Lethbridge home to nearly 400 trans and non-binary people: Census

Of the nearly 30.5 million people in Canada who are 15+ and living in private households, 59,460 identify as transgender and 41,355 identify as non-binary, accounting for approximately 0.33% of the population in this age group.

With 100,815 people nationally being either trans or non-binary, 12,480 lived in Alberta, the fourth-highest behind Ontario, B.C., and Quebec.

Stats Canada shared an infographic, which you can see at the bottom of this article, lining up the 41 largest urban centres based on how many people fit the categories of transgender men, transgender women, and non-binary people.

Lethbridge had the eighth-largest proportion of trans and non-binary people in that ranking and the highest of the four included cities in Alberta.

Among Lethbridge’s 81,345 people who are at least 15 years old, 0.11% (89) identify as transgender men, 0.13% (106) identify as transgender women, and 0.24% (195) identify as non-binary.

Adding up those three numbers, there are 390 residents of Lethbridge who are transgender or non-binary.

Devon Hargreaves, Past Chair of the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society, says having concrete data such as this is very important.

“I feel having official census data coming out reflecting the trans and non-binary members of our community is a huge step forward. It reflects changing societal perspectives on gender, and it goes a long way as far as leaving that room open for advocacy.”

He served on the Lethbridge Pride Fest Society board from 2014 to 2018 and sometimes found government advocacy regarding LGBTQ2+ issues difficult because there was no way to quantify how large those communities were.

Hargreaves says the size of the LGBTQ2+ community is often underestimated, so having official census data should also help with public acceptance.

“I think that Lethbridge is a welcoming place, and with both a college and a university as well, we do have a high population of younger individuals that are seeking education and finding out who they are, and I think that plays a role in it. But I think that just the welcoming atmosphere of Lethbridge does play into it. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have progress to make, as seen by vandalism of the crosswalks in prior years, but I think that as a community, we are on the right track.”

The proportions of trans and non-binary people were three-to-seven times higher among those in Generation Z (born 1997-2006) and Millennials (born 1981-1996) compared to Generation X (born 1966-1980) and Baby Boomers (born 1946-1965).

Transgender and non-binary population among large urban centres. (Stats Canada Census of Population 2021)

Transgender and non-binary populations by age group. (Stats Canada Census of Population 2021)

Transgender and non-binary populations by province and territory. (Stats Canada Census of Population)

by David Opinko

Lethbridge home to nearly 400 trans and non-binary people: Census

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