Have you been living on another planet.
But while many trends suggest Canada's LGBTQ population is growing, the report also cites threats facing LGBTQ Canadians — such as the recent spike in hate crimes targeting people for their sexual orientation.
In 2019, police reported 263 such incidents, a 41 per cent increase over the previous year and the highest total since 2009.
Violent crimes accounted for more than half of those reported incidents.
LGBTQ Canadians also may have experienced more economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic than non-LGBTQ people, the report said.
People in the 15 to 24 age bracket experienced the largest number of job losses of any group during the pandemic. Since that group accounts for such a large share of the LGBTQ population, "it is likely that [LGBTQ] Canadians may be disproportionately affected by job loss during the pandemic," the report says.
People who identify as LGBTQ also have lower average annual incomes than non-LGBTQ Canadians — $39,000 versus $58,000. That discrepancy could be explained in part by the fact that the LGBTQ population includes a large number of young people, who typically are not high-earners.
