The census is asking Canadian residents about their sexual orientation for the first time this year. One in four households is receiving the long-form questionnaire, which includes a question through which respondents can identify themselves and household members aged 15 and up as heterosexual, lesbian or gay, bisexual or pansexual or a write-in option. Data collection for most Canadian households begins today.
In July, Statistics Canada announced it would be introducing the question about sexual orientation to the 2026 census after consultations revealed that it “was one of the most frequently reported perceived data gaps in census content by federal partners, academics and organizations.” Canada is now one of the few countries to collect census data on sexual orientation, alongside New Zealand, Ecuador and the United Kingdom.
Jad Sinno, research director at the Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC), a national organization promoting the health of LGBTQ2S+ people, says the new census question is a welcome change. “This comes after decades of advocacy from queer community members and advocates and researchers, including CBRC, calling on the federal government to be including sexual orientation and gender identity and queer-related identity metrics in the census,” they say.
Canada became the first country in the world to collect census data on gender identity in 2021, following advocacy efforts from non-binary University of Calgary student Quinn Nelson and LGBTQ2S+ researchers and organizations.
Another advocate excited about the new sexual orientation question is Devon MacFarlane, an independent LGBTQ2S+ health consultant who previously worked for Health Canada and Rainbow Health Ontario and runs the blog Queering Health. “Being seen in a census is really important,” they say. “If we’re not getting counted, how much do we actually count in the scheme of things when it comes to policy?”
While queer-led scholarship and community research has pointed to the many disparities impacting LGBTQ2S+ communities, decision-makers are often more likely to respond directly when these issues are backed up by large-scale, robust datasets such as the census, says Sinno. They believe the data will prove useful for CBRC’s research on health outcomes in LGBTQ2S+ communities, particularly for queer and trans people with multiple marginalized identities and in different geographical areas.
Census data “provides a more comprehensive and fulsome picture in order for us to be able to understand what are the demographics associated with queer populations in Canada,” Sinno says. “It also allows us to ask more interesting questions about how, for example, various health indicators or socio-economic status indicators or social determinants of health are related to differing aspects of our communities.”
MacFarlane explains that Statistics Canada data is also used in decisions about funding allocations and policy development in sectors such as health, employment and housing. “From the data we do have, we know that queer, trans and Two-Spirit communities are doing worse in all of these areas,” he says. “If we’re not in census data, we will tend to get forgotten about when people are engaged in policy development work.”
MacFarlane points to the City of Toronto’s 2024 Access Plan for Two-Spirit, Trans and Non-Binary Youth as an example of how disaggregated census data can be used to support the creation of services to address inequities faced by LGBTQ2S+ communities. The plan identifies actions to increase employment training programs for gender-diverse youth, likely informed by the 2021 census’s findings that these youth were more likely to experience poverty and be out of work compared to their cis counterparts. MacFarlane hopes that similar analysis can be done based on sexual orientation following the 2026 census.
However, the collected census data may not capture all queer Canadians aged 15 and above. Research from CBRC has shown that many LGBTQ2S+ people are reluctant to disclose their sexual orientation on government-administered surveys, which could lead to an undercount in the final results.
Sinno says they think this “follows or stems from a long history of neglect from the Canadian government, [and] distrust in medical institutions.” The census is mandatory by law and answers are confidential, but some LGBTQ2S+ people may still have concerns about disclosing their sexuality.
For example, the question about sexual orientation could pose difficulties for young people who live with their families. An adult of the household is responsible for filling out the census for the entire household. Therefore, young people may not be correctly counted if they do not feel comfortable coming out to their parents or guardians, or if these adults do not recognize their sexual orientation as valid.
“We have to recognize that these limitations are going to exist and we must account for those limitations in the interpretation of the data,” says Sinno.
Sinno emphasizes that queer communities should have ownership of the data and know how it’s being used. They propose that Statistics Canada work with LGBTQ2S+ organizations to develop governance standards similar to the Indigenous Liaison Program, in which regional liaison advisors partner with Indigenous organizations and communities to gather and distribute data and support its use in decision-making.
“Ultimately, it is our hope that the data is used ethically and responsibly to further the well-being of queer communities,” Sinno says.
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