Same-Sex Relationships and Sexual Orientation in Canada: Data, Concepts, and Methodological Issues

Pierre Turcotte, Statistics Canada
Viviane Renaud, Statistics Canada

Recent developments in family settings and living arrangements, and their impact on the societal and legal recognition of these emerging phenomenon, have challenged our theories of family behaviors and have resulted in a variety of new data needs. In Canada, changes to both federal and provincial legislation resulted in the collection of the first ever national estimates of same-sex relationships. Similarly, changes to human rights legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation have incited Statistics Canada to explore approaches to the collection of reliable data on sexual orientation. This paper presents results from the 2001 Canadian Census on same-sex relationships. Comparisons will be made with data from other countries, including the United States. The paper will also discuss concepts, methods and results from qualitative and quantitative tests of potential questions on sexual orientation.