Transgender and gender-diverse Canadians are more likely to face housing insecurity than their cisgender peers, according to new research led by York University.
Published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, the study provides the first population-level evidence of these disparities using national census data.
“Housing is one of those core human rights we often associate with health,” says Antony Chum, associate professor in York’s Faculty of Health and Canada Research Chair in Population Health Data Science. “This study really aims to shed light on housing as a key social determinant, alongside mental health, food insecurity and other challenges communities are facing.”
Housing Insecurity and Disparities Among Gender Minorities in Canada: Evidence from a National Census examines housing conditions for households led by cisgender, transgender and non-binary people across the country using data from the 2021 Canadian Long Form Census.
“The Canadian census is actually the first census in the world to include transgender and non-binary people,” says Yihong Bai, co-researcher at York’s Population Health Data Science Lab and assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. “That allowed us, for the first time, to look at housing outcomes for transgender and gender-diverse household heads at a national level.”
The findings show that transgender and gender-diverse households are far more likely to experience “core housing need” – a federal measure that reflects whether housing is unaffordable, in disrepair or overcrowded.
Households led by cisgender men were the least likely to experience this outcome, with an estimated probability of eight per cent. In contrast, cisgender women-led households face a 12.8 per cent risk. Rates were markedly higher for transgender-led households, with probabilities of: 16.5 per cent for transgender men; 21.2 per cent for transgender women; 21.2 per cent for non-binary people assigned female at birth; and 19.4 per cent for non-binary people assigned male at birth.
“About 16.5 to 21 per cent of transgender and non-binary household heads are in core housing need, compared to about eight per cent of cisgender men. That’s one of the biggest findings from the study,” says Gwen Ehi, PhD candidate at York University who worked on the study. Most previous research, she says, relied on small or targeted samples, limiting the ability to generalize findings to the broader population.
Bai adds that one limitation of the study is that gender identity is self-reported in the Canadian census data. “We believe the numbers of gender diverse households are likely underreported,” he says.
Researchers analyzed data from primary household maintainers aged 15 and older, using census questions on sex at birth and gender identity to distinguish between cisgender men, cisgender women, transgender men, transgender women and non-binary individuals assigned male or female at birth.
They assessed whether these households met the criteria for core housing need, while accounting for factors such as age, income, education, region and housing tenure.
“The numbers were startling,” says contributor and York PhD student Kristine Ienciu. “The disparities were largest among youth, renters and multi-person households. Those groups consistently showed the highest levels of housing need across gender-diverse populations.”
The implications extend beyond housing alone. When homes are unaffordable or in need of major repairs, residents are more likely to experience poorer physical and mental health which contributes to higher stress, chronic illness and reduced access to care, says Chum.
The study, he urges, calls for a more explicit integration of gender identity into housing policy and planning.
Peiya Cao, postdoctoral researcher in York’s Faculty of Health says affordable and supportive housing units earmarked for the transgender and gender-diverse community are essential, along with stronger enforcement of anti-discrimination protections in the rental market, and better access to supports like income and mental health services – especially for youth.
With files from Karen Martin-Robbins