SASKATOON, Sask. — OUTSaskatoon education and support services manager Analu Alvarez said recent Statistics Canada survey results on gender diversity and inclusion, which showed a drop in support for gender expression, were disappointing but not surprising.
She said she has seen a similar decline globally alongside the rise of ultra-conservative narratives, groups and governments, which she said often bring discriminatory narratives about people who are different from what they consider acceptable.
Still, Alvarez questioned how much the Statistics Canada survey can reveal about attitudes across the country and in Saskatchewan. She added that the findings are concerning amid what she sees as a broader rise in narratives and policies targeting transgender and gender-diverse people.
“Learning that the acceptance rate of trans and gender-diverse people has dropped is disappointing but not surprising, as we see how globally ultra-conservative narratives, groups, and governments are on the rise. They always bring a discriminatory narrative for people who are different from what they consider acceptable,” Alvarez said.
Statistics Canada’s 2025 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces found that support for people being able to express their gender however they choose declined across Canada between 2018 and 2025. Among women, support fell from 85 per cent in 2018 to 77 per cent in 2025, while support among men fell from 78 per cent to 70 per cent.
Among Saskatchewan women, support dropped 14 percentage points, from 83 per cent in 2018 to 69 per cent in 2025. Statistics Canada reported that 69 per cent of women and 60 per cent of men in the province agreed that people should be able to express their gender however they choose.
Alvarez, however, said the figures should not automatically be treated as an exact measure of public opinion. She added that, particularly with voluntary surveys, it is important to consider how many people responded and whether the sample is sufficiently representative to support broad conclusions about an entire population.
Statistics Canada’s 2025 survey collected responses from 48,547 people across the country aged 15 and older, including about 1,600 respondents in Saskatchewan. The final sample included 46,511 respondents across the 10 provinces and 2,036 respondents in the territories.
Alvarez said the raw number of respondents is small compared with the populations being discussed — about 41.5 million people nationally and roughly 1.26 million in Saskatchewan in 2025. Statistics Canada said the response rate in the provinces was 32.3 per cent, compared with 43.1 per cent in 2018.
“This is not a significant sample of the population in Saskatchewan nor in Canada. Assuming and reporting that those are the actual rates of acceptance is very irresponsible because the number of people surveyed is not enough,” she added.
Statistics Canada, however, says the survey responses were weighted to represent the non-institutionalized, off-reserve Canadian population aged 15 and older. The agency also provides confidence intervals around its estimates, meaning the results are intended to account for sampling uncertainty rather than simply treating the raw responses as a direct count of public opinion.
Alvarez said that regardless of how the figures are interpreted, the findings should prompt a conversation about inclusion rather than fear. She added that education and a willingness to challenge previously held assumptions are important to improving acceptance of transgender and gender-diverse people.
“Reporting this survey's findings as an absolute truth only spreads hate and fear among the population, and that makes it harder for people to build safe relationships and feel safe in public spaces. To increase acceptance, it is essential to have access to education,” she added.
“Be open to learning and questioning what you heard and learned in the past. Have an open mind and an open heart to accept people as they are, always meeting them from a human connection.”
She also urged Saskatchewan residents to pay attention to policies affecting gender-diverse people and to challenge governments when they believe those policies are discriminatory.
“In a moment where policies are built on discrimination, it is only natural to fear that the policymakers follow ultra-conservative practices and tendencies, such as the ones we see in the U.S. and other provinces. We call on the people to question those discriminatory policies and ask your representatives to create better policies that promote and foster inclusion,” Alvarez said.
