Recommendations

In summary, the findings of this study lead us to make the following recommendations:

  1. Shift away from the term ‘conversion therapy’ andinstead use the terms conversion practices or sexual orientation and gender identity and expression change efforts (SOGIECE), to reflect a broader definition that includes broad ranges of conversion ‘therapy’ and SOGIECE.
  2. Increase the public’s knowledge of Bill C-4, the range of conversion ‘therapy’ and SOGIECE, and the impacts of conversion ‘therapy’ and SOGIECE, through education campaigns. These campaigns must be developed for multiple audiences, in collaboration with survivors, ethnoracial, immigrant, newcomer, and refugee communities.
  3. Any efforts on implementation of Bill C-4 must be first informed by educational and restorative approaches, guided by BIPOC, immigrant, newcomer, and refugee 2SLGBTQIA+ survivors.
  4. Increase knowledge of conversion ‘therapy’ and its impacts amongst immigration services, within the federal government, within provincial and territorial agencies, and within community-based settlement services. This knowledge must be coupled with an improvement in services that are trauma-informed.
  5. Expand the mental health services provided to 2SLGBTQIA+ refugees who are receiving Interim Federal Healthcare, to include low-barrier, longer-term mental health services that are trauma-informed.
  6. Eliminate the health insurance three-month waiting period that currently exists in some provinces/territories, so that newcomers can access healthcare as soon as they arrive in Canada, imperative for survivors of conversion therapy.
  7. Expand and develop trauma-informed community-based services for BIPOC, immigrant, newcomer, and refugee 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, which are low-barrier, culturally and linguistically appropriate, and available in-person and online. Peer-led and peer-based supports are especially important to include. This expansion and development must be supported by government investments.
  8. Investments in 2SLGBTQIA+ housing support services, with eligibility criteria to be inclusive of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities who experience additional systemic barriers, such as immigrants, refugees, international students, and those without immigration status.
  9. Policymakers, community leaders, and community-based organizations must prioritize supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and their rights, which includes preventing and addressing conversion ‘therapy’ and SOGIECE, ensuring safe spaces for 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals including within schools, improvement of services to reduce barriers, access to education about sexuality and gender, recourse for in-person and online hate, etc.