On January 28, 2021, the Quebec Superior Court released a long awaited ruling that is considered the most wide-reaching case to date in Canada for the rights of trans, non-binary and intersex people and their families.

We are incredibly proud to have supported the Centre for Gender Advocacy as an intervener in this case – thanks to pro bono representation from Davies. The ruling is one to be largely celebrated as it resulted in several significant wins advancing the rights of trans, non-binary and intersex people in Canada, regardless of citizenship.

Key holdings from the decision include:

  • non-Canadian citizens in Quebec have the right to change their names and sex designations, in the same manner of Canadian citizens;
  • non-binary people have the right to change their sex designation to something other than “male” or “female”;
  • non-binary parents have the right to be designated on their children’s birth registrations as something other than “mother” or “father”;
  • minors between 14 and 17 have the right to change their sex designations without an attestation from a health professional;
  • if a parent changes their sex designation, their children have the right to amend their own birth registrations to change the parent’s title from “mother” to “father”, or vice versa, accordingly;
  • people have the right to obtain birth, marriage, civil union or death certificates without sex being mentioned; and
  • CCQ provisions pertain to death registrations should also be amended accordingly

While it is important to acknowledge that we need to do more, especially where intersex rights are concerned, we’re incredibly proud of this achievement and thankful for the hard work and emotional labour from plaintiffs and the Centre for Gender Advocacy.

See the Full Judgement Ruling Here: