“I think some of the media attention that came out when [Bill C-4] was first passed, was a huge aha moment for a lot of people that didn’t even know that [conversion practices] existed… and that’s where it ended… Pat ourselves on the back, this thing is over, when it’s not over. But people who have lived through it are saying, ‘No! We know it’s been around and we know that it’s technically illegal, but it’s still happening’.”
The Law Explained
All information, content, and materials available here are for general informational purposes only. The information provided here does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.
The law surrounding conversion “therapy” is complicated and changing rapidly as the fraudulent and harmful nature of these practices becomes better understood. This section is designed to explain the current situation in Canada at the federal level. The term “conversion therapy” is used because that is the term used in the Criminal Code of Canada.
Although our focus is on the federal law here, it is important to know that many other levels of government and regulatory bodies have passed civil bans or developed policies against conversion practices which may also protect those at risk of being subject to these practices and/or provide recourse to those who have already survived them.
Learn more about what conversion practices are, how and where they are experienced, their harmful effects, and much more, in the All About Conversion Practices section.
The Federal Criminal Law and Conversion “Therapy”
On January 7, 2022, conversion “therapy” and certain actions relating to conversion therapy (described below) became criminalized across Canada. This means that someone found to be performing conversion therapy or doing any of the prohibited actions below can now be charged with a criminal offence. It also means that the federal government has recognized that the actions below are harmful, dangerous and have no place in Canada.
Criminal Code conversion therapy offences targets efforts (a “practice, treatment, or service”) that try to make people straight and/or cisgender, and recognizes that such efforts are based on harmful myths and stereotypes about queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people (specifically that there is something wrong with being queer, trans, or Two-Spirit).
Canada’s Criminal Code defines conversion therapy as a practice, treatment, or service designed to do one or more of the following:
- change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual
- change a person’s gender identity to cisgender
- change a person’s gender expression so that it conforms to the sex assigned to the person at birth;
- repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour
- repress a person’s non-cisgender gender identity
- repress or reduce a person’s gender expression that does not conform to the sex assigned to the person at birth;
A practice, treatment or service refers to an established or formal intervention that is generally offered to the public or a segment of the public.
The law focuses on the purpose of the practice, treatment or service rather than who provides it or what it is called. A variety of people – parents, religious leaders, teachers, coaches, healthcare practitioners including mental health professionals, social workers, or child protection workers – may try to provide conversion therapy. Conversion therapy may also be marketed as counselling or life coaching. If the purpose is the same as described above, then the practice, treatment, or service is still considered conversion therapy under the Criminal Code.
The federal law covers more than just directly providing conversion therapy. The Criminal Code now includes four specific offences relating to conversion therapy, and doing any of these four things is illegal:
- Providing conversion therapy or causing someone to undergo conversion therapy;
- Promoting or advertising conversion therapy;
- Benefiting (financially or otherwise) from conversion therapy;
- Removing a child from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad or taking action to do so.
Note that it does not matter whether the person undergoing conversion therapy agrees to it or voluntarily signs up for it. There is no exception under the law for consent. It also doesn’t matter whether the conversion therapy is free or not–it is still illegal.
The criminal offences specify that conversion therapy does not include a practice, treatment, or service that:
- explores or develops a person’s integrated personal identity, such as helping someone with their gender transition, and
- does not assume one sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression is preferred over another.
The Criminal Code does not define “integrated personal identity,” but it is a term of art (i.e. a term with a specialized meaning in a particular field or profession) in the mental health field. The American Psychological Association defines integrated personal identity as being “a coherent sense of one’s needs, beliefs, values, and roles, including those aspects of oneself that are the bases of social stigma, such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, spirituality, and sexuality.”
Conversion therapy also does not include simple conversations about gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. However, if the conversation is part of a formal intervention, such as a talk therapy or counselling session, then it may be conversion therapy if it is based on an assumption that being heterosexual or cisgender is the “normal” or preferred identity.
If you are currently experiencing conversion “therapy”, your safety and well-being matters most. Specifically, it may or may not make sense in your situation to report what is happening to law enforcement. See Supports and Resources for help.
If you know that a person or organization is performing one of the prohibited actions described above and you want to report it, please note the following options:
- Reporting a crime. Violations of the Criminal Code can be reported to local law enforcement for investigation. You can call the non-emergency number of your local police or RCMP. Before taking this step, especially if you are currently being subjected to or are a survivor of conversion therapy, you should review this general guidance for victims of crime. You can find a victim services organization near you by searching by your postal code which can help support you through the criminal justice process. Should you be aware that a child is about to be removed from the country to be subjected to conversion therapy abroad, you should call 9-1-1 (script: “I’m aware of a minor/I am a minor at immediate risk of being removed from the country for the purposes of conversion therapy which is a criminal offence”). Also see the Government of Canada’s advice on getting help either in Canada or while outside Canada.
- Reporting a practitioner to their governing body. If the individual performing conversion therapy or undertaking prohibited related actions is a registered professional like a family doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker, you can report them to their governing or regulatory body. Most professionals are regulated on a provincial basis. To find the governing body, you can Google the profession, “complaint,” and the province in question. For example, “doctor complaint Ontario” leads you to CPSO – Complaints and Concerns.
- Reporting a registered charity to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If the organization performing a prohibited action is a registered charity, you can report them to the CRA, and the organization’s charitable status could be revoked. Note that your complaint will be confidential but you will also not receive updates from the CRA about its investigation.
- Reporting to child protection authorities. If you suspect that a minor is undergoing conversion therapy, you should call the child protective services in your jurisdiction.
CBRC Resources about the Federal Law:
- The Federal Law Explained
- Pamphlet: Federal Conversion Therapy Criminal Ban
- Reflections on Bill C-4: An Advocate and Survivor’s Take on the New Federal Conversion Therapy Ban, by Michael Kwag (2022)
- Ending Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Gender Expression: This 2020 report presents a look at change efforts, their effects, and the limitations of bans and legal challenges. (CBRC, 2020)
- Video: Ending, Healing, and Learning – The Current and Future State of SOGICE The plenary interactive panel moderated by Travis Salway, during Summit 2019.
- Brief: Protecting Canadian sexual and gender minorities from harmful sexual orientation and gender identity change efforts submitted to the Standing Committee on Health (HESA) for the study of 2SLGBTQ Health in Canada (2019).
Additional Resources:
- Egale Canada
- Public Legal Association of Newfoundland
- Let Me Be Me: A Legal Information Guide to Canada’s Conversion Therapy Ban, The Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia
- Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta: (search “Conversion Therapy”) Includes an Info sheet, legal FAQs, poster, video, a series of personal essays, and a webinar.
- Is conversion therapy ethical? A renewed discussion in the context of legal efforts to ban it, G. Andrade, M. Campo Redondo (Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, Volume 20, 2022)
- Banning Transgender Conversion Practices: A Legal and Policy Analysis, Ashley, F., Univ of British Columbia Press (2022)
- Ending conversion therapy in Canada: A policy brief to guide interventions, Kinitz, D. J., Watt, S., et al. RainbowCanada.org (2023).
- Beyond the Ban: Taking Action Against Conversion Practices After Bill C-4 (Simon Fraser University Public Square, Sept 28, 2022), moderated by Travis Salway with Florence Ashley and Jules Sherred.
- Banning Conversion Therapy: Legal and Policy Perspectives, Ilias Trispiotis (University of Leeds, UK) and Craig Purshouse (University of Liverpool, UK), Anthology Editors. Bloomsbury Publishing UK (2023).
- Conversion practices continuing despite federal ban: study: Geoff McMaster, 2024
- Québec:
- British Columbia:
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- As of January 2024, conversion “therapy” survivors in BC are eligible for counseling and other services through the Crime Victim Assistance Program.
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