StatCan seeking advice on how to share secret census data on transgender children 'O to 14'
Statistics Canada is seeking feedback from various groups on options for releasing data collected during the last census, but not publicly shared, on transgender and nonbinary children from toddlers and pre-schoolers to young teens.
In a consultation guide, the federal agency said it “may be breaking new ground” as the first national statistics office in the world to disseminate gender information for children and youth under 15.
“There are enough cases in the 2021 Census data to support basic analysis by gender diversity status for young children and youth aged 0 to 14,” the agency said, data that could provide “valuable information on the experiences and outcomes among this population.”
The 2021 census was the first in Canada to collect information on sex at birth as well as gender, how the individual identifies. According to the data, 100,815 people, or 0.33 per cent of the population aged 15 and older, identified as transgender or non-binary. The proportion was highest (0.79 per cent) for Gen Z (those born roughly between 1997 and 2012).
But only data on those aged 15 and older have so far been released.
Numbers collected on younger children “required more investigation to ensure quality and protect confidentiality,” the agency said in a statement to National Post. The goal is to ensure data are reported in a way “that does not cause undue harm to gender diverse children and youth,” according to the consultation document.
Some who have called for an urgent reappraisal of Canada’s gender-affirming model of care praised StatCan for collecting the data, although they questioned the agency’s reluctance to release it publicly.
“Transparency as to the number of impacted youth can only be a good thing, in my view,” said Calgary pediatrician Dr. Edward Les, who added it wasn’t at all clear “what harm could arise from sharing data so openly, so as to help foster discussion around the health of these kids.”
However, he and others also said the document appears to have an ideological bent and they questioned whether asking parents to make judgments on their children’s gender is an accurate way to collect data.
The question of persistence is also a minefield.
“There are many gender nonconforming children,” said Dr. Joanne Sinai, a clinical associate professor and psychiatrist at the University of British Columbia.
“The majority of them will grow up to be gay or lesbian and not have gender dysphoria.”
“Some parents would label their gender nonconforming children as transgender, and others would not,” Sinai said. “Gender ideology is interfering with the acceptance of gender nonconforming kids as being completely normal rather than it being an indication they are transgender.”
Gender is a feeling and fluid, Sinai added. “I have no idea what non-binary even means for young kids. It’s different for everyone and there is no way to define it.”
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society’s 2023 position statement on gender-affirming care , some children may recognize a “degree of mismatch” between their gender identity and birth sex as early as age two or three, and, by ages six to seven, “children begin to appreciate gender as an identity independent of external features.”
“Children and youth are often assumed to be cisgender (people whose reported gender corresponds to their birth sex) from birth until they ‘come out’ as a different gender on their own accord,” reads the StatCan consultation guide.
“Researchers suggest that children aged 18 to 24 months are developmentally capable of recognizing gender norms and expressing gendered behaviours in visible ways.”
“Research also suggests that, like cisgender children, transgender and non-binary children may recognize their own gender identity as early as 2 to 3 years old or during later childhood or early adolescents,” the document reads.
Les challenged that assumption. “The document’s contention that ‘researchers’ have found that children as young as two or three can exhibit evidence of ‘cross-gender’ identity is further evidence of ideological capture,” he wrote in an email to the Post.
“We’re expected to believe, I suppose, that a little boy that plays with dolls is therefore a girl, or that a female toddler enamoured with trucks is a boy, and that a parent observing this sort of behaviour can vouch ‘by proxy’ that their child is ‘transgender.’ What nonsense.”
Gender isn’t static and can change “from one point-in-time to another,” the document reads.
Kids can generally self-report around age 12. However, parents who report their child’s gender status by proxy may or may not do so accurately, the agency noted. “If a child has not disclosed their gender as gender diverse or if their gender is not affirmed by the proxy respondent, then the child’s gender may be reported as their assumed gender by default.”
It’s complicated, Sinai said. Typically, one person per household fills out census data. “You have one parent who has a gender non-conforming kid is who is like, ‘whatever.’ And you have another parent who doesn’t want to be seen as transphobic, and they would say ‘my kid is trans.’”
Some parents are opting “not to gender” their children based on birth sex “and rather consider the child as non-binary until they can explore and present their gender as they see fit,” the consultation paper states.
But gender-open parenting can be psychologically confusing for children, Sinai said.
“They’re in a world where things are boy and girl. Whether we like it or not, there is a dichotomy. They’re in a world which is male and female. They see adults. They see other kids. It can be incredibly confusing if nobody is referring to them as their sex. That could really confuse their sense of identity development.”
StatCan is exploring an age cutoff for the under-15 data, although the document noted that “there are enough cases in the 2021 Census data to support basic analysis” by gender status for typical five-year groups, such as 0 to four, five to nine and 10 to 14.
The questions select respondents are being asked include how the public might react if the data are released or not released.
Children identifying as trans and nonbinary and their families are often marginalized, “and at times targeted by groups that seek to dismiss their existence and limit their rights,” the document reads.
This week, Alberta’s United Conservatives invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to pass three controversial laws that require parental consent for students changing their names or pronouns in school, a ban on the prescribing of puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones to youth under 16 and a law prohibiting transgender girls from participating in amateur female sports.
Releasing the data on young children could help address gaps in the public’s understanding of these children, but it could also be met with negative reactions and misconceptions, the StatCan document states.
When the census data on sex and gender were first released, Egale Canada said the information could help minimize discrimination and improve the mental health and wellbeing of transgender and non-binary people.
Sinai is concerned the data will be used “to justify medicalization, meaning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in youth.”
In a statement to the Post, StatCan said its consultation guide includes a summary and literature review “that present various perspectives and considerations.” However, Les noted that the document includes only three references and makes no mention of two studies by McMaster University-led researchers published earlier this year that concluded “considerable uncertainty” remains about the gender-affirming medical treatment for youth, echoing a major British review that led to a ban on puberty blockers for minors.
StatCan said it is consulting with “subject-matter” experts.
The consultation was launched Nov. 10, and ended Friday, StatCan said.
“Questions were sent to multiple groups and individuals, including LGBTQ+ groups, who were identified as likely data users.”
The same questions on birth sex and gender will also be asked in the 2026 census.
National Post
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