Highlights
Diffusion : August 7, 2024
The results presented on this page are taken from the Statistical Compendium on Sexual and Gender Diversity, a compilation of statistics from various data sources. It provides a portrait of sexual and gender minorities under different themes, such as demographics, education, health and well-being, social and community life, and victimization. This compendium is accompanied by a document outlining the concepts related to sexual and gender diversity and their measurement in population surveys: Statistical production on persons of sexual and gender minorities: concepts and measures (PDF, 699 KB).
What is sexual and gender diversity?
Sexual and gender diversity refers to all groups characterized by their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender modality. It thus includes people from sexual and gender minorities, as well as heterosexual and cisgender people.
The people of sexual minorities are those who reported a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, including those who reported a lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer or two-spirit sexual orientation. heterosexual people are people who declared a heterosexual sexual orientation.
The people of gender minorities refer to transgender people, that is, people whose (binary) gender does not match the sex they were assigned at birth, as well as non-binary people, that is, people whose gender falls outside the binary male-female model. Cisgender people are those whose gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
Representation within the Quebec population
In 2019-2021, nearly 261,600 people were part of sexual minorities in Quebec, or approximately 3.9% of the population aged 15 and over. They are, in proportion, more numerous among 15-29 year-olds than among 30 year-olds and over (8% vs. 2.9%).
In 2021, approximately 16,225 people were part of gender minorities, or approximately 1 in 400 people aged 15 and over (0.23%). They are proportionally more numerous among 15-34 year-olds (0.52%) than among 35 year-olds and over (0.12%).
Sources
Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey2019 to 2021, sharing files (sexual minorities) and 2021 Population Census (gender minorities). Adapted by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
The overrepresentation of young people among sexual and gender minorities could have an effect on some of the statistics presented on this page. These are limited to the relationships between two variables and do not take into account the interaction of other factors, including age.
Marital status
In 2019-2021, in Quebec, people from sexual minorities were proportionally less likely than heterosexual people to be:
- married (13% vs. 35%);
- widowed, separated or divorced (6% vs. 12%).
Nearly a quarter of sexual minorities were living in a common-law relationship (25%): a proportion similar to that observed among heterosexual people (26%).
It is noted that more than half of sexual minority people were single without having been married (56%), a proportion higher than that observed among heterosexual people (26%).
The level of education
In 2019–2021, approximately 40% of sexual minority people aged 25 and over had obtained a university degree at the bachelor’s level or higher. They were proportionally more likely to have achieved this level of education than heterosexual people (31%).
About 7% of sexual minorities had achieved less than a high school diploma compared to 12% of heterosexuals. They were proportionally less likely to have achieved a trade school education (9%) than heterosexuals (15%).
Having someone to count on
In 2021-2022, sexual minority people were proportionally less likely to feel that they often or always had someone they could count on in times of need than heterosexual people.
Discrimination and unfair treatment
In 2021-2022, a significant share of sexual and gender minority people felt they had experienced discrimination or unfair treatment in the past five years because of their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
Download the collection (XLSX, 729.24 KB)
Data sources and indicators
2021 Population Census
Gender minority demographic data is taken from the 2021 Census of Population, which collected information on sex at birth and gender from the entire Canadian population. This included the count of transgender and non-binary people.
Canadian Community Health Survey
Data on marital status and education level come from the sharing files of theCanadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. To improve the accuracy of the estimates, the share files from the 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions of the survey were combined.
Data for the indicator “serious suicidal thoughts” come from the sharing files of the 2019 and 2020 editions of theCanadian Community Health Survey.
Canadian Social Survey
Estimates regarding theCanadian Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada are taken from quarterly editions produced from April 2021.
Data on the indicator “having someone to count on” were collected using two editions of the survey. in 2021 (i.e. the editions Well-being, activities and perception of time et Well-being, unpaid work and family time) and three editions in 2022 (Well-being and family relationships, Well-being, shared values and trust et Well-being and care given).
Data on the indicator “Discrimination and unfair treatment” were collected through two editions of the survey. in 2021 (i.e. the editions Well-being, activities and perception of time et Well-being, unpaid work and family time) and three editions in 2022 (Well-being and family relationships, Well-being, shared values and trust et Quality of life and cost of living).
For more detailed methodological information on the data sources and indicators presented on this page, please consult the Statistical Compendium on Sexual and Gender Diversity.
