A recent survey has revealed that people born in Canada are more likely to support people being able to express their gender however they choose.
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.
When it came to gender expression, people born in Canada were more likely to agree with statements supporting people’s rights to gender expression than those born elsewhere.
The survey found that 80 per cent of women and 71 per cent of men born in Canada agreed that individuals should be able to express their gender however they choose, compared to 70 per cent of women and 67 per cent of men born outside the country.
In addition, a larger proportion of First Nations women (82 per cent) than non-Indigenous women (77 per cent) supported people’s right to express their gender.
The survey also found that support people being able to express their gender however they choose has declined in recent years.
The percentage of women who agreed that people should have this right decreased from 85 per cent to 77 per cent between 2018 and 2025, while support among men dropped from 78 per cent to 70 per cent.
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.
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.
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.
StatCan also notes “an increasingly vocal public discourse which aims to legitimize transphobic perspectives has been observed by some” in the years since 2018.
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.
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.
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.
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