PRIDE Month feature
In a historic first, Canada’s 2026 long-form census asks respondents about their sexual orientation, adding vital demographic evidence to the mandatory survey used to guide public funding and infrastructure planning.
For Nick Mulé, it is a shift that has been decades in the making.
"Many of us feel this is long overdue," says Mulé, professor at 91ÑÇÉ«'s and Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. "I was one of many people who have been advocating for this, going back to the 1990s."
The question – which asks respondents to identify as heterosexual; lesbian or gay; bisexual or pansexual; or to write their own answers – appears on the long-form questionnaire sent to roughly 25 per cent of Canadian households. While Statistics Canada has collected sexual orientation data through smaller specialized surveys before, adding it to the census gives the findings a broader national reach and a different level of public visibility.
"The census is much larger. It goes right across Canada, and it's also mandatory," says Mulé. "It lends legitimacy to these populations, raising their visibility."
But Mulé says visibility alone is not the point, and the more consequential argument is about evidence – and what its absence has cost.
When community organizations doing frontline work with 2SLGBTQIA+ populations have approached governments and funders to address their clients' needs, they have often been told the same thing: without data, resources cannot flow.
"The government acknowledges they believe you, that it probably is true there is a struggle out there, but asks us to give hard evidence," Mulé explains.
That evidence gap is central to Mulé's research. He is project director of 2SLGBTQ+ Poverty in Canada: Improving Livelihood and Social Wellbeing, a 91ÑÇÉ«-hosted national study examining poverty among 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Early findings from this project's national survey reflect what frontline workers have long reported: these populations face significant and compounding hardships.
Census evidence on sexual orientation could deepen that picture considerably. Mulé points to housing, health care, employment, education, income and social services as areas where 2SLGBTQIA+ people face disproportionate challenges due to discrimination, stigma and bias – barriers that differ meaningfully depending on life stage, from youth to seniors.
"Not everyone experiences those things the same way," he says. "It's important that those links are made between one's social location and the kind of challenges they're facing."
The categories included in the census question, Mulé says, are reasonable, and the write-in option is an important safeguard for those whose identity does not fit the options. He acknowledges, however, that open-ended responses create complexity on the research end, as analysts must decide how to group and interpret varied self-descriptions.
More pressing concerns involve privacy, trust and the particular vulnerability of young respondents. Many 2SLGBTQIA+ people have not made their sexual orientation public, and disclosing such information on a government form is considered risky by some.
Those ages 15 and older can fill out the long-form census; however, in most households, an adult who completes the form on behalf of all members. This raises concerns that younger individuals may not be accurately represented if adults are not aware of their sexual orientation.
"Those are some of the conundrums," Mulé says. "It's great on the one hand to include it, but Statistics Canada needs to be aware that there is a sensitivity attached to this when it comes to people's comfort level with disclosing this information."
Mulé frames the census change within a longer arc. Sexual orientation has long been protected under human rights legislation in every province and territory, and federally, for years. Yet, legal recognition has not brought an end to discrimination.
For Mulé, having these communities counted in the census – and having that data inform policy, funding and services – is part of closing that gap.
"It really elevates the recognition and legitimacy of these groups in Canada," he says. “By gathering data specific to the realities of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, governments can get a clearer picture of what these communities are facing and what resources, supports and services are needed to equitably meet those needs.â€
With files from Mzwandile Poncana