Canada Census Finds 1 in 300 Are Transgender or Non-Binary

(Bloomberg) -- About one in 300 Canadians said they were either transgender or non-binary as Canada became one of the first countries in the world to collect official census data on gender identity.  

More than 100,000 people out of nearly 30.5 million Canadians age 15 or older identified themselves under the new categories, accounting for 0.33% of the population in that age group, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. Just over 59,000 were transgender, while more than 41,300 said they were non-binary, according to to the statistics agency. 

While a number of nations have gathered survey information on gender identity, Statistics Canada says it’s the first to collect and publish such data in a national census. The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said it would ask a voluntary question about gender identity in its 2021 census. 

While specifying the data are not “strictly comparable,” the Canadian agency noted that representative survey-based data show New Zealand and Belgium have adult populations that are roughly 0.5% transgender and non-binary, while crowd-sourced and non-representative surveys show Ireland and England and Wales at about 0.6% each and the U.S. at about 0.8%.

Other details in Canada’s new gender statistics: 

• The vast majority of non-binary individuals -- about nine out of 10 -- live in urban areas of more than 100,000 people.
• Nova Scotia and British Columbia were the provinces with the largest proportion of non-binary and transgender people, with roughly one in 200 people identifying as such in both places.
• Nearly one in six non-binary people live downtown, accounting for roughly one in 200 people age 15 or older in Canada’s census metropolitan areas.
• About 62% of the 100,815 people identifying as transgender or non-binary were younger than 35.

StatsCan modified its existing census question about sex by specifying “at birth,” while adding the new question on gender, so that “the historical continuity of information on sex was maintained while allowing all cisgender, transgender and non-binary individuals to report their gender,” the agency said.

“These data can be used by public decision makers, employers, and providers of health care, education, justice, and other services to better meet the needs of all men and women—including transgender men and women—and non-binary people in their communities,” StatsCan said.

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