Statistics Canada: The sex at birth variable and the comparability of time seriesRefused by silence
2 Sept 2026 · Access to Information Act
No acknowledgement, no file number. 2 Oct, the due date, passed without an answer.
Access to Information request with fee waiver — sex at birth variable, comparability of time series
Hello,
This is a request under the Access to Information Act, together with a request for a waiver of the application fee under subsection 11(2).
The records requested concern the change of the sex variable in the Census of Population and in the statistical programmes of the Agency, and the effect of that change on the comparability of time series.
DESCRIPTION OF RECORDS REQUESTED
1. Every record identifying the authority under which the sex variable was modified and a gender variable introduced for the 2021 Census of Population, including any Order in Council made under the Statistics Act, any ministerial approval, and any decision of the Agency.
2. Every methodological assessment prepared by the Agency of the effect of the change identified in item 1 on the historical comparability of the sex variable, including any record quantifying the break in series and any record on the treatment of the change in population projections.
3. Every record setting out the standard in force for the collection of sex at birth across the statistical programmes of the Agency, including the list of programmes in which sex at birth is collected, the list in which it is not, and the date on which each programme ceased to collect it.
4. Every record setting out how the Agency produces vital statistics, life tables, fertility rates and mortality rates where the underlying administrative source records gender rather than sex at birth, and every assessment of the effect on those outputs.
5. All correspondence between the Agency and the provincial vital statistics registrars concerning the recording of sex at birth in birth registration and in death registration, from 1 January 2018 to the date of this request.
6. Every record setting out the cost of the change identified in item 1, including consultation, testing, system changes, and dissemination.
7. Every record setting out performance indicators, targets and measured results for the change identified in item 1, including any Performance Information Profile prepared under the Treasury Board Policy on Results.
8. Every record of a user, researcher, department or agency reporting a loss of comparability, a data quality concern, or an inability to analyse by sex as a result of the change identified in item 1.
FEE WAIVER
A waiver of the application fee is requested under subsection 11(2) of the Access to Information Act, which empowers the head of a government institution to waive or refund the fee.
The requester is an applicant for social assistance. The Social Benefits Tribunal issued an interim assistance order on 21 August 2026 in file 2608-06747 directing payment from 1 August 2026. The Director has not complied with that order and no payment has been made. The requester is without means to pay the fee.
The records concern the integrity of the national statistical record.
A decision on this waiver request is required in writing. A refusal will be referred to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada as a barrier to access.
FORMAT
Electronic copies are requested, with any datasets in machine-readable form.
Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban