Silent discrimination: the ongoing omission of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians in census data and employment equity

Bit overtaken by events given the EE Taskforce recommended this change and Minister O’Regan has endorsed it. But like all changes, may take some time although the Public Servant Employee Survey is already including LGBTQ in their biennial survey. Census change is likely for the 2026 census:

Back in 2011, I applied for a faculty position at a publicly funded Canadian university. I recall (and have since reconfirmed) the section in the posting declaring the employer’s commitment to equity and diversity in the workplace. The institution welcomed applications from women, visible minorities, aboriginal (now Indigenous) people, persons with disabilities, and persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity. But the employer’s employment equity process fell short of this commitment.

As I progressed through the hiring process, I could neither identify nor be considered under employment equity criteria based on my sexual orientation as a gay man. As the university explained, this was because comparator census data on sexual orientation were not available for the Canadian population or workforce population.

All universities in Canada, and in fact all organizations with more than 100 employees receiving over $1-million per year in federal funding, are required to establish and maintain employment equity practices as part of the Federal Contractors Program. However, the program, building on the Employment Equity Act, only considers four designated equity groups: women, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. The program does not extend to sexual orientation due to the absence of national census data on sexual minorities, despite the fact that sexual orientation is one of the protected grounds from discrimination under both federal and provincial human rights laws.

More than a decade later, Statistics Canada has yet to address this glaring omission in the census data, and sexual orientation remains absent from employment equity processes. This, despite the fact that changes to the census are not uncommon. The 2021 census featured a laudable update asking Canadians to distinguish between sex at birth and gender, making provisions for data on gender identity. While this change is a duty well met, it is certainly not the laurels upon which Chief Statistician of Canada Anil Arora should rest. With the recent news that the Government of Canada has endorsed recommendations in the 2023 Report of the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force Report, Statistics Canada has been formally called to develop census questions related to all 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians. But will they?

Without data on sexual orientation, we are unable to track and analyze the employment and living status of Canadians who identify as members of sexual minority communities, nor are we able to ensure our various employment sectors reflect this country’s diverse populations. Notably, sexual orientation is the only protected group not represented on the Canadian census. This omission from the census is at best neglectful, and at worst discriminatory.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the federal government launched the first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan which seeks to improve rights and equality for 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada. Based on a crowed-sourced national survey of over 25,000 respondents, the plan shows that discrimination, harassment, and exclusion remain a prevalent issue in the workplace for 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and that discrimination experienced during the hiring process is a substantial barrier to employment. Data also show that 2SLGBTQI+ people earn significantly lower average personal income ($39,000) compared to non-2SLGBTQI+ ($54,000) people and are more likely to live in poverty (with up to 40 per cent of Canadian homeless youth identifying as 2SLGBTQI+).

The takeaway message from the Action Plan is clear: 2SLGBTQI+ people continue to face systemic discrimination based on their sexual orientation, sex characteristics, gender identity, and gender expression. Yet without systemic data, we are left unable to redress this discrimination or create equitable access pathways to employment. We are also left unable to assess the career progressions and promotion potential of 2SLGBTQI+ once hired, potentially perpetuating the proverbial glass ceiling facing 2SLGBTQI+ people.

Following the Action Plan, the Employment Equity Act Review Task Force recently recommended recognizing 2SLGBTQI+ workers as an equity group under the Employment Equity Act, and including questions about sexual orientation on the Canadian census. However, Statistics Canada has yet to respond to these recommendations. While Statistics Canada has made important strides on the census to collect data on gender identity by including questions that identify and acknowledge transgender and non-binary Canadians, others who identify as members of sexual minority communities remain invisible—both in national data efforts and in employment equity processes. As Statistics Canada is now in the process of preparing for the 2026 census, it is the time to address this flagrant omission in data. It is time to start acknowledging 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians in our census and in our employment equity processes. The time for change is now.

Christopher DeLuca is a professor at Queen’s University and lives in Kingston, Ont.

Source: Silent discrimination: the ongoing omission of 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians in census data and employment equity