Canadians who think people should express gender however they choose on decline: survey

Support for people's right to express their gender however they choose has declined among both women and men since 2018. Photo by tomap49 /Getty Images/iStockphoto

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A recent survey has revealed that fewer Canadians support people being able to express their gender however they choose compared to eight years ago.

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The findings, published in Statistics Canada’s Juristat, were based on self-reported data from the 2018 and 2025 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS). The survey examined how attitudes toward gender-related issues have changed over time.

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When it came to gender expression, women were more likely than men to agree with statements supporting people’s rights to gender expression.

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In 2025, 77 per cent of women and 70 per cent of men agreed that people should be able to express their gender however they choose. Women were also more likely to say they would support a family member if they came out as transgender (77 per cent compared to 65 per cent).

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However, support for people’s right to express their gender however they choose has declined among both women and men since 2018.

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The percentage of women who agreed that people should have this right decreased from 85 per cent to 77 per cent, while support among men dropped from 78 per cent to 70 per cent.

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The StatCan survey doesn’t examine the potential causes behind the decline, but notes that the changes in attitude coincide with “a period of animated public discourse” surrounding the rights of transgender and non-binary people.

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While the federal government has expanded recognition of these rights in recent years, including through the $100-million 2022 Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, some provinces have enacted their own policies on gender expression in schools, sports and health care.

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In 2023, Saskatchewan passed legislation requiring parental consent for students to use their affirmed names or pronouns at school instead of those assigned at birth. In 2025, Alberta used the notwithstanding clause to prevent transgender girls from participating in female sports and prohibit doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy for those under 16.

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StatCan also notes “an increasingly vocal public discourse which aims to legitimize transphobic perspectives has been observed by some” in the years since 2018.

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At the same time, 2024 data from StatCan showed that hate crimes targeting gender identity or expression increased for the fourth consecutive year. These types of crimes almost tripled, rising 184 per cent between 2020 and 2024.

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Meanwhile, the survey found that support for diverse gender expression among people aged 15 to 24 was especially high among women, at 82 per cent, but significantly lower among men in the same age group, at 68 per cent.

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Views on gender expression also varied by education level, with support highest among respondents who had completed university. Among university graduates, 81 per cent of women and 74 per cent of men supported the right to gender expression.