Can You Legally Change Your Gender in Canada

It is important to know that if you change your legal name on your birth certificate, you will also need to change your name on several of your other identification documents. In British Columbia, the requirement for surgery to change the sex marker on the birth certificate was lifted in 2014. [27] A legal change of sex is not appropriate for residents who were not born in British Columbia. British Columbia non-binary resident Kori Doty, along with seven other trans and intersex people, filed a human rights complaint against the province, alleging that the publication of a gender indicator on birth certificates was discriminatory. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal agreed to hear his complaint in 2015. [28] In April 2017, Doty`s child, Searyl Atli Doty, became the first in the world to receive a health card with a sexual “U” (for “unspecified”), but the province refused to issue a birth certificate without specifying a gender. Doty filed a lawsuit. [28] [29] In 2005, NDP MP Bill Siksay introduced legislation in the House of Commons to explicitly add gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act. He reintroduced the bill in 2006. In May 2009, it reintroduced it, with additional provisions to add gender identity and expression to the hate crimes provisions of the Criminal Code. [72] In February 2011, it passed third reading in the House of Commons with all-party support, but was not considered in the Senate until Parliament was dissolved for the 41st Canadian federal election. Two bills – C-276 and C-279 – on this subject were introduced in the 41st Parliament of Canada by the Liberals and the NDP respectively.

The NDP`s Bill C-279 passed second reading on June 6, 2012. [73] However, the bill died again on the Senate Order Paper when the 2015 federal election was proclaimed. In May 2016, a bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Penal Code (C-16) was introduced in the Canadian House of Commons to include “gender identity or expression” in the Canadian Human Rights Act. [74] In June 2017, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-16 and received Royal Assent a week later. The act immediately came into force as Bill C-16. If you wish to change your sex marker to M or F, you will need to provide supporting documents. Anyone born in Ontario must be registered with the government. [5] This is a birth registration. Your birth registration contains details about your birth (date, name, parents` names, place of birth, birth weight). This is a government document that forms the basis of your permanent legal records. The Canadian Human Rights Act (“HRA”) prevents discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression in the workplace or when accessing a service associated with or under the responsibility of the federal government. This means that if you feel you are being treated differently in a negative or offensive way when interacting with a government-regulated office or organization, including Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or Passport Canada, you may be able to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

If you want to change your driver`s license to show X, you do not need to submit any supporting documents. You can apply at a Service Ontario centre. Because each Service Ontario centre is different, you may find staff who still want to request documents. It is against the rules. You have the right to refuse to provide documents. If you feel you are being discriminated against, you also have the right to sue with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. If you want to change the information on your birth certificate, you must first change the information on your birth registration. After following the steps above, you can request an updated birth certificate that will display the new information.

Unlike your internal birth registration, your old information will not appear on your new birth certificate. For many two-spirit, non-binary, trans people, the information on their legal documents does not match their lived identity. If so, you may want to consider customizing your documents to match your gender and name. You can only change your Ontario birth registration information if you were born in Ontario You must appoint an executor or substitute decision-maker, a trusted person who respects your decisions and executes your will. This person does not need to be a family member. The person you choose can communicate your gender to medical staff and a funeral director, or complete the death declaration themselves to ensure that your identity is respected. In this article, you will learn how to make changes to your documents and what to do if you feel that your gender and name are not respected. This is a growing area of law and each province has different rules on how to make these changes. This article only covers Ontario rules, as well as rules for changing this information on your Canadian passport, Social Security Number (SIN) card, and Indian Status card. If you believe you have a complaint that falls under the Human Rights Act, you can file a formal complaint. You can try to raise your concerns with a supervisor for the service and/or consider a legal option.

There are human rights tribunals for Ontario and for Canada (and for all other provinces and territories). If you file a formal complaint, you may have the opportunity to reach an agreement or you may be able to attend a hearing. If your claim is accepted, the court may order changes to policies, ensure that you receive services in a non-discriminatory manner, and provide you with financial compensation. Identification documents must include your name, gender identity, date of birth, photo, and a signature (such as a driver`s license). In addition, human rights commissions believe that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on gender identity at the federal level and in New Brunswick. [81] [82] [83] If you wish to change your name on your Medicare card, you must complete a Change of Information form[13] and submit it with an updated change of name certificate or birth certificate. It is important to know that if you change your legal name on your birth certificate, you must notify Service Ontario within six days. Your name on your driver`s licence or photo ID must match the name on your birth certificate, and you must bring your current driver`s licence and change of name certificate to a Service Ontario location. If you do not change your birth certificate, but you get a change of name certificate in Ontario, you can decide if you want to change your name in other legal documents. The name in your passport must match the name on your birth certificate. If you have changed your name on your birth certificate, you will need to apply for a new passport. To do this, you must submit: Until 2016, only one clinic, the Gender Identity Clinic at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, could provide referrals for SURGEries reimbursed by OHIP.

Ontario saw a sharp increase in the number of patients seeking an SRS after 2008, and in 2015, the Camh Gender Equality Clinic had a waiting list of 1,150 people. [132] That year, Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced his intention to allow referrals from any qualified health care provider. [132] The amendments came into force in 2016. In June 2016, Ontario stopped putting a gender marker on new health cards. To make this change, you must submit these documents to the Registrar General of Ontario: Note: Do not include credit card information in your application form. Once you have completed your form, you will be redirected to a payment page where you can enter your payment information and complete your application. Photocopied or faxed forms to change the gender name will not be accepted. Original signed forms must be submitted. People born in Newfoundland and Labrador have been able to change the gender indicator in their birth registration since the passage of a new Vital Statistics Act in 2009. [36] Originally, this provision was only available to individuals who had undergone gender-affirming surgery, but this requirement was waived following a December 2015 decision by a Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Committee on complaints filed by two trans women with the Human Rights Commission. [37] [38] The amendment received Royal Assent on April 13, 2016.

[39] [40] Previously, Quebec required candidates to be Canadian citizens. A 2021 Court Decision, Centre for Gender Advocacy et al. v. The Attorney General of Quebec struck down six laws deemed discriminatory against trans and non-binary Quebecers, including one that prohibits the use of non-binary gender designations and another that prohibits non-citizens from obtaining a change of name and gender designation. [61] The Government of Quebec has until the end of 2021 to amend this above-mentioned law, with the exception of the discriminatory citizenship requirement, which the Court declared invalid with immediate effect. In practice, the citizenship requirement has been removed by the Director from the application forms. Also in 2015, Manitoba Health Minister Sharon Blady announced her intention for the province to ban the practice of conversion therapy, stating that conversion therapy had “no place” in Manitoba`s health care system. [144] This prohibition was intended to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals and did not contain specific provisions for transgender people who were “converted” into cisgenders.

[138] In the event of death in Ontario, a physician or coroner usually completes the medical death certificate and gives it to a funeral director along with the body of the deceased.