Annex 1: summary of engagement findings and available Government of Canada initiatives

This annex provides a summary of what was heard during the 2020-21 community engagement process to inform the 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan. Alongside these findings are some of the initiatives that the Government of Canada is currently pursuing to contribute to a more diverse, inclusive and equal country, and that are available to 2SLGBTQI+ communities. 

The engagement process underscored key issues in six themes:

1. Safety and justice
2. Employment and the workplace
3. Health and well-being
4. Housing and homelessness
5. Global protection and promotion of 2SLGBTQI+ rights
6. Stigma, isolation and resilience. 

1) Safety and justice

• 2SLGBTQI+ relations with police and justice institutions are tense, affected by previous criminalization and over surveillance. Engagement participants indicated that the disproportionate number of 2SLGBTQI+ people with criminal records creates barriers to stable employment, fuels stigma and harms health and wellbeing. 
• There is a need for more information on the barriers that prevent 2SLGBTQI+ individuals from reporting hate crimes, the impacts of hate crimes and fear of violence due to day-to-day considerations around dress and public affection. 
• There is broad concern for communities’ safety. Over half of respondents to the national survey did not always feel safe being affectionate with their partner(s) in public. 
• Many 2SLGBTQI+ people reported being afraid to work in the open. Only 46% of employed respondents reported feeling comfortable sharing information about their sexual orientation in the workplace. 
• Respondents who are gay were more likely to report concern for their public safety. Approximately half of all pansexual, queer and Two-Spirit respondents always or often considered their personal safety risks, when deciding how to dress or appear in public. 
• 2SLGBTQI+ communities have historically faced criminalization and persecution by police and other justice-related institutions. This has eroded trust and has strained relationships with police and the legal system. Respondents noted that many who experienced violence did not report it, primarily because they did not think it would make a difference. 
• There is support for the legislation banning conversion therapy, making it illegal to subject adults or children to any practice meant to change their sexual orientation or gender identity. 
• At the time of engagement, the former Bill C-6, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) had been adopted by the House of Commons, but died on the Order Paper when the 2021 federal election was called. The legislation was reintroduced as Bill C-4 and came into force on January 7, 2022. In addition to expressing support for legislation banning conversion therapy, engagement participants stressed the need to help those who have already been harmed by such practices. 
• There is a need to protect and advance the rights of intersex people, emphasizing the importance of consultation with intersex communities. Participants spoke of the negative impacts of stigma and corrective surgeries on intersex mental health. They also expressed frustration at the apparent refusal of the healthcare system to provide intersex people with access to aspects of their medical histories, especially surgeries performed on children who did not consent to such procedures. 
• Criminalization of sex work, drug use and possession, and HIV non-disclosure have had a negative impact on 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Such criminalization disproportionally affects 2SLGBTQI+ people, who often incur criminal records as a result. This creates barriers to finding stable employment, increases and maintains stigma against 2SLGBTQI+ people, enables discrimination and violence towards people living with HIV, increases risk for those engaging in sex work and using drugs, and discourages people from seeking testing or treatment for HIV. 
• There are gaps in the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act, which was passed in 2018 to allow individuals to apply to permanently destroy or remove the records of convictions for eligible offences involving consensual sexual activity between same-sex partners that would be lawful today.

Survey respondents overall who had encountered violence or discrimination

The most common forms of violence and discrimination reported by those who experienced them were:

“It’s not enough to stop future harms [such as those related to conversion therapy]. It’s also important to address the needs of those who’ve suffered harm.” -Participant

“The prevailing view is that intersex people are broken and can only be fixed by medical intervention...while not all intersex people identify as queer, all are subjected to the basic abuse of [their] human rights, autonomy, and the development of a self-image free from sexual stigma.” -Participant

Key current and ongoing initiatives

• Since the coming into force of the new legislative amendment to the Criminal Code, the Government of Canada, through the Victims Fund, has invested over $900K to support victims and survivors of conversion therapy through Public Legal Education and Information organizations and other relevant non-governmental organizations to support the development of materials about the new Criminal Code conversion therapy offences. Justice Canada will support community-based research to understand the experiences, as well as to identify and support needs of conversion therapy survivors.
• Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (passed third reading in the House of Commons in June 2022) proposes among other things, to encourage early diversion, including referrals to treatment programs in appropriate cases, for simple drug possession.
• The Government of Canada has committed to introduce legislation to combat serious forms of harmful online content to protect Canadians, including vulnerable 2SLGBTQI+ people and communities, and hold social media platforms and other online services accountable for the content they host, including by strengthening the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and the Criminal Code to more effectively combat online hate and reintroduce measures to strengthen hate speech provisions, including the re-enactment of former Section 13 of the CHRA.
• Correctional Service of Canada will continue to increase its internal capacity to meet the specific needs of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ offenders through a series of ongoing measures to build awareness, improve access to education and information, and encourage the consideration and implementation of alternative interventions.
• The Parole Board of Canada will support 2SLGBTQI+ offenders and victims throughout the conditional release decision-making process through training for Board members and employees to enhance awareness of issues affecting 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and through expanded, targeted outreach and engagement with 2SLGBTQI+ offenders, victims, and community organizations.
• The Commissioner’s Directive on Gender Diverse Offenders is an overarching policy that provides direction for staff to ensure gender diverse offenders’ needs are met in ways that respect their human rights and ensure their safety and dignity as well as the safety of others in institutions and in the community. This policy is the result of extensive consultations with a wide array of stakeholders, experts, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community and organizations.
• To support evidence-based policymaking and program development, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) continues to pursue research projects on the current gender diverse offender population and its engagement with a wide array of stakeholders, experts, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community and incarcerated persons.
• The Parole Board of Canada has implemented operational changes to capture offender gender considerations and ensure that they are respected in the decision-making process.
• The Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI) supports democracy and social cohesion in Canada by providing time-limited financial assistance to enhance and/or support efforts to counter online disinformation and other online harms and threats that affect equity-deserving groups, including 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.
• Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ youth often face disproportionate bullying and cyberbullying victimization. The Initiative to Prevent Bullying and Cyberbullying, funded in Budget 2018 through It’s Time: Canada’s Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (federal GBV Strategy), includes an awareness campaign, direct-intervention programming, and research components to prevent and address bullying and cyberbullying behaviours.
• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada are collaborating to ensure that the 2021 MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Federal Pathway and National Action Plan and the 2021 National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence are complementary and in alignment. This collaboration includes a working group specific to Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities. The MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA+ Federal Pathway and National Action Plan includes a committee specific to Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ issues and priorities, which hosts focused virtual discussions. Women and Gender Equality Canada’s National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence ensures that the needs of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities are represented. In addition, Budget 2021 included $55 million over five years to bolster the capacity of Indigenous women and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ organizations to provide gender-based violence prevention programming aimed at addressing the root causes of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people.

2) Employment and workplace

• The National Survey provided the following insights into the employment situations of respondents:
  • Approximately half were employed full-time;
  • 11% were employed part-time;
  • 14% were students;
  • 7% were unemployed and currently seeking work;
  • 6% were self-employed; and,
  • 5% were retired.
• Discrimination, harassment, and exclusion remain a prevalent issue in the workplace for 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada. Discrimination they experienced during the hiring process is a substantial barrier to obtaining employment opportunities.
• Those who did experience workplace harassment did not report it, for fear of reprisal or because they believed that their concerns would not be taken seriously. Just over one quarter of survey respondents reported that they had experienced harassment in the workplace due to their sexual orientation, and more than one fifth experienced harassment in the workplace due to their gender identity within the five years preceding the survey.
• The issue of harassment due to their sexual orientation is higher for Two-Spirit people (42%), and almost half of transgender respondents experienced harassment in the workplace due to their gender identity.
• Some respondents to the national survey reported that they conceal their identities in the workplace altogether.
• Less than half of employed respondents reported feeling comfortable sharing information about their sexual orientation in the workplace.
• Participating organizations called for 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion as a new Employment Equity group to address ongoing discrimination.

“Recognizing the importance of inclusive employment, the federal government should dedicate the resources and funding necessary to establish the federal public service as a model for 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion”. -Participant

Key current and ongoing initiatives

• In July 2021, the Government announced the creation of an Employment Equity Act Review Task Force, to conduct a review of the Employment Equity Act (EEA). In its review, the Employment Equity Act Task Force will study various work-related issues dealing with equity, diversity, and inclusion in federally regulated workplaces, and will look at opportunities to redefine and expand equity groups.
• The Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) is a whole of government plan that will reduce poverty, promote employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities, and focus on actions to change attitudes and culture. To this end, the plan will include an employment strategy for persons with disabilities, build on the Accessible Canada Act goal of reaching a barrier-free Canada by 2040, a new Canadian Disability Benefit, and a modern approach to access to federal disability programs and benefits. The plan will take an intersectional approach grounded in human rights that will involve persons with disabilities from diverse communities, including the 2SLGBTQ+ community, in its development and implementation.
• The Government of Canada is working to further diversity and inclusion in federal workplaces, including through the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer at Treasury Board Secretariat. Treasury Board Secretariat also works to promote Positive Space Initiative training modules, has added demographic questions on sexual orientation and gender identity in the Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), and undertakes programs and initiatives to improve 2SLGBTQI+ inclusion in the public service.
• Two open, competitive calls for proposals were launched for the second cycle of Accessible Canada funding (2022-24) for two streams: National AccessAbility Week (NAAW) and Accessible Canada Partnerships (Partnerships) stream. For both streams, there was a focus on awareness raising and expansion of reach of projects to persons with disabilities in underrepresented communities, including 2SLGBTQI+ persons with disabilities, and increasing the impact of successful projects within underrepresented communities. This leads to increasing capacity and enhancing leadership within the disability community for taking action to remove existing barriers.
• Budget 2021 invested $298M over three years in the new Skills for Success (SFS) program. The program will help approximately 90,000 Canadians to improve their foundational and transferable skills to better prepare for, get and keep a job and adapt and succeed at work. While SFS apply to all jobs across the labour market, programming is particularly focused on populations with difficulty accessing and remaining attached to the labour market. The program is undertaking research on the foundational and transferable skills needs of 2SLGBTQI+ communities, which will help SFS to better address those needs moving forward.
• The Women’s Employment Readiness (WER) Pilot Program is a $50M, two-year pilot that funds organizations to provide and test pre-employment and skills development for multi-barriered women, as well as testing models to improve employer inclusivity. Women from 2SLGBTQI+ communities are one of the WER’s four target groups. Results will be used to inform systemic changes to skills and employment programming to improve access and outcomes, including for women from 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
• Through the Tri-Agency Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Action Plan, the federal granting agencies are advancing measures to promote 2SLGBTQI+ researchers and trainees who are specifically recognized as an underrepresented group in the research ecosystem.
• The Guide to Supporting Gender Diversity in the Workplace at Health Canada provides basic information on gender identity, guidance on addressing daily challenges, and resources designed to create a welcoming work for the internal 2SLGBTQI+ community. The Guide was released in January 2021 in response to the Clerk’s Call to Action, and to support the creation of a more inclusive work environment.
• The Black Entrepreneurship Program (BEP) is a partnership between the Government of Canada, Black-led business organizations, and financial institutions that seeks to provide Black Entrepreneurs with improved access to ecosystem supports at the national and regional levels, loan capital, and improve and enhance data on Black entrepreneurship. While the BEP is not specifically aimed at 2SLGBTQI+ communities, it was designed to ensure that marginalized communities, including 2SLGBTQI+ communities, had full access to the programming and resources.
• The Federal Tourism Growth Strategy supports the growth of 2SLGBTQI+ tourism and addresses demand for inclusive tourism experiences. Eligible 2SLGBTQI+ businesses can leverage the Tourism Relief Fund to support COVID-19 recovery and further develop the 2SLGBTQI+ travel market. Budget 2022 announced that the Minister of Tourism will work with the tourism industry, including those with 2SLGBTQI+ perspectives, provincial and territorial counterparts, and Indigenous tourism operators to develop a new post-pandemic Federal Tourism Growth Strategy that positions Canada’s visitor economy as a destination of choice for decades to come.

3) Health and well-being

• 81% of respondents to the survey reported having a primary care provider (i.e., family doctor or nurse practitioner). However, only 15% of total survey respondents reported having access to 2SLGBTQI+ specific mental health services.
• Two-Spirit and transgender respondents were most likely to report discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender (or both) in the health care system.
• There are significant inequities in physical and mental health outcomes for 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada compared to their non-2SLGBTQI+ counterparts. There are also additional barriers when trying to access the healthcare services and resources needed to address them.
• Participants indicated that health disparities between 2SLGBTQI+ people are linked to historical discrimination, which has led to a lack of trust in the health system and other social services. This is made worse for communities facing additional forms of discrimination.
  • Two-Spirit and transgender respondents to the Action Plan national survey were most likely to report discrimination due to sexual orientation or gender (or both) in the health care system.
  • In total, about one third of Two-Spirit respondents, racialized respondents, and respondents with disabilities to the Action Plan national survey reported that they experienced discrimination or were treated unfairly based on their sexual orientation within the health care system during the last five years.
• Participants also noted the lack of awareness and sensitivity of healthcare professionals when it came to providing care adapted to the needs of 2SLGBTQI+ people. Only 15% of respondents had access to 2SLGBTQI+ -specific mental health services whether or not they needed it, and 17% of respondents reported having no access to mental health services at all.
• 2SLGBTQI+ populations experience inequitable outcomes across a range of health indicators such as higher rates of poor mental health, suicidal ideation, and attempts, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI), and chronic disease, among others.

Key current and ongoing initiatives

Several federal departments and agencies have already implemented initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of 2SLGBTQI+ people in Canada. This includes the three Health Portfolio partners (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada) and federal departments providing health services to specific populations.

The existing initiatives listed below have laid a solid foundation. The first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan provides a mechanism through which departments and agencies working on health and wellness will enhance collaboration and coordination across the federal government.

• The Government of Canada Five-Year Action Plan on Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections (STBBI) (2019-2024) describes the role of 10 federal departments in accelerating prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The seven priorities from the STBBI Action Plan include commitments that dovetail with the Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, such as moving toward truth and reconciliation, and addressing stigma and discrimination—which includes supporting enabling environments (policies, laws).
• The Pan-Canadian Framework for Action on Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections (STBBI) provides a common vision to guide the STBBI response. It includes a focus on key populations most affected by STBBI, including gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, and transgender and non-binary people. Its guiding principles include cultural relevance, human rights, health equity, and the meaningful engagement of people living with HIV and viral hepatitis and key populations.
• On March 24, 2022, Health Canada authorized a submission from Héma-Québec to move away from the three-month plasma donor deferral period for all sexually active men who have sex with men, and to instead screen donors of all sexual orientations and gender identities for high-risk sexual behaviours.
• On April 28, 2022, Health Canada authorized a submission from Canadian Blood Services to eliminate the three-month blanket donor deferral period for all sexually active men who have sex with men, and to instead screen donors of all sexual orientations and gender identities for high-risk sexual behaviours.
• Health Canada is working to address the systemic racism and discrimination in Canada’s health systems, including as by Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ peoples. Specifically, through existing program authorities, Health Canada is:
  1. Investing in systems-level, community-supported projects that address racism and discrimination perpetrated against racialized and marginalized populations, including Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ peoples; and
  2. Building capacity within racialized and marginalized communities and/or organizations that serve these populations to enable them to meaningfully engage on their health priorities and perspectives, so that they are adequately considered by health-decision makers. This will include enhancing considerations of the needs of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
• Indigenous Services Canada is supporting initiatives to improve access to high quality and culturally safe health services, with a focus on those who are disproportionately impacted by anti-Indigenous racism, including 2SLGBTQI+ people. In particular, the Cultural Safety Partnership Fund supports Indigenous-led community and regional initiatives that aim to strengthen cultural safety and to address anti-Indigenous racism and systemic barriers in health systems, including those faced by Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer people. In addition, distinctions-based funding is being provided to regional and grassroots organizations that serve marginalized groups, including 2SLGBTQI+ people, and work towards improving access to culturally safe health services.
• Public Health Agency of Canada’s Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund - Black LGBTQI+ Canadians is a program focused on generating new evidence on culturally focused programs and interventions that address the unique mental health determinants and needs of Black LGBTQI+ Canadians.
• Health Canada’s Sexual and Reproduction Health Fund is a three-year initiative (2021-2024) to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care support and services and provide evidence-based information for underserved and disenfranchised populations, particularly 2SLGBTQI+, racialized, Indigenous and youth populations.
• The Pride Guide is a SOGIE resource developed by youth under the Public Health Agency of Canada’s youth public health promotion policy mandate. The objective is to provide youth the opportunity to identify their priorities for creating supportive school environments for 2SLGBTQI+ youth and to provide advice to their peers in creating successful gender and sexual alliance groups within their schools.
• The HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund provides $26.4M per year ongoing to support the community-based response to STBBI in 10 key populations, including projects focused on gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, and transgender and non-binary people.
• The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families continues to expand reach of government and non-government services tailored to meet the needs of those released military members who are facing mental health issues, including 2SLGBTQI+ veterans.
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Catalyst and Support grants for Community-led Research on 2SLGBTQI+ Wellness aim to generate evidence inform the implementation and scale-up of community-based interventions to improve health and wellness for 2SLGBTQI+communities from an intersectional perspective.
• Preventing Gender-Based Violence (GBV): The Health Perspective provides funding for projects that prevent GBV, and its impacts, from a health perspective. The initiative funds a series of 2SLGBTQI+-specific projects focused on preventing dating violence among teens, fostering healthy relationships, and equipping providers to use trauma- and violence-informed approaches in response to GBV.
• CIHR and WAGE are supporting the National Women’s Health Research Initiative (NWHRI). This initiative, inclusive of women, girls and gender-diverse people (including, but not limited to, Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary, gender fluid, agender and intersex people), will transform health research and practice in Canada by producing and implementing a community-based approach through an intersectional lens, committed to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusivity and Indigenous rights.
• The CIHR Indigenous Gender and Wellness Initiative is supporting Indigenous-led research related to gender and wellness, including research to improve wellness of Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ individuals and communities.
• Canada’s national dementia strategy includes a specific focus on 2SLGBTQI+ as a population that faces barriers to equitable care. Programs under the Strategy are encouraged to support 2SLGBTQI+focused projects. For example, the Dementia Community Investment (DCI) has provided funding to Egale Canada for a community-based project to advance the integration, optimization, and promotion of inclusive approaches for 2SLGBTQI+ people living with dementia and their caregivers.

4) Housing and homelessness

• Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people face unique challenges across multiple engagement themes. Participants communicated that due to a lack of housing and services on reserve, Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ people migrate to cities, where they struggle to find housing or employment and acceptance - a cycle rooted in colonization.
• Six percent of respondents to the Action Plan national survey said that their housing stability (the stability of their housing situation or their ability to access stable housing) over the last five years had been impacted by discrimination based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Seven percent of respondents reported an impact due to discrimination based on their real or perceived gender identity.
  • The percentage of respondents who said that such discrimination had an impact on their housing security varied by their population group and Indigenous identity, their age, and their disability status.
  • Younger respondents were more likely than respondents from other groups to report that their housing stability had been impacted by discrimination due to their sexual orientation and/or their gender identity.
  • Eight percent of respondents aged 18-24 and 25-34 reported that discrimination based on their sexual orientation had impacted their housing security, and 10% of respondents aged 16-17 and 18-24 reported that their housing security had been impacted by discrimination due to their gender identity.
  • Data on the discrimination experienced by young people is particularly relevant, given the absence of data on youth homelessness, and the fact that we know that youth are particularly vulnerable to identity-based family conflict, which can lead to homelessness.
• Regarding 2SLGBTQI+ youth, organizations cited data that 2SLGBTQI+ youth account for 25-40% of youth homelessness in Canada; however, many 2SLGBTQI+ youth chose to avoid shelters due to violence, discrimination, and exclusion, which results in a lack of access to safe and affirming services.
• Many participants remarked that services, whether in care homes, shelters, or immigrant welcome centres, are not set up to be 2SLGBTQI+ friendly, and services are disjointed. Also, many immigrant and refugee settlement organizations, already stretched thin, lack the capacity to offer 2SLGBTQI+ -specific housing programs, or the tools to create safe and inclusive spaces.

“… we need to value seniors. 2SLGBTQI+ seniors have the same right to safe housing as anyone else, and that includes housing for them specifically. Many seniors fought for the rights now enjoyed by younger 2SLGBTQI+ folks but find themselves in unsafe situations where they need to re-closet themselves.” -Participant

“It’s hard to stay in a place where you’re discriminated against on the basis of who you are.” -Participant

“When your choices are to sleep in a park or in a shelter where you’ll be ridiculed for your identity, there is no safe choice.” -Participant

“Housing is a fundamental human right but it’s not the end point. There’s also a need for counselling and other mental health services, safe injection sites, and help with addictions... Giving people support to use drugs safely is not effective when they have no home, no skills to get a job, and in most cases, no ability to even do something such as complete their census form.” -Participant

Key current and ongoing initiatives

• The National Housing Strategy (NHS) is a 10-year, over $72 billion plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home. It seeks to ensure that all Canadians have access to affordable housing that meets their needs. The NHS supports the most vulnerable Canadians, including 2SLGBTQI+, women and children fleeing domestic violence, seniors, Indigenous peoples, those experiencing homelessness, persons with disabilities, those dealing with mental health and addiction issues, veterans, young adults, racialized groups including Black Canadians, and recent immigrants and refugees. Organizations and projects supporting 2SLGBTQI+ communities have received housing-related funding through NHS initiatives.
• Reaching Home: Canada’s Homelessness Strategy is a community-based program, which supports the goals of the NHS, and helps the most vulnerable Canadians in maintaining safe, stable and affordable housing. Under Reaching Home, the Government of Canada works with communities to develop and deliver community plans and projects based on data with clear outcomes. This outcomes-based approach keeps the decision-making process at the local level and gives communities greater flexibility to address local priorities, including homelessness prevention, and deliver programming designed to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, including 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
• The Nationally Coordinated Point-in-time (PiT) Count of Homelessness in Canadian Communities is a community-level measure of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness that includes a survey with questions on gender and sexual identity, developed in consultation with stakeholders. Results can be used to identify homelessness trends among people who identify as 2SLGBTQI+. Findings from the third nationally-coordinated PiT Count—which is taking place between March 2020 and October 2022—are expected in spring 2023.
• Canada’s Youth Policy supports addressing issues of youth homelessness, housing affordability, and the intersections of more vulnerable and marginalized identities of youth as it relates to these issues. Canada's first State of Youth Report also references youth access to housing, the needs of 2SLGBTQI+ youth, and other intersecting issues.

5) Global protection and promotion of 2SLGBTQI+ rights

• Participants urged the Government of Canada to further advance its efforts to assist 2SLGBTQI+ people and communities around the world. This includes setting a higher overall target for global funding and introducing an improved policy framework to guide it. 
• Engagement participants also saw a role for Canada to be more proactive in its international obligations by working more closely with civil society to respond to the needs of 2SLGBTQI+ persons globally and during critical situations. For engagement participants, this included supporting 2SLGBTQI+ refugees through measures such as working on a pathway to include 2SLGBTQI+ persons in the refugee stream for humanitarian workers, journalists, and human rights defenders, as well as ensuring that the unique experiences of 2SLGBTQI+ refugees are given due consideration in refugee related processes, including irregular migration, which participants explained disproportionately and negatively impacts 2SLGBTQI+ refugees.

Key current and ongoing initiatives

• Canadian missions abroad continue to organize and complete initiatives that focus on amplifying (raising awareness) Canada's position on 2SLGBTQI+ rights in addition to more targeted approaches such as advocating for audiences to take action in support of Canada’s position. In terms of advocacy initiatives that advanced the “Rights of LGBTI Persons”, there were 297 activities in 2020-21 and 408 activities in 2021-22 carried out by Canada’s Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Service around the world. Many of these activities are supported by the Post Initiative Fund (PIF) and the Mission Cultural Fund (MCF).
• The Government of Canada continues to provide assistance to 2SLGBTQI+ refugees through the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which was established in 2011 to increase awareness among Canadian sponsors of the unique needs of 2SLGBTQI+ refugees, and to strengthen overall sponsorship for those persecuted on the basis of SOGIE. Using existing authorities from Operation Afghan Safe Haven. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has committed to amending the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Partnership to include provisions to resettle an additional 150 Afghan 2SLGBTQI+ refugees under this partnership until December 2024.
• The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) annually funds over 600 projects in countries eligible for official development assistance. These projects focus on human rights, gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in all their diversity, democracy and governance, peace and security, and climate action and economic growth. Approximately 50 projects per year focus on 2SLGBTQI+ issues.
• 2SLGBTQI+ International Assistance allocates dedicated funding, in the context of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, to promote human rights and improve socio-economic outcomes for 2SLGBTQI+ people in developing countries. Global Affairs Canada will continue to work with civil society to ensure the meaningful inclusion of 2SLGBTQI+ persons in its international assistance efforts.
• Several IRCC measures are designed to support 2SLGBTQI+ refugees and newcomers, including a departmental sex and gender client identifier policy that respects non-binary gender identity and expression. The policy sets out how a client’s sex or gender information should be collected, recorded, and displayed in the administration of IRCC’s programs. In addition, the department uses an inclusive interpretation of “parent” that recognizes the differential treatment 2SLGBTQI+ families experience.
• Settlement and Resettlement Programs support service delivery to newcomers to help them integrate into Canadian communities. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada currently funds approximately ten service provider organizations (SPOs) that have specialized 2SLGBTQI+ supports in addition to the many organizations across the country that offer resources and referrals to local 2SLGBTQI+ organizations.

6) Stigma, Isolation and Resilience

• Participants described how isolation, sometimes a product of stigma and discrimination, affects so many 2SLGBTQI+ people. In rural, northern, or remote communities, due to poor internet connectivity and transportation challenges, it is especially difficult for 2SLGBTQI+ people to find each other and form communities of support.
• Participants report taking strength mostly from friendships, chosen family and life partners.
• Participants also shared that building resilience and leadership in youth and community is critical.
• Despite confidence in their capacity to bounce back, participants stressed the overriding importance of the work by 2SLGBTQI+ communities toward awareness, justice, and equity.
• Engagement results demonstrated that 2SLGBTQI+ communities who face additional forms of discrimination, such as racism, ableism and ageism, experience disproportionate inequities and additional barriers when trying to access supports.
• Participants also noted that additional community support/resources are required. For example, engagement findings demonstrated that community organizations are already performing essential work in combatting stigma and isolation and building resilience amongst their community members, but that the amount of work they do in this regard is limited by financial resources.
• Many organizations reported that they struggle to operate, relying on volunteers and project-by-project funding. They seek long-term, operational funding, and adoption of a 2SLGBTQI+ lens to all federal government funding. Small and rural organizations face funding models that privilege large and urban organizations. One organizational representative expressed that: “We are always in survival mode.”
• Participants saw the value of the LGBT2Q Secretariat as a node for community contact within the federal government, calling for its permanent funding and enhanced role as change agent within the federal government.
• Engagement participants expressed support for and welcomed Women and Gender Equality Canada’s Community Capacity Fund and the Projects Fund, however, many asked that they be extended to fund core operations and multi-year projects.

Key current and ongoing initiatives

• In 2019, Women and Gender Equality Canada introduced the Community Capacity Fund, the first targeted programming to support the capacity needs of 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations. Its objective is to build stronger capacity and networks of 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations to advance 2SLGBTQI+ equity across Canada. Since its implementation, it has delivered funding to 77 organizational recipients, and early in 2022, the Government of Canada announced that it would be extending funding to existing recipients for an additional year.
• Budget 2021 announced $15 million for Women and Gender Equality Canada to launch a new Projects Fund, with the objective of supporting community-informed projects that will address key issues facing 2SLGBTQI+ communities.
• Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada’s Supporting Indigenous women’s organizations and Indigenous 2SLGBTQI+ Organizations Program provides organizations with long-term project funding to engage at the grassroots level so they can advance their voices within all levels of government and support real and meaningful systemic change in Canada.
• Employment and Social Development Canada’s Age Well at Home Initiative funds seniors-serving organizations to provide practical supports to vulnerable seniors in their communities such as meals, housekeeping and yard work to help them stay in their homes and communities as long as possible. The initiative supports projects that specifically target low-income and otherwise vulnerable seniors, including 2SLGBTQI+ seniors.
• The New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) helps ensure that seniors can benefit from, and contribute to, the quality of life in their community by providing funding to a range of seniors-serving organizations who support seniors’ social inclusion. Projects that target vulnerable seniors, including 2SLGBTQI+ seniors, are prioritized in the Program’s intake.
• The Building Communities through Arts and Heritage Program supports 2SLGBTQI+ communities by funding 2SLGBTQI+ events, including 2SLGBTQI+ pride events, which serve to eliminate social barriers, increase social participation and expression of identity, and promote tolerance and inclusion.
• In 2018, the Government of Canada released its policy direction on sex and gender information practices for the Government of Canada, in order to improve information and data collection, use and display practices for people who are transgender, non-binary and Two-Spirit.
• Canada is the first country to collect and publish census data on transgender and non-binary people. Released in April 2022, data from the 2021 Census offer new insights into the diversity of our nation, showing that 1 in 300 people in Canada aged 15 and older living in a private household in May 2021 were either transgender or non-binary.
• Budget 2021 included $172 million over five years and $36.3 million ongoing for a Disaggregated Data Action Plan. Statistics Canada’s Disaggregated Data Plan (DDAP) seeks to collect and disseminate data and research which emphasizes intersectionality and highlights the most disaggregated data possible. The DDAP prioritizes the collection of disaggregated data on Indigenous peoples, gender (women, men, non-binary persons), visible minorities, and persons with disabilities. Where relevant and possible, disaggregation will extend to other considerations, including sexual orientation.
• Canada’s New Anti-Racism Strategy: The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat will be working across government to socialize a series of anti-racism tools to assist federal departments and institutions to embed intersectional anti-racism considerations in all business lines. The Federal Secretariat will work, through Global Affairs Canada, with foreign allies to embed intersectional racial equity considerations at a multilateral level, notably through the North American Partnership for Racial Equity and Inclusion. The new strategy will fund community-based projects that address different systemic racism and racial discrimination from an intersectional perspective.
• The Social Development Partnerships Program (Children and Families) works with not-for-profit organizations to improve life outcomes of vulnerable populations. The current focus of the program is to support projects that improve the social inclusion of vulnerable children and youth, and the financial empowerment of low-income people. 2SLGBTQI+ community organizations have received funding from this program over the last several years to support a range of community activities.
• Sport Canada’s Community Sport for All Initiative seeks to remove barriers and increase sport participation rates for underrepresented populations. Funded proposals will work with community-based groups on activities to address barriers to participation in sport, particularly among the following: Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and new Canadians.
• Sport Canada’s Innovation Initiative funds eligible organizations to test approaches and to look at innovative ways of addressing challenges related to the participation and retention of underserved populations in sport. In 2022-23, as part of the Community Sport for All Initiative, the priority populations are Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, and new Canadians.

The Government of Canada is committed to applying Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) in decision-making to ensure that policies and programs are responsive to and inclusive of diverse needs, and consider impacts on diverse groups of people. GBA Plus is a process for identifying who is impacted by an issue; how they are impacted; how intersecting factors, such as gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, race, ethnicity, disability, age, geography, language, religion, education, and economic status, as well as systemic discrimination, such as homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia, shape experiences, outcomes, and access to programs or services; and how initiatives need to be tailored to meet the needs of diverse groups of people. Women and Gender Equality Canada continues to work with federal departments to strengthen the application of GBA Plus to decision-making, to ensure that initiatives contribute to 2SLGBTQI+ equality and that no one is left behind.