4 Recognition of same-sex relationships.2.5 Division of jurisdiction between federal government and provinces.By 2020, 91.8% of those surveyed in a poll commissioned by the Privy Council Office said they would be "comfortable" if a next-door neighbour was gay, lesbian or bisexual and that 87.6% said they would be "comfortable" if a neighbour was a transgender person. The polls had also revealed that 70% of Canada's population had agreed that "same-sex couples should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples do," and that 76% had also agreed that "same-sex couples are just as likely as other parents to successfully raise children". Likewise, polls in June 2013 had shown an increase in the Canadian population's point of view, with a vast majority of Canadians to give their blessing to same-sex marriage, which was made available to all throughout Canada in 2005. The 2020 Pew Research showed that 85% of Canada's general population (92% among Canadians aged between 18 and 29) had favoured social acceptance of homosexuality up from 80% in 2013. decriminalization, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, gay marriage, homoparentality, blood donations, transgender rights and outlawing of conversion therapies). In recent decades, Canada went through some major legal shifts in support of LGBT rights (e.g. Every summer, Canada's LGBT community celebrates gay pride in all major cities, with many political figures from the federal, provincial and municipal scenes. The country's largest cities feature their own gay areas and communities, such as Toronto's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, Montreal's Gay Village commercial district, Vancouver's Davie Village and Ottawa's Bank Street Gay Village. It was also ranked first (indicating least dangerous) in Asher & Lyric's LGBTQ+ Danger Index in a 2021. Ĭanada was referred to as the most gay-friendly country in the world, when it was ranked first in the Gay Travel Index chart in 2021, and among the five safest in Forbes magazine in 2019. In 2005, Canada was the fourth country in the world, and the first in the Americas, to implement same-sex marriage nationwide. In a landmark decision in 1995, Egan v Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada held that sexual orientation is constitutionally protected under the equality clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Same-sex sexual activity was made lawful in Canada on June 27, 1969, when the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968–69 (also known as Bill C-150) was brought into force upon royal assent. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) rights in Canada are some of the most extensive in the Americas and in the world.