charter, as the entire Charter, is also subject to
section 1, and, as it applies only to
sections 2 and
7 to
15, is of no force or effect for overriding section 1.
Division of jurisdiction between federal government and provinces
In addition to the Charter, another significant constitutional factor is the division of authority between the federal government and the provincial governments. Under the
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada (french: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. Its contents a ...
, some matters are allocated to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal Parliament, while other matters are allocated to the exclusive jurisdiction of the provincial legislatures. Many of the issues which have direct impact on LGBT rights are under provincial jurisdiction.
Major subjects under federal jurisdiction are the criminal law power, and marriage and divorce. The criminal law power can deal with matters such as hate speech and sentence modifiers for bias motives. In the past, it has been used to criminalise LBGT conduct. The federal jurisdiction over marriage and divorce gives Parliament the power to determine which parties can marry, and also the rules governing divorces, also LGBT issues of interest.
Subjects under provincial jurisdiction include matters such as spousal support for unmarried couples, adoption, filiation of children, vital statistics (including identity documents such as birth certificates), child custody and support, education, housing, health care, pensions and social security. As well, most workplaces fall under provincial jurisdiction.
Human rights law follows this allocation of subjects. The ''
Canadian Human Rights Act
The ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' (french: Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be vi ...
'' is of relatively limited application, applying mainly to the federal government and federally regulated workplaces, such as banks, aviation, and inter-provincial transportation. Provincial human rights laws apply to a much broader range of subjects. Provincial human rights laws apply to most schools, rental housing and health care, and workplaces.
Legality of same-sex sexual activity
Age of consent
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Canada since 1969. Since June 2019, the general age of consent for sexual activity is 16, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation. However, where there is a
relationship of trust,
authority
In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...
or
dependency, the age of consent is 18. The relationship must not be exploitative of the young person. Any form of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
and
exploitation
Exploitation may refer to:
*Exploitation of natural resources
*Exploitation of labour
** Forced labour
*Exploitation colonialism
*Slavery
** Sexual slavery and other forms
*Oppression
*Psychological manipulation
In arts and entertainment
*Exploi ...
is seriously proscribed by law in respect of any person regardless of age. Age of consent laws also provide "close in age" exceptions for youngsters aged 12 through 15. Those exceptions are also subject to the same prohibitions where there is a position of trust or an exploitative relationship.
Anal sex law
During the
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
n era, same-sex sexual activity between men was a
capital crime
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
.
The death penalty was eventually repealed and a broader law involving
gross indecency between men Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the Br ...
was often enforced in the late 19th century.
In June 1969, Parliament passed the ''
Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69
The ''Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69'' (french: Loi de 1968–69 modifiant le droit pénal) was an omnibus bill that introduced major changes to the Canadian ''Criminal Code''. An earlier version was first introduced as Bill C-195 by then-M ...
'', which decriminalized sexual activity between men, with an
age of consent
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...
for anal sex set at 21 years. In 1985, the anal sex provisions in section 159 of the ''Criminal Code'' were relaxed, although the age of consent remained 18 years of age unless the parties were husband and wife.
[Department of Justice Canada: Section 159 of the ''Criminal Code'': Backgrounder.]
/ref> Section 159 continued to make it a criminal offence to engage in anal intercourse if a third person was present, or if anal intercourse was conducted in a public place.
After the enactment of the ''Charter'', courts in Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, and Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
each independently declared section 159 to be unconstitutional
Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...
as a violation of the equality provision of the ''Charter''.
On November 15, 2016, the Liberal Government introduced legislation to repeal section 159 of the ''Criminal Code''. The bill, ''C-32'', would have ensured that all forms of consensual sexual activity be treated equally under the law, with an equal age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual acts. The bill was later incorporated into a new bill, ''C-75'', which was tabled in late March 2018. Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault
Randy Paul Andrew Boissonnault (born July 14, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he represents the riding of Edmonton C ...
, a special advisor to the prime minister on LGBTQ2 issues, stated on behalf of the Government: "We heard from the community that section 159 is a piece of archaic legislation that has continued to affect young men, so it's important to get this debated and passed through the house." On June 21, 2019, the bill received royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
and was enacted as law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
.
Apology to LGBTQ+ people
On November 28, 2017, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
issued a formal apology in Parliament to members of the LGBTQ+ community:
On June 21, 2018, the Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
granted royal assent to the ''Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act'' (french: Loi sur la radiation de condamnations constituant des injustices historiques). The Act allows a person who was convicted of certain homosexual acts prior to their being lawful in 1969, or later on, of anal intercourse
Anal sex or anal intercourse is generally the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris. Ot ...
under the now repealed section 159 of the Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
, to have the RCMP
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
, and federal departments or agencies, "destroy or remove any judicial record of the conviction". The Act also requires that any provincial or municipal police force, or courts, which were involved in such convictions to be notified of the expungement order.
The Parole Board of Canada
The Parole Board of Canada (french: Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in ...
has stated that an expungement is different from a record suspension or pardon
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...
, which is for those who were duly convicted of a crime.
One commentator stated that while a pardon is about the Queen forgiving someone for doing something wrong, an expungement
In the common law legal system, an expungement proceeding is a type of lawsuit in which a first time offender of a prior criminal conviction seeks that the records of that earlier process be sealed or destroyed, making the records nonexistent o ...
means: "The Queen did something wrong. Will you forgive her?"
Police chiefs of Canada apology
In December 2020, Police chiefs of Canada made a formal apology - for the decades of oppression and opposition towards homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
within the 1960s through to today across Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
Recognition of same-sex relationships
Same-sex marriage
Provincial initiatives
Even before 2005, when Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
enacted the ''Civil Marriage Act
The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...
'' implementing same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
across the country, same-sex relationships were already recognized by many provinces, as some provincial statutes were already assigning the same rights and obligations to same-sex and opposite-sex couples living together.
In 2001, Saskatchewan enacted a pair of statutes relating to domestic relations. The two acts amended all provincial statutes which related to the rights and obligations of common law couples, and applied them equally to all common law couples, whether opposite-sex or same-sex couples.
In 2002, Quebec addressed the situation of ''conjoints de fait'' (''de facto'' spouses), both same-sex and opposite-sex. The National Assembly amended the Civil Code of Quebec
The ''Civil Code of Quebec'' (CCQ, french: Code civil du Québec) is the civil code in force in the Canadian province of Quebec, which came into effect on January 1, 1994. It replaced the ''Civil Code of Lower Canada'' (french: Code civil du Bas- ...
to provide same-sex and opposite-sex couples with an all-encompassing solution, the most extensive possible within provincial jurisdiction. The amendments created a legal status of civil unions
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
. Couples who choose to form such a union, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, benefit from the same effects as those of marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
, "as regards the direction of the family, the exercise of parental authority, contribution towards expenses, the family residence, the family patrimony and the compensatory allowance." Since then, in addition to being bound to share a community of life, and owing each other respect, fidelity, succour and assistance, civil union spouses have the same rights, duties and obligations as married couples. However, unlike marriage, which is under federal jurisdiction
Federal jurisdiction is the jurisdiction of the federal government in any country that uses federalism. Such a country is known as a Federation.
Federal jurisdiction by country
All federations, by definition, must have some form of federal juri ...
, a civil union is valid only in Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and may not be recognized outside of the province. The couple may be faced with unexpected problems if they are outside Quebec.
Court decisions
Between 2002 and 2005, courts in several provinces and one territory ruled that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples is a form of discrimination that is prohibited by Section 15 of the ''Charter''. The courts struck down the common law definition of marriage used under federal law, and held that same-sex couples had the right to marry in those jurisdictions. Trial courts deferred the effect of their rulings, to allow the federal government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
time to consider whether it would enact legislation or appeal the decisions. However, the Ontario Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...
in its decision held that the new definition came into effect immediately in Ontario. Courts in other provinces and one territory followed that approach, with the result that those Canadian jurisdictions became the third in the world to allow same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. By July 2005, same-sex marriages were legally recognized in all provinces and territories except Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...
, the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
and Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
, encompassing over 85% of Canada's population.
Federal government response
The Federal Government announced in the summer of 2003 that it would not appeal the decisions, and would draft legislation to allow same-sex marriages across the country. The bill was put before the Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
to ensure that it would withstand a Charter challenge by those who oppose same-sex marriage. In December 2004, the Supreme Court declared the proposed definition of "marriage" as being consistent with respect to all matters referred to in the Charter, and as falling within the exclusive legislative authority of the Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
.
Parliament passed the bill on July 20, 2005, making Canada the fourth country to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, and the first to do so without a residency requirement.
Public opinion
One study by Mark W. Lehman suggests that between 1997 and 2004, Canadian public opinion on legalizing same-sex marriage underwent a dramatic shift: moving from minority support to majority support and that this support was the result of a significant shift in positive feelings towards gays and lesbians
Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual m ...
.
Adoption
The first province to allow adoption of children by same-sex couples in Canada was British Columbia in 1996. Since then, adoption by same-sex couples has been legalized in Ontario (1999), Nova Scotia (2001), Saskatchewan (2001), Newfoundland and Labrador (2002), Quebec (2002), Manitoba (2002), the Northwest Territories (2002) and Yukon (2003). In Alberta, stepchild adoption was legalized in 1999. Eight years later, in 2007, joint adoption became legal in Alberta. New Brunswick legalized joint adoption in 2008, while Prince Edward Island did so in 2009. Nunavut legalized adoption by same-sex couples in 2011, and thus became the last province or territory in Canada to do so. Three provinces (British Columbia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan) will grant parental status to three or more intentional parents allowing for a wider range of queer and trans families. These parents may be in addition or in place of the birth parent. However, some find the "law operated within some strong normative constraints."
Discrimination and harassment protections
Enforcement mechanism
The Federal Government and every province and territory in Canada have enacted human rights acts that prohibit discrimination and harassment on several grounds (e.g. race, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation) in private and public sector employment, housing, public services and publicity. Some acts also apply to additional activities. These acts are quasi-constitutional laws that override ordinary laws as well as regulations, contracts and collective agreements. They stand by the rule that every person has the right to the equal benefit of the law. They are typically enforced by human rights commissions and tribunals through a complaint investigation, conciliation and arbitration process that is slow, but free, and includes protection against retaliation. A lawyer is not required.
Anti-discrimination definitions
Sexual orientation is not defined in any human rights act, but is widely interpreted as meaning heterosexuality
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
and bisexuality
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
. It does not include transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
people. The Federal Court of Canada has stated that sexual orientation "is a precise legal concept that deals specifically with an individual's preference in terms of gender" in sexual relationships, and is not vague or overly broad.
As of 2017, all human rights acts include "gender expression" and/or "gender identity" as prohibited grounds for discrimination. Previously, human rights tribunals had interpreted their human rights acts as including gender identity and gender expression under the category of "sex" as a prohibited ground for discrimination.
The Ontario Human Rights Commission
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...
has adopted the following definition:Sexual orientation is more than simply a 'status' that an individual possesses; it is an immutable personal characteristic that forms part of an individual's core identity. Sexual orientation encompasses the range of human sexuality from gay and lesbian to bisexual and heterosexual orientations.
And defines gender identity and gender expression as follows:
Gender identity is each person's internal and individual experience of gender. It is their sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person's gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex. Gender identity is fundamentally different from a person's sexual orientation.
Gender expression is how a person publicly presents their gender. This can include behaviour and outward appearance such as dress, hair, make-up, body language and voice. A person's chosen name and pronoun(s) are also common ways of expressing gender.
Similar definitions exist in other provinces' Human rights commission
A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights.
The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...
s, for example, Quebec's Commission defines sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
as ''the emotional or sexual attraction to someone'', and, as a personal characteristic, as being ''permanent or difficult to change''.
All human rights laws in Canada also explicitly prohibit discrimination based on disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...
, which has been interpreted to include AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
, ARC and being HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
-positive, and membership in a high-risk group for HIV infection.
Federal law
On June 20, 1996, the ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' (CHRA; french: Loi canadienne sur les droits de la personne) was amended to include sexual orientation as a protected ground. The CHRA guarantees the right to equality, equal opportunity, fair treatment and an environment free from discrimination in employment and the provision of goods, services, facilities or accommodation within federal jurisdiction, such as federal departments and agencies, the Canadian Armed Force, banks, radio and television stations, airlines, and interprovincial transportation facilities.
Attempts to add "gender identity and expression" as protected grounds began when NDP MP Bill Siksay
William Livingstone Siksay (born March 11, 1955) is a Canadian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) who represented the British Columbia riding of Burnaby—Douglas for the New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2011.
Early life
Siksay ...
introduced a private member's bill
A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...
in the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 2005. When it failed to pass before Parliament was dissolved, he reintroduced the bill in 2006 and again in 2009, with additional provisions to add gender identity and expression to the hate crimes provisions of the ''Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
''. In February 2011, it passed third reading in the House of Commons with support from all parties, but was not considered in the Senate before Parliament was dissolved for the 41st Canadian federal election. Similar bills were introduced in the next Parliament, and Randall Garrison
Randall C. Garrison (born August 27, 1951) is a Canadian politician. Elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 federal election, he represents the electoral district of Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke and is a member of the New Democratic Party ...
's bill was passed in the House of Commons, but it died on the Senate order paper when the 2015 federal election was called.
In May 2016, the government introduced '''', to add "gender identity or expression" in the ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' and the hate crimes provisions of the ''Criminal Code''. In June 2017, the Canadian Parliament
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
passed the bill and it received royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
a week later. The law went into effect immediately.
Provincial and territorial laws
In 1977, the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
The ''Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte des droits et libertés de la personne), also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1 ...
, which is both a charter of rights and a human and youth rights act, was amended to prohibit discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
based on sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
, and later harassment, in 1982. Thus, the province of Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
became the first jurisdiction in the world larger than a city or county to prohibit sexual orientation discrimination, and harassment (including but not limited to mockery, insult, bullying, and intimidation at school, or at work), in the private and public sectors. The law was later amended to include gender identity and gender expression in 2016. Since 2008, Quebec's Ministry of Justice has specifically been assigned for the fight against homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
, so as to perform full social acceptance among and within Quebec's population. "The mandate of the ''Bureau de lutte contre l'homophobie'' is to oversee the implementation, monitoring and assessment of the Government Action Plan against Homophobia," which "promotes respect for the rights of sexual minority members," and sets down "the creation of safe, inclusive environments," as one of its five priorities.
In 1984, in Manitoba, LGBT activists pushed for inclusion of protection from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation with tactics including a 59-day hunger strike by Richard North. In 1987, Manitoba passed the Human Rights Code which included protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
In 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in '' Vriend v. Alberta'' that the exclusion of sexual orientation from human rights acts was a violation of section 15(1) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sexual orientation was thus protected by law under every jurisdiction in Canada. In 2009, Alberta became the last jurisdiction in Canada to add "sexual orientation" to its human rights code.
Since June 2017, all provincial and territorial human rights legislation explicitly prohibits discrimination based on gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the i ...
, and some also explicitly include gender expression.
LGBT discrimination protections table
Activities where equality guaranteed
Accordingly, discrimination, including harassment, based on real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV/AIDS status is prohibited throughout Canada in private and public sector employment, housing, services provided to the public and publicity. All aspects of employment are covered, including benefits for spouses and long-term partners. Examples of services include credit, insurance, government programs, hotels and schools open to the public. Schools open to the public are liable for anti-gay name-calling and bullying by students or staff. LGBT Canadians have been allowed to serve in the military since the ''Douglas'' case was settled in 1992.
Prohibited discrimination occurs not only when someone is treated less favourably or is harassed based on a prohibited ground, but also when a uniform policy or practice has a perhaps unintended disproportionately adverse effect based on the ground. This is called "adverse effect discrimination." For example, it might in theory be discriminatory for schools open to the public to require parental consent for student participation in all school clubs, assuming that students are less likely to ask for or get permission to participate in gay–straight alliance
A Gay–Straight Alliance, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or Queer–Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organisation, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United ...
clubs.
Exceptions
Human rights acts have no exceptions specifically for sexual orientation or gender identity, however, human rights acts typically include an exception for "bona fide requirements" or qualifications that applies to most grounds (e.g. sex, sexual orientation, disability), but only when the stringent requirements of the Meiorin Test are met.
Since human rights acts are quasi-constitutional laws, it is not possible for job applicants or unions, for example, to sign away equality rights. However, other laws may explicitly say that they apply notwithstanding a human rights act. Furthermore, some collective agreements include broad non-discrimination provisions that actually expand upon the rights listed in human rights acts.
Schools and other educational institutions
The rights of LGBT students and staff in an educational institution vary considerably depending on whether the institution is religious and/or open to the public, since human rights acts only partially prohibit discrimination against pupils of private schools and the Charter only partly prohibits discrimination by churches, associations and businesses, while section 2 of the Charter protects freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
and section 93 of the Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
recognizes the right to denominational schools in some provinces.
The curriculum of public schools, particularly in British Columbia, are now being amended to incorporate LGBT topics. In reality, implementation of curriculum varies from school division to school division and often from teacher to teacher.
Religious educational institutions may in many cases discriminate based on sexual orientation against students and staff according to religious doctrine. Nevertheless, if they rent facilities to the general public on a commercial basis without regard to their religion, they may not refuse to rent them to LGBT groups. Controversially, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in favour of denying accreditation
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...
to a religious university in 2018, due to its policies banning students who have had gay sex or sex outside of marriage.
However, most educational institutions, including privately owned schools open to the general public, are public services. They are subject to human rights acts and are strictly required to not discriminate against staff or students based on all the prohibited grounds, including sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS (and gender identity, see ''Grounds of prohibited discrimination'' above). They are strictly liable for harassment, name-calling and bullying of students and staff by ''staff'' on these grounds. In addition, as a result of the ''Jubran'' decision, they are liable for most such behaviour by ''students''. They may be liable for anti-gay bullying even if the victim is not gay, nor believed to be (e.g. when a bully knowingly makes a false claim that a girl is a lesbian so that she will be ostracized or bullied by others or pressured to have sex with a boy to prove otherwise).
Furthermore, it may not be enough for schools to progressively discipline bullies when this is ineffective. Schools are responsible for providing an educational environment that is free from discriminatory harassment, and this may require them to provide "resources to adopt a broader, educative approach to deal with the difficult issues of harassment, homophobia and discrimination."
Public education governance bodies may place limits on the freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
and the freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
rights of teachers and school counsellors with respect to statements they may make regarding LGBT issues, both on and off the job. Teachers and school counsellors are considered to hold positions of trust and influence over young people and are required to ensure that their public statements do not impair public confidence in the school system or create an unwelcoming or intolerant school environment.
In 2012, Ontario passed the ''Accepting Schools Act'', which was enacted after growing concern regarding bullying behaviours and several tragic suicides of bullied students. The legislation is intended to identity and prevent bullying, which includes LGBT students, and provide resources and support for educators and students as they deal with bullying incidents. Under the act, bullying is defined as repeated and aggressive behaviour by a pupil where, 1) the behaviour is intended by the pupil to cause, or the pupil ought to know that the behaviour would be likely to cause, harm, fear or distress to another individual, including psychological harm or harm to the individual's reputation and 2) the behaviour occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, family circumstances, gender, race, disability or the receipt of special education. Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories and Yukon have also enacted similar anti-bullying laws. Other provinces, including British Columbia and Saskatchewan, have established policies and action plans regarding bullying in schools.
On June 18, 2020, the employees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR; ) is a Canadian Crown corporation and national museum located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adjacent to The Forks. The purpose of the museum is to "explore the subject of human rights with a special but not ex ...
revealed that its management would sometimes ask staff not to show any gay content on tours at the request of certain guests, including religious school groups.
Hate speech and propaganda
Federal laws
The ''Criminal Code'' explicitly forbids communicating hate propaganda against members of identifiable groups, which includes members of the public distinguished by sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. Members of identifiable groups are thus protected against hate speech and publications. In addition to the prohibition on hate publications, the ''Criminal Code'' also provides against defamatory libel
Defamatory libel was originally an offence under the common law of England. It has been established in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. It was or is a form of criminal libel, a term with which it is synonymous.
England, Wales and Northern ...
. Everyone, including LGBT people, is protected against defamatory libels, especially through books, pamphlets, newspapers and the open Web, that are "likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing him to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or that is designed to insult the person of or concerning whom it is published", either directly, by insinuation or irony
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
, by words or otherwise. The ''Criminal Code'' also criminalises the act of advocating genocide
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
, again against members of identifiable groups.
Hate speech is also prohibited by regulations passed under the Broadcasting Act
Broadcasting Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom that relates to broadcasting. The Bill for an Act with this short title will usually h ...
. Where a station, network or undertaking is operated for radio purposes, television broadcasting or discretionary services, "a licensee shall not broadcast programming that contains ... any abusive comment or abusive pictorial representation that, when taken in context, tends to or is likely to expose an individual or a group or class of individuals to hatred or contempt on the basis of sexual orientation; any false or misleading news".
Provincial and territorial laws
There are also prohibitions on hate publications in three provinces and one territory.
Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories have enacted prohibitions on hate publications in their human rights legislation. Alberta's law prohibits hate publications based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex and sexual orientation. British Columbia prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Saskatchewan prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, while the Northwest Territories law prohibits hate publications based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.
Supreme Court decisions
In ''R v Keegstra
''R v Keegstra'', 9903 SCR 697 is a freedom of expression decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where the court upheld the ''Criminal Code'' provision prohibiting the wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group as constitutional u ...
'', the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the criminal prohibition on hate propaganda, while in ''R v Lucas
''R v Lucas'' is the leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the criminal offence of defamatory libel._1_SCR_439.">998">''R_v_Lucas'',_[1998/nowiki>_1_SCR_439./ref>_The_Court_held_that_the_Criminal_Code_(Canada).html" ;"title="998/nowiki>_1_ ...
'' it upheld the offence of defamatory libel. The Supreme Court has upheld the prohibition on hate publications in human rights laws in two cases, ''Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor'', and ''Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v Whatcott''.
Conversion therapy
"Conversion therapy
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...
," also known as "reparative therapy," refers to widely debunked and abusive medical, spiritual and psychological practices that falsely claim to be able to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression. Such practices were rejected and condemned by every mainstream medical and mental health organization, including the Canadian Psychological Association
The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the primary organization representing psychologists throughout Canada. It was organized in 1939 and incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, in May 1950.
Its objectives are to imp ...
, the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Paediatric Society
The Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is a national association of paediatricians.
As a voluntary professional association, the CPS represents more than 3,000 paediatricians, paediatric subspecialists, paediatric residents, and other people wh ...
, citing potential harm and lack of efficacy.
The law makes it a crime to subject a person of any age, consenting or not, to such treatment. Conversion therapy is any attempt to change a person's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. However, because the practice has come under increasing scrutiny, a practice Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called 'despicable and degrading', providers frequently change their terminology to avoid detection. Some of those terms can seem relatively harmless at first glance. Here are a few examples: Sexual Orientation Change Efforts (SOCE); Sexual Attraction Fluidity Exploration in Therapy (SAFE-T); Eliminating, reducing or decreasing frequency or intensity of unwanted Same-Sex Attraction (SSA); Reparative therapy; Sexual reorientation efforts; Ex-gay ministry; Promoting healthy sexuality; Addressing sexual addictions and disorders; Sexuality counseling; Encouraging relational and sexual wholeness; Healing sexual brokenness.
Federal law
Parliament passed ''An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy)'' (initially referred to as Bill C-4), in December 2021. The House of Commons gave unanimous consent to a motion that the bill be deemed to have been referred to a Committee of the Whole
A committee of the whole is a meeting of a legislative or deliberative assembly using procedural rules that are based on those of a committee, except that in this case the committee includes all members of the assembly. As with other (standing) c ...
, read and passed through at all stages, on December 1, 2021. The Senate followed on December 7, 2021. The bill received royal assent the following day on December 8, and came into force on January 7, 2022.
The Act imposes criminal penalties on anyone causing another person to undergo conversion therapy, removing a child from Canada to perform conversion therapy, advertising or promoting conversion therapy, and benefiting financially from conversion therapy. The Act includes both sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in its definition of conversion therapy, and protects both adults and minors.
An earlier bill that would have banned conversion therapy (Bill C-6) had passed the House of Commons in June 2021, but did not pass the Senate before Parliament was dissolved ahead of the September 2021 election. Unlike C-4, the ban in C-6 would not have extended to adults.
Provincial and territorial laws
In 2012, the professional order A professional order is an organization which, in a given territory, comprises all the members of the same profession, a profession which can generally be exercised in a liberal manner and which ensures a form of regulation of the profession in ques ...
for Quebec psychologists () reaffirmed "its position that homosexuality ''per se'' is not a mental disorder", and that it "opposes portrayals of sexual minority youths and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation". Any complaints concerning aversive therapies, whether it be conducted by religious, professional or other practitioners, would be filed with either one of the professional orders and/or Quebec's '' Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse'', under the harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...
clause, section 10.1 of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms
The ''Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte des droits et libertés de la personne), also known as the "Quebec Charter", is a statutory bill of rights and human rights code passed by the National Assembly of Quebec on June 27, 1 ...
, or under the psychological ill-treatment clause, section 38 of the ''Youth Protection Act''. "No ideological or other consideration, including one based on a concept of honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
, can justify any situation described in section 38". In October 2020, the Quebec Government introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy. It was passed unanimously on 9 December 2020 and given Royal assent on 11 December 2020. The Act provides that any person having undergone such therapy, that is, through spiritual or non-spiritual practice, service or treatment, may obtain reparation for the resulting injury. In Quebec, an action for damages for bodily injury resulting from conversion therapy, cannot be prescribed anyway; such therapy, within the meaning of the Civil Code of Québec, constituting a criminal offence as violent behaviour suffered during childhood. As a result, conversion therapy was made punishable and remediable by law in Quebec on December 11, 2020.
On May 22, 2015, Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady
Sharon Anne Blady is a former provincial politician in the Canadian provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2007 Manitoba general election, 2007 provincial electio ...
announced measures to stop conversion therapy in Manitoba. Blady said the province's Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation – including how health care services are provided. Blady also stated that "it is the position of the Manitoba Government that conversion therapy can have no place in the province's public health-care system."
In June 2015, the ''Affirming Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Act (Bill 77)'' was made law in the province of Ontario. The act bans conversion therapy on minors and forbids it from being funded under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan ( French: ''Assurance-Santé de l'Ontario''), commonly known in both official languages by the acronym OHIP (pronounced ), is the government- run health insurance plan for the Canadian province of Ontario. OHI ...
public health care for anyone, of any age. The bill was introduced by Cheri DiNovo, a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
, and passed the Legislative Assembly with the support of all three major political parties.
On June 6, 2018, the Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
City Council unanimously voted to prohibit conversion therapy by businesses, regardless of age. The business licence bylaw applies to all licence holders, including religious groups.
Three bills (one each from the Nova Scotia Liberal Party
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party is a centrist provincial political party in Nova Scotia, Canada and the provincial section of the Liberal Party of Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia, under the leadership of Zach ...
, the Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia
The Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia (formerly Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia), is a moderate political party in Nova Scotia, Canada. Like most conservative parties in Atlantic Canada, it has been historically as ...
and the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party
The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social-democratic, progressive provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (C ...
) to ban the pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...
and abusive practice were introduced in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. On September 25, 2018, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...
passed the ''Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Protection Act'', the Liberal Party bill, with the unanimous support of all parties. The legislation received royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
on 11 October and went into effect immediately. The act provides measures similar to Ontario's legislation, both in terms of prohibiting professionals from performing the therapy on minors, and prohibiting public funds from paying for the procedures for everyone regardless of age. However, Nova Scotia's age limit is set at 19 instead of 18, and its exception for competent consenting individuals has a minimum age limit of 16, whereas Ontario's act doesn't set any specific minimum limit with respect to competent consenting individuals. Nova Scotia's legislation also prohibits persons in a position of trust or authority (such as a religious leader) from making efforts aimed at changing the orientation or gender identity of a person under 19 years of age.
In November 2018, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...
MLAs unanimously passed a motion expressing support for a conversion therapy ban. The non-binding motion was brought to the floor by Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
MLA Peter Bevan-Baker
Peter Stewart Bevan-Baker (born 3 June 1962) is a Scottish-Canadian politician, currently the leader of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island representing New Haven-Rocky Point ( ...
. Health Minister Robert Mitchell argued to the best of his knowledge that conversion therapy is not practiced in the province. A queer rights advocate said he would like to see the province take the next step and introduce legislation. In November 2019, MLAs unanimously passed the ''Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Protection in Health Care Act''. The bill, as supported by the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island
The Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island is one of three major political parties on Prince Edward Island. The party and its rival, the Liberals, have alternated in power since responsible government was granted in 1851.
Histor ...
, was a collaboration between Health Minister James Aylward and Opposition Leader Peter Bevan-Baker
Peter Stewart Bevan-Baker (born 3 June 1962) is a Scottish-Canadian politician, currently the leader of the Green Party of Prince Edward Island and a member of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island representing New Haven-Rocky Point ( ...
. The bill was granted royal assent on November 28 and went into effect immediately. The act is a combination of the legislation of Ontario and that of Nova Scotia, however, Prince Edward Island's legislation has used the age of 18 across the board whereas Nova Scotia's legislation uses the age of 16 for some aspects.
In March 2020, the Yukon Government introduced a bill to ban conversion therapy for minors. It was passed and given Royal Assent on 9 November 2020.
Intersex rights
For Intersex Awareness Day
Intersex Awareness Day is an internationally observed awareness day each October 26, designed to highlight human rights issues faced by intersex people.
History
The event marks the first public demonstration by intersex people in North America ...
in October 2018, Egale Canada
Egale Canada (formerly Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada. ...
published a statement calling on the Canadian Government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
to protect the rights of intersex persons, fulfilling "treaty body obligations under international law," and accompanied by a submission to the UN Committee Against Torture. The statement referred to Criminal Code . 268(3) stating that it "allows for parents and medical practitioners to undertake nonconsensual, cosmetic surgeries on intersex infants". In May 2019, the Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in Canadian French, French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada.
History
The Association's first Annu ...
made a similar call.
Since 2017, besides male and female, Canadian passport
A Canadian passport (french: passeport canadien) is the passport issued to citizens of Canada. It enables the bearer to enter or re-enter Canada freely; travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitates the p ...
s have been available with an "X" sex descriptor. In June 2019, Canadian authorities announced that non-binary
Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...
people may also apply to have an "X" gender marker.
Birth certificates in Canada are issued by provincial and territorial officials. As of 2019, Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, and Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
allow for a "third gender
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...
" option ("X"). Some provinces, namely Ontario and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
, also offer citizens the option of not displaying the sex field at all.
In January 2021, rights pertaining to the designation of sex in the Quebec register of civil status—for transgender, non-binary and intersex people—were upheld as a result of a ruling by the Quebec Superior Court
The Superior Court of Quebec (french: Cour supérieure du Québec) is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Qu ...
.
Blood and tissue donation
There are no restrictions on blood donations specifically from men who have sex with men in Canada.
Canada had had a three-month deferral period before men who have sex with men could donate blood since 2019. On April 28, 2022, Health Canada
Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...
announced that it had accepted a request by Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services ( French: ''Société canadienne du sang'') is a non-profit charitable organization that is independent from the Canadian government. The Canadian Blood Services was established as Canada's blood authority in all provinces ...
to change that policy and eliminate the three-month waiting period for gay and bi men, for donations of both blood and plasma. Instead, Canadian Blood services has implemented a new screening policy for all donors, regardless of sexuality or gender, to identify individuals who have engaged in high-risk sexual activities. Individuals who have anal sex with more than one person will still be required to undergo the three-month deferral period. The new policy took effect on September 11, 2022.
In Quebec, the blood donation service Héma-Québec announced that it would eliminated the waiting period in two steps, for plasma donations on October 2, 2022, and blood donations on December 4, 2022, following approval from Health Canada.
Both blood bank
A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...
s collaborate with and maintain close links to each other, complying with Health Canada
Health Canada (HC; french: Santé Canada, SC)Health Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Health (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government#Departments, with subsidiary unit ...
safety standards.
Currently, the Semen Regulations under Canada's Food and Drug Act only allow specific men to donate semen. Restricted men include any man who has had sex with another man since 1977.
Extraterritoriality of LGBT rights
The Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
applies throughout Canada and creates penalty for offences committed outside Canada, including against LGBT rights, as if they were committed in Canada, especially on board of an aircraft or a ship, or on any means of transportation to or from the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
. This includes any act, anywhere, that would constitute an indictable offence and a terrorist activity, as defined in the Code, for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause, against a segment of the public and a Canadian citizen.
Global Affairs Canada
Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department ...
offers advice and information on safe LGBT travel abroad, and can provide consular assistance and support, discrimination-free, to Canadian citizens, should they be in trouble or need help abroad.
LGBT issues in international politics
In 2008, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
was part of the Joint statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity delivered in the United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
, on behalf of 66 countries. Section 6 reads:
:We condemn the human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity wherever they occur, in particular the use of the death penalty on this ground, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...
or punishment, arbitrary arrest or detention and deprivation of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health
The right to health is the economic, social, and cultural right to a universal minimum standard of health to which all individuals are entitled. The concept of a right to health has been enumerated in international agreements which include the U ...
.
Thereafter, in 2011, Canada was also part of a joint statement delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
, on behalf of 85 countries, for "ending acts of violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity". It recalled the 2008 Joint statement. Section 9 reads:
:We recognise our broader responsibility to end human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
violations against all those who are marginalised and take this opportunity to renew our commitment to addressing discrimination in all its forms
LGBT influence in national politics
In the House of Commons, four parties support LGBT rights with varying degrees. The New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* t ...
, Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
, Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
, and Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
are the most vocal supporters of these rights. At its founding, the Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
was largely opposed to LGBT rights, although some members, typically former members of the Progressive Conservative Party, have supported LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage. Former members of the Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
(CA) have generally opposed expanded LGBT rights, and a former CA MP was rebuked for calls to re-criminalize homosexuality.
Since 2006, the Conservative Party has become a stronger advocate for LGBT rights in Canada and abroad. In May 2016, Conservative Party delegates voted in favour of removing the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman from the party's official policy document, effectively changing the party's official position on same-sex marriage from opposed to neutral.
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, who represented suburban Vancouver-area constituencies of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He is noted as the first mem ...
is notable for having been the first MP to come out
Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity.
Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...
as gay, in spring 1988. He has since been followed by other gay and lesbian politicians in Parliament: fellow New Democrats Libby Davies
Libby Davies (born February 27, 1953) is a Canadian politician from British Columbia. She was the member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015, House Leader for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and Deputy Leader ...
, Bill Siksay
William Livingstone Siksay (born March 11, 1955) is a Canadian politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) who represented the British Columbia riding of Burnaby—Douglas for the New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2011.
Early life
Siksay ...
, Philip Toone, Craig Scott and Dany Morin
Dany Morin (born December 19, 1985) is a Canadian businessman and former politician, who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015. He represented the electoral district of Chicoutimi—Le Fjord as a member of the New Democrat ...
; Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
MPs Réal Ménard
Réal Ménard (born May 13, 1962) is a Canadian politician, who was a Bloc Québécois member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2009. He was the second Canadian member of Parliament to come out as gay.
Ménard is a political scien ...
and Raymond Gravel; and Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
MPs Scott Brison
Scott A. Brison (born May 10, 1967) is a Canadian former politician from Nova Scotia. Brison served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Kings-Hants from the 1997 federal election until July 2000, then from November 2000 to Febru ...
, Mario Silva and Rob Oliphant
Robert Oliphant (born June 7, 1956) is a Canadian politician and a United Church minister. He served in the House of Commons as a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Don Valley West from 2008 to 2011. He returned to office afte ...
, as well as Senators Laurier LaPierre
Laurier L. LaPierre (November 21, 1929 – December 16, 2012) was a Canadian Senator, professor, broadcaster, journalist and author. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.
Fluently bilingual, LaPierre was best known for having bee ...
and Nancy Ruth
Nancy Ruth Rowell Jackman (born January 6, 1942) is a Canadian heiress, activist, philanthropist and former Canadian Senator. She was appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin, on March 24, 2005. While initially appointed as a Progressive Conse ...
.
As of 2019, there are four members of the House of Commons and two senators who openly identify as gay or lesbian.
Chris Lea
Chris Lea is a designer, politician and political activist in Canada. He was the leader of the Green Party of Canada from 1990 to 1996. Lea is notable for being the first openly gay political party leader in Canadian history.
Biography
Lea is a ...
, leader of the Green Party of Canada
The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics.
The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It el ...
from 1990 to 1996, was the first openly gay political party leader in Canada. Svend Robinson became in 1995 the first openly gay candidate for the leadership of a political party with representation in the House of Commons, although he was not successful. André Boisclair
André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician and convicted sex offender in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec.
Between January 1996 and M ...
, the former leader of the Parti Québécois, became the first openly gay leader of a party with parliamentary representation in North America; Allison Brewer, former leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party, was also elected leader as an out lesbian.
The following provinces have had openly gay provincial cabinet ministers: Ontario (Kathleen Wynne, George Smitherman, Glen Murray (politician), Glen Murray), British Columbia (Tim Stevenson, Lorne Mayencourt, Ted Nebbeling), and Manitoba (Jim Rondeau, Jennifer Howard (Canadian politician), Jennifer Howard). On January 26, 2013, Kathleen Wynne became the leader of the Liberal party of Ontario and premier of that province (the largest of the country's thirteen provinces and territories, with approximately 39% of the country's population). Following the 2014 Ontario general election, Ontario provincial election in 2014, Kathleen Wynne became the first openly gay leader to be elected with a majority mandate in all the commonwealth jurisdictions.
ProudPolitics, a cross-partisan organization dedicated to providing networking and fundraising assistance to LGBT politicians and candidates inspired by the American Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, was established in Toronto in 2013.
On November 15, 2016, Randy Boissonnault
Randy Paul Andrew Boissonnault (born July 14, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he represents the riding of Edmonton C ...
, Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre, was named Special Advisor on LGBTQ2 issues to the Prime Minister. The role involves advising the Prime Minister "on the development and co-ordination of the Government of Canada's LGBTQ2 agenda" including protecting LGBT rights in Canada and addressing both present and historical discrimination.
On April 23, 2019, the Royal Canadian Mint launched a new dollar coin symbolizing social equality, equality with 3 million loonies placed into circulation (currency), circulation to commemorate 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Canada.
In August 2019, Ottawa List of mayors of Ottawa, Mayor Jim Watson (Canadian politician), Jim Watson came out as gay in an op-ed to the ''Ottawa Citizen''.
Canada Pride Citation
In 2018, Canadian Member of Parliament Randy Boissonnault
Randy Paul Andrew Boissonnault (born July 14, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he represents the riding of Edmonton C ...
unveiled the ''Canada Pride Citation'', a badge designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority to be worn by LGBT members of the Canadian Armed Forces as a form of Reparations (transitional justice), reparation for injustices historically committed against the community.
On the subject of the Citation, General Jonathan Vance said:
Jody Thomas, Deputy Minister of National Defense, noted:
Summary table
See also
* Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
* Egale Canada
Egale Canada (formerly Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada. ...
* Age of consent
* Age of consent reform in Canada
* Fruit machine (homosexuality test)
* Transgender rights in Canada
* Human rights in Canada
* LGBT policy in the Canadian military
* LGBT rights in the Commonwealth of Nations
* LGBT rights in La Francophonie
* LGBT rights in the Americas
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Documenting Queer Canadian History: A Bibliographic Record of Gay and Lesbian (LGBTQ) Diversity from Earliest Times to 2010
(This 1869-page digital (PDF) document, issued in 2019, is also retrievable through the Library and Archives Canada online catalogue, through WorldCat, and from the Internet Archive).
– Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC Archives
1965 Everett George Klippert: A Fight for Justice
NWT Historical Timeline, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights In Canada
LGBT rights in Canada,