LGBTQ2+ communities in Canada: A demographic snapshot

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Release date: August 5, 2021
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Infographic: LGBTQ2+ communities in Canada: A demographic snapshot
Description: LGBTQ2+ communities in Canada: A demographic snapshot

LGBTQ2+ communities in Canada: A demographic snapshot

Canada is home to approximately 1 million people who are part of LGBTQ2+ communitiesNote 1, accounting for 4% of the total population aged 15 and older.

Approximately 75,000 Canadians are transgenderNote 2 or non-binaryNote 3, representing 0.24% of the Canadian population aged 15 and older.

The LGBTQ2+ population is relatively young. Youth aged 15 to 24 made up 30% of the LGBTQ2+ population, compared with 14% of the non-LGBTQ2+ population.

More than half of LGBNote 4 Canadians aged 15 and older are bisexual, with bisexual women (332,000) outnumbering bisexual men (161,200) two to one. In addition, one-quarter of Canada’s LGB population are gay men (255,100), while one in seven are gay or lesbian women (150,600).

NUMBER OF SAME-SEX COUPLES IN CANADA FROM THE 2016 CENSUS: 72,880

  • One-third of all same-sex couples in Canada are married
  • Two-thirds live common-law

HALF OF ALL SAME-SEX COUPLES IN CANADA WERE LIVING IN:

  • Toronto 18%
  • Montréal 17%
  • Vancouver 10%
  • Ottawa–Gatineau 5%

Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, 2015 to 2018; Census, 2016; Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, 2018.

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2021

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

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