House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights – Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy)

Questions and Answers

Policy Qs & As

- Q 1 What does Bill C-6 propose to do?
- Q 2 What is conversion therapy?
Bill C-6’s Proposed Amendments
General Information on Conversion Therapy
Charter Compliance
- Q 24 Does Bill C-6 engage the Charter rights of adults and mature minors who may choose to undergo conversion therapy?
Other Canadian Responses
International Responses
- Q 30 Have other countries enacted legislation to protect against conversion therapy?
Coming into Force
- Q 31 When would Bill C-6’s amendments come into force?

Q 1 What does Bill C-6 propose to do?

Bill C-6 supports the Government’s mandate letter commitments to amend the Criminal Code to ban the practice of conversion therapy. It is identical to former Bill C-8, which was introduced on March 9, 2020, but died on the Order Paper when Parliament prorogued.
Specifically, Bill C-6 proposes to define conversion therapy and to create five new offences that would protect:
- all Canadians from commercialization of the practice;
- all children (persons under 18 years) from being subjected to conversion therapy, whether in Canada or abroad; and,
- anyone at risk of being forced to undergo conversion therapy.

Q 2 What is conversion therapy?

Conversion therapy refers to interventions designed to change the sexual orientation of bisexual, gay and lesbian individuals to heterosexual or to change a person’s gender identity to cisgender.
It also refers to interventions designed to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or non-heterosexual sexual behaviour.
Conversion therapy can take many forms, including counselling, behavioural modification and talk therapy and may be offered by professionals, religious officials or laypersons.

Bill C-6’s Proposed Amendments

Q 3 What offences does Bill C-6 propose to create?

Bill C-6 would create five new Criminal Code offences that would criminalize:
- Causing minors to undergo conversion therapy (maximum penalty of 5 years on indictment and 2 years less a day on summary conviction);
- Removing minors from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad (maximum penalty of 5 years on indictment and 2 years less a day on summary conviction);
- Causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will (maximum penalty of 5 years on indictment and 2 years less a day on summary conviction);
- Profiting, or receiving a material benefit, from the provision of conversion therapy (maximum penalty of 2 years in indictmentand 2 years less a day on summary conviction); and,
- Advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy (maximum penalty of 2 years on indictment and 2 years less a day on summary conviction).

Q 4 What are Bill C-6’s objectives?

Bill C-6’s main objective is to protect the dignity and equality of LGBTQ2 people through Criminal Code amendments that seek to end conversion therapy, a practice that discriminates against them.
This approach reflects evidence indicating that conversion therapy not only causes individual harm to those subjected to it, but also harm to all of society by sending the message that a fundamental part of who a person is – their sexual orientation or gender identity – is a transitory state that can and should be changed.

Q 5 What types of practices would Bill C-6 criminalize?

Bill C-6 defines “conversion therapy” as any “practice, treatment or service designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or sexual behaviour.”
The definition has two distinct elements: first, the conduct at issue must amount to a “practice”, “treatment” or “service”, which all imply an established or formalized intervention, generally offered to the public or a segment of the public; and, second, the practice, treatment or service must be designed to achieve one of the definition’s objectives, that is, to change a person’s sexual orientation to heterosexual or gender identity to cisgender, or to repress or reduce non-heterosexual attraction or non-heterosexual sexual behaviour.

Q 6 Would Bill C-6 criminalize conversations about sexual orientation or gender identity?

Bill C-6 also contains a “for greater certainty” clause to clarify that its conversion therapy definition does not include a practice, treatment or service that relates to a person’s gender transition or exploration or development of a person’s identity.
The terms “practice”, “treatment” and “service” in Bill C-6’s definition all imply an established or formalized intervention, generally offered to the public or a segment of the public. Therefore, they do not capture a mere conversation, unless the conversation forms part of a formalized intervention, such as a talk therapy session.

Q 7 Would Bill C-6 criminalize gender-affirming treatments or practices?

No. Bill C-6’s proposed definition of conversion therapy only captures practices, treatments or services that are aimed at changing a fundamental part of who a person is. That is why the definition specifies that the intervention must be designed to change a person’s sexual orientation to “heterosexual”, gender identity to “cisgender”, or to repress or reduce “non-heterosexual” attraction or “non-heterosexual” sexual behaviour.
Accordingly, the definition would not capture practices, treatments or services designed to achieve other purposes, such as interventions that do not maintain that there is only one acceptable identity - that is, to be heterosexual or cisgender.
Such interventions include those that assist a person in advancing their choice to align their physical appearance and characteristics with their gender identity, and those that assist a person in exploring or developing their identity, without seeking to bring about a particular result.

Q 8 What conduct is captured by Bill C-6’s proposed offence that would prohibit causing a person under 18 years to undergo conversion therapy?

Bill C-6 would criminalize causing a child to undergo conversion therapy. This offence would capture anyone who provides conversion therapy to a child and anyone who facilitates its provision to a child.
Bill C-6 also ensures that the accused could not argue that they believed the victim was an adult, unless they can point to some evidence that they took reasonable steps to ascertain the victim’s age.

Q 9 Is Bill C-6’s “reasonable steps” provision that limits the accused’s ability to advance a mistake of fact defence in respect of the victim’s age constitutional?

In its 2019 Morrison decision, which addressed the constitutionality of the Criminal Code’s child luring offence (section 172.1), the Supreme Court of Canada found a similar “reasonable steps” provision applicable in that context to be Charter compliant (subsection 172.1(4)). The Government is therefore confident that the proposed approach here is also consistent with the Charter.

Q 10 What conduct is captured by Bill C-6’s proposed offence that would prohibit removing a person under 18 years from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad?

Bill C-6 would ensure that removing a child ordinarily resident in Canada from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad is an offence, by building on the existing Criminal Code offence that prohibits removing a child from Canada for certain prohibited purposes, such as to be subjected to sexual assault or female genital mutilation (section 273.3).
This offence would capture anyone who facilitates the removal of a child ordinarily resident in Canada from Canada, knowing that the purpose of the child’s removal is to undergo conversion therapy abroad. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some Canadian children have been removed from Canada for this purpose.

Q 11 What conduct is captured by Bill C-6’s proposed offence that would prohibit profiting from the provision of conversion therapy?

Bill C-6’s proposed offence criminalizing profiting, or receiving a material benefit, from the provision of conversion therapy would capture anyone who receives fees for conversion therapy, regardless of whether that person actually provided the service.
The profiting offence would not capture situations that involve the provision of conversion therapy free of charge.

Q 12 What conduct is captured by Bill C-6’s offence that would prohibit advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy?

Bill C-6’s proposed advertising offence would capture anyone who advertises an offer to provide conversion therapy, whether in printor on the Internet. This offence applies regardless of whether fees are charged for the services advertised and regardless of whether conversion therapy is actually provided to another person as a result of the advertisement.
Bill C-6 would also authorize the courts to order the seizure and forfeiture of conversion therapy advertisements, or their removal from the Internet, similar to existing powers with respect to hate propaganda and child pornography.

Q 13 What conduct is captured by Bill C-6’s offence that would prohibit causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will?

Bill C-6’s offence that would criminalize causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will would capture anyone who provides, or facilitates the provision of, conversion therapy knowing that the person receiving it did not agree to receive it.
This includes situations where the recipient’s agreement was secured by force or fraud, as well as situations involving children, if the accused has recourse to the defence of mistaken belief in age, such that the child-specific conversion therapy offences would not apply, and there is evidence of lack of consent.
The offence would not capture persons who provide, or facilitate the provision of, conversion therapy to adults who freely choose to receive conversion therapy.

Q 14 How would Bill C-6 protect children from conversion therapy?

Bill C-6 would protect all children from conversion therapy by creating a comprehensive criminal law ban on providing, or facilitating the provision of, conversion therapy to minors, whether within or outside of Canada.
This is because studies show that children are particularly susceptible to conversion therapy’s harms.

Q 15 How would Bill C-6 protect adults from conversion therapy?

Bill C-6 would protect all Canadians from commercialization of conversion therapy. No one would be allowed to profit from the practice, whether it is provided to children or adults, and no one would be allowed to advertise conversion therapy, regardless of whether fees are charged for the services advertised.
These measures are intended to reduce the availability of conversion therapy, as well as public messaging that discriminates against LGBTQ2 persons by suggesting that a fundamental part of who they are can and should be changed.
Bill C-6 would also protect persons from being subjected to conversion therapy, if they do not freely agree to it.

Q 16 Why doesn’t Bill C-6 propose to protect adults in the same way as it proposes to protect children?

Research indicates that some adults, predominantly those for whom religion is an important part of their lives, seek out conversion therapy to help them deal with conflict and distress related to same-sex attraction, despite conversion therapy’s proven harms.
Research also indicates that those subjected to conversion therapy experience its harmful effects, regardless of whether they are coerced to participate in conversion therapy or participate willingly.
Accordingly, allowing adults to choose conversion therapy that is available free of charge, while denouncing the practice and limiting its availability by criminalizing advertising and profiting from the practice, is justified by the evidence and balances the rights and freedoms of individuals who may choose to receive or to provide conversion therapy, on the one hand, and the equality and dignity of LGBTQ2 individuals on the other.

Q 17 Why doesn’t Bill C-6 allow minors to choose conversion therapy if they want to undergo it, in particular “mature minors” or those who are capable of making their own health care decisions?

Some youth who are capable of making their own treatment decisions may be convinced, influenced or pressured to undergo conversion therapy. But Bill C-6 would not allow conversion therapy to be provided to children in any circumstance.
This approach is justified for a number of reasons, including that:
- the evidence indicates that children are particularly susceptible to conversion therapy’s harms;
- conversion therapy providers themselves would have to assess a child’s ability to consent to treatment, even though such providers are generally not medical professionals and would not be in a position to make this difficult determination in an informed and objective manner; and,
- allowing mature minors to consent to undergo conversion therapy could create inconsistency across Canada because provincial and territorial laws on minors’ capacity to consent vary across the country.
Accordingly, ensuring that vulnerable youth are protected requires that a hard line be drawn at 18 years.

Q 18 How does Bill C-6 compare to Bill S-202, a Senate Public Bill introduced in the last session of Parliament?

Former Bill S-202 is a Senate Public Bill introduced by former Senator Joyal on December 10, 2019. It proposes to criminalize profiting from the provision of conversion therapy to children and advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy for a fee.
Bill S-202 informed Bill C-6’s proposed reforms, but Bill C-6 would criminalize a broader range of conduct. For example, Bill C-6’s proposed profiting offence would apply in all circumstances, and not just where conversion therapy is provided to children. Similarly, its advertising offence would apply in all circumstances, and not just where a fee is charged.
Bill C-6 would also criminalize causing a minor to undergo conversion therapy; removing a minor from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad; and, causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will.

General Information on Conversion Therapy

Q 19 What are the origins of conversion therapy?

Conversion therapy comes from a time when non-heterosexual sexualities and non-cisgender identities were considered pathologies or diseases that required repairing. For example, “homosexuality” used to be listed as a mental disorder in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ().
The practice is therefore inherently discriminatory. It reflects myths and stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirited (LGBTQ2) people, in particular that sexual orientations other than heterosexual and gender identities other than cisgender can and should be changed. But a person can no more change their sexual orientation or gender identity than they can any other personal characteristic that defines them.
This type of discriminatory messaging stigmatizes LGBTQ2 persons, undermines their dignity and negatively affects their equality rights.

Q 20 What harms are caused by conversion therapy?

Research shows that individuals subjected to conversion therapy have experienced a range of harms, including distress, anxiety, self-hatred, depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.
Children are particularly susceptible to conversion therapy’s negative effects. The ability to explore and develop one’s identity in formative years may be determinative of a person’s future well-being. Messaging that a youth’s identity or sexuality is wrong and efforts that seek to determine their identity for them, particularly at this early stage in life, may lead to serious psychological harm, including death by suicide.
Specifically, studies show that negative mental health outcomes among youth who have been exposed to conversion therapy include high levels of depression, suicide, lower life satisfaction, and less social support and lower socioeconomic status in young adulthood.

Q 21 What do we know about conversion therapy in Canada?

The results of the 2019-2020 community-based Sex Now Survey, a periodic, cross-sectional, online survey of sexual minority men in Canada, indicate that as many as 20% of respondents had been exposed to conversion therapy.
A 2020 Canadian Journal of Psychiatry article that interpreted the Sex Now Survey’s 2011-2012 results indicates that transgender, Indigenous, racial minority and low-income persons are disproportionately represented among those who have been exposed to conversion therapy in Canada.

Q 22 What is the medical and mental health professions’ position on conversion therapy?

In Canada and abroad, conversion therapy has been discredited and denounced by many professional associations as harmful, especially to children. For example, the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Canadian Psychological Association oppose the use of conversion therapy, and the Canadian Paediatric Society has identified the practice as “clearly unethical.”
The positions of professional associations, both Canadian and international, reflect the evidence that individuals subjected to the practice have experienced a range of harms, including distress, anxiety, self-hatred, depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, regardless of whether those individuals were subjected to conversion therapy through their own choice or through coercive practices.

Q 23 Given conversion therapy’s known harms, why do some people choose it?

Research indicates that some individuals seek out or choose to participate in conversion therapy, despite its known harms. Studies show that this is generally because of confusion, fear, stress or anxiety about sexuality and sexual orientation as a result of religious or community beliefs that consider non-heterosexual and non-cisgender identities to be unacceptable.

Charter Compliance

Q 24 Does Bill C-6 engage the Charter rights of adults and mature minors who may choose to undergo conversion therapy?

As explained in the Charter statement on Bill C-6, the Bill potentially engages freedom of religion (section 2(a)), freedom of expression (section 2(b)), the right to liberty and security (section 7) and the right to equality (section 15) of individuals who may choose to receive or to provide conversion therapy. However, the Bill appropriately balances the rights and freedoms of individuals who may choose to receive or to provide conversion therapy, on the one hand, and the equality and dignity of LGBTQ2 people on the other.
It does so by reducing the availability of conversion therapy and its discriminatory public messaging through the proposed profiting and advertising offences, and by protecting those most vulnerable to conversion therapy’s harms through the proposed child-specific offences, while still leaving some room for adults to choose conversion therapy where it is available free of charge.
Furthermore, Bill C-6 does not prevent people from sharing personal points of view on any subject, including viewpoints on sexual orientation and gender identity that are rooted in their beliefs and traditions, nor does it impact legitimate interventions that offer support to others in an accepting and non-stigmatizing environment, for example therapies designed to support a person in their exploration or development of their own identity.

Other Canadian Responses

Q 25 Do any existing Criminal Code offences apply to conversion therapy?

Bill C-6 builds on existing Criminal Code offences that address certain aspects of conversion therapy. Although no existing offence directly addresses the practice, some may apply, depending on the facts of a given case. For example, where conversion therapy is provided through coercive practices, the offences of kidnapping, forcible confinement or assault may apply. And because professional associations have acknowledged that the practice is ineffective, fraud may apply where fees are charged for conversion therapy.
Together with existing offences, Bill C-6’s proposed offences would create a comprehensive criminal law response to the harms posed by conversion therapy.

Q 26 Do provinces and/or municipalities have measures in place to protect against conversion therapy?

Three provinces – Ontario (2015), Nova Scotia (2018) and PEI (2019) - have enacted legislation under their responsibility for health care delivery. This legislation specifies that conversion therapy is not an insured health service and bans health care providers from providing conversion therapy to minors. Ontario and Nova Scotia have exceptions for “mature minors” (minors who can make their own health care decisions), while PEI does not.
The Yukon (March 2020), New Brunswick (March 2020) and Quebec (September 2020) have introduced bills that would implement similar measures.
Some Canadian municipalities have also banned businesses from providing conversion therapy within their city limits, including Vancouver and Edmonton.

Q 27 Would Bill C-6’s amendments support existing provincial and municipal responses?

Bill C-6 would complement existing provincial and municipal responses by protecting LGBTQ2 persons in all contexts, not just in situations where health care providers offer conversion therapy, and by ensuring a consistent approach across Canada.
Bill C-6’s definition of conversion therapy and its denunciation of the practice are consistent with relevant provincial health-related legislation and existing municipal bans on conversion therapy.

Q 28 Do Bill C-6’s proposed reforms conflict with conversion therapy legislation that is in place at the provincial level?

Bill C-6’s reforms do not conflict with provincial conversion therapy responses.
Although Bill C-6 would go farther than the provincial legislation currently in force, for example by prohibiting anyone, not just health care providers, from providing conversion therapy to minors without exception for “mature minors” who consent, it would be possible to comply with both Bill C-6’s provisions and provincial conversion therapy legislation.

Q 29 Has the Government undertaken other measures to protect LGBTQ2 persons?

Bill C-6 builds on other measures the federal government has undertaken that are designed to better protect LGBTQ2 persons’ rights, including:
- strengthening protections for transgender people in the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act (formerBill C-16);
- repealing offences that have historically been enforced in a discriminatory way against LGBTQ2 persons (i.e., anal intercourse and bawdy house offences, repealed by former Bill C-75); and,
- making available expungements of convictions for consensual same-sex sexual activity (former Bill C-66).

International Responses

Q 30 Have other countries enacted legislation to protect against conversion therapy?

Malta is the only jurisdiction known to have enacted conversion therapy-specific criminal offences. Its approach criminalizes providing conversion therapy to “vulnerable persons”, who are defined as persons under the age of 16 years, persons with a “mental disorder” or persons considered by the court to be at risk. Malta also criminalizes advertising conversion therapy, as well as involuntary conversion therapy.
Bill C-6 is broader in scope. It would protect all children under the age of 18 years, regardless of whether conversion therapy is provided in Canada or abroad, and it would prohibit all Canadians from profiting from the practice.
In March of 2018, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning conversion therapy and urging European Union member states to ban the practice. Also, in July of 2018, the United Kingdom announced that it intends to bring forward proposals to ban conversion therapy and is currently studying the issue.

Coming into Force

Q 31 When would Bill C-6’s amendments come into force?

Bill C-6’s amendments would come into force 30 days after the day on which the Bill receives Royal Assent.

Date modified:: 2021-08-09