Question Period Note: Gender Equity and Transgender inclusion in Sport

Canadian women and girls continue to face barriers to full participation and representation in the Canadian sport system. As our government seeks to address the disparities for women and girls, we are also striving for a compassionate and inclusive approach to trans-identifying athletes that preserves fairness and safety for all.

• Our government is committed to fostering an environment where girls and women can safely and fairly engage in sport at all ages and all levels.
• A Gender Equity Secretariat has been created to deliver a Gender Equity Strategy and support initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining girls and women in sport.
• Sport Canada’s mission is to enhance opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sport. This includes a compassionate and inclusive approach to trans-identifying athletes that ensures fairness and safety for all.

Gender Equity
• Women and girls typically report more barriers to sport across their lifespan than men and boys and participate at lower rates.
• The Gender Equity Secretariat has been tasked with developing, implementing, and monitoring a Gender Equity Strategy aimed at attracting and retaining women and girls in sport, at all levels, including as athletes, coaches, officials, and leaders.
• On September 27, 2017, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage tabled its seventh report with 16 recommendations for the Government of Canada, grouped into six themes: 1) overview of the legal and policy framework of Sport Canada; 2) sport participation of women and girls in Canada; 3) issues relating to female coaches and referees; 4) women as leaders in sport; 5) the media and women in sport; and 6) sexual harassment and transgender inclusion in sport.
• According to research, 84% of Canadian women are missing out on the benefits of sport. Further, only 24% of all Athletic Director positions and 17% of all head coaching spots in Canadian Interuniversity Sport are held by females. Among national and multi-sport service organizations, only 38% of senior staff and 29% of board members are female. Only 5% of top national print media sports coverage is dedicated to women.
• Through Budget 2018, the Government set a target to achieve gender equality in sport at every level by 2035 and provided an initial $30 million over three years to support data and research, and innovative practices to promote women’s and girls’ participation in sport.
• On February 22, 2019, Sport Canada launched the Innovation Initiative, which provides funding to eligible organizations for testing innovative approaches to encourage women and girls to participate and remain in sport.
• Canadian Women & Sport is receiving $3 million over four years for several initiatives aimed at increasing the participation of women and girls in sport and increasing the number of women in leadership positions as coaches, officials, and sport organization leaders.
• The 2020 Rally Report from Canadian Women & Sport shows that sport participation rates for Canadian girls decline steadily from childhood to adolescence with as many as 1 in 3 girls dropping out in adolescence and 62 percent of girls not playing sport at all.
Inclusion of trans-identifying athletes in sport
• Sex and gender identity are both protected in the Canadian Human Rights Act. Historically, inclusion in sport has been achieved by protecting spaces for disadvantaged populations to participate in sport fairly and safely (e.g., age, weight, sex, disability categories).
• There is a growing debate in sport primarily focused on women’s elite categories where there are safety and fairness concerns regarding the inclusion of transwomen, who are physiologically stronger. However, transmen are both subject to anti-doping regulations in the female category and biological disadvantage in the men’s.
• The most current peer-reviewed science demonstrates significant male advantage in sport, amplified through and after puberty, and that testosterone suppression in transwomen does not mitigate the legacy effects of male puberty.
• Over the last decade, a range of policy positions have emerged across jurisdictions and sports, all supporting trans inclusion in sport, but differing on how to do so safely and fairly. The International Olympic Committee recently announced its current self-I.D. guidelines are not fit for purpose considering evidence on the inefficacy of testosterone suppression to mitigate advantage. Similarly, a wide-ranging review of transgender inclusion in sport in the UK has concluded that current self-ID policies are not fit for purpose and require a reset.
• Australia’s federal Sex Discrimination Act prohibits unlawful discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity in certain areas of public life but, unlike Canada, Australia has a “competitive sporting activity” exemption that can be invoked if it’s determined that an individual’s strength directly affects their ability and the ability of others to “effectively compete”. The UK has a similar sport exemption in the Equality Act if necessary for fair competition or the safety of competitors.
• The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) has led guidance on the issue to Canadian sport organizations since 2011 and has encouraged permitting athletes to self-identify into the category of one’s choice, temporarily or permanently, with or without hormone therapy. Some Canadian national sport organizations have taken this approach and applied it within the scope of their authority. The CCES has recently launched a new policy process focused on high performance sport that includes a review of the most recent evidence.
• Public opinion research suggests that a majority of Canadians believe that sport organizations should find new ways to include transgender identifying athletes in sport that preserve fairness and physical safety for all.

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