Census data released Wednesday offers an unprecedented snapshot of Canadasa国际传媒檚 transgender population, showing 0.33 per cent of residents identify as a gender that differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

The data collected during last yearsa国际传媒檚 national household survey shows about 100,815 people are transgender or non-binary, including 31,555 who are transgender women, 27,905 who are transgender men and 41,355 who are non-binary.

Itsa国际传媒檚 the first time Statistics Canada has differentiated between sa国际传媒渟ex at birthsa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒済endersa国际传媒� in the census, a change advocates say will offer crucial insight into a marginalized population and the systemic barriers it faces.

Fae Johnstone, a transgender advocate, said population-level data backing up trans peoplesa国际传媒檚 lived experience has thus far been slim, so this new information is important both symbolically and practically.

sa国际传媒淚t says something when our government is recognizing the existence of trans folks who have historically been kept out of these conversations and uncounted,sa国际传媒� Johnstone said. sa国际传媒淏ut it also is useful to us to better understand how we can focus interventions and address health inequities experienced by trans folks across this country.sa国际传媒�

While previous censuses asked only about sex, the 2021 edition asked about both sa国际传媒渟ex at birth,sa国际传媒� which it said is sa国际传媒渄etermined by a personsa国际传媒檚 biological characteristics,sa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒済ender,sa国际传媒� which it said could differ from whatsa国际传媒檚 indicated on legal documents.

Under sa国际传媒済ender,sa国际传媒� respondents were able to choose either male or female, or write in a third option.

Government demographers said they will use sa国际传媒渟ex at birthsa国际传媒� to compare to historical data on sex.

In some cases, Statistics Canada said, it will be necessary to narrow gender down into two categories sa国际传媒渢o protect the confidentiality of responses provided.sa国际传媒� Those categories will be sa国际传媒渕en+sa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒渨omen+sa国际传媒�, and each will encompass some people who are non-binary.

The inclusion of transgender people in the census is part of a broader move by the Liberal government to be more inclusive of the LGBTQ community.

In 2017, the government added gender identity and expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act, and amended the Criminal Code to include those same groups in the list of sa国际传媒渋dentifiable groupssa国际传媒� that could be targets of genocides and hate crimes.

The following year, the federal budget noted Statistics Canadasa国际传媒檚 efforts to reflect gender diversity in the census and allocated funds to the agency to create a new Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics.

Its mandate, Statistics Canada said, is to develop sa国际传媒渁 Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) data hub to support evidence-based policy development and decision making, both within the federal government and beyond.sa国际传媒�

Johnstone said this government has been good in some ways on LGBTQ issues, but it hasnsa国际传媒檛 been perfect.

sa国际传媒淚 think my biggest critique of this government on LGBTQ issues is that they put all of their words in the right place, they say all of the right words. But itsa国际传媒檚 the delivery, the implementation that I really want to see happen,sa国际传媒� she said.

For example, the governmentsa国际传媒檚 recent announcement of $100 million toward its federal LGBTQ2 action plan was historic, Johnstone said, but it came late and the amount is still disproportionately low.

sa国际传媒淗olding all of that as true, I still think that this says something about our current government in the best of ways, that wesa国际传媒檙e recognizing trans people exist and that trans people need to be captured,sa国际传媒� she said.

Gemma Hickey, a transmasculine non-binary author and activist, said itsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渁bout time.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淎s an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights for over 20 years, Isa国际传媒檝e been a part of and witnessed many changes. But these types of changes, especially when it comes to the census, are long overdue.sa国际传媒�

Nearly five years ago, Hickey became one of the first Canadians to receive a gender-neutral birth certificate.

Hickey said they hope the census will spark a broader conversation by acknowledging that the sex a person was assigned at birth is not necessarily the same as gender.

sa国际传媒淭hat visibility sa国际传媒� that recognition sa国际传媒� is very important for people, because we are here. We have been here as long as yousa国际传媒檝e been here,sa国际传媒� they said.

sa国际传媒擭icole Thompson, The Canadian Press