Conversion Therapy In Canada Has Now Been Officially Banned By The Federal Government

"LGBTQ2 rights are human rights," Justin Trudeau said.

Senior Writer

A new law banning conversion therapy in Canada is now in effect, which makes the practice illegal across the entire country.

Justin Trudeau announced on January 7 that the legislation introduced by his government that bans this came into force.

"It is now illegal to promote, advertise, benefit from, or subject someone to this hateful and harmful practice," Trudeau said.

"LGBTQ2 rights are human rights," Trudeau said.

After being introduced in the House of Commons on November 29, 2021, Bill C-4 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) received royal assent on December 8, 2021, and the legislation officially came into effect a month later.

The bill received unanimous support from all Parliamentarians in Canada's House of Commons and Senate.

It protects Canadians of all ages from conversion therapy and also shields minors from conversion therapy abroad.

The legislation prohibits anyone from "causing a person to undergo conversion therapy or providing it to a person; promoting or advertising services related to conversion therapy; removing a child from Canada to undergo conversion therapy abroad," and receiving financial or material benefit from conversion therapy services.

Minister of Justice David Lametti, the MP who introduced the bill to ban conversion therapy, celebrated the legislation coming into effect on January 7 and said that this makes Canada's law one of the most progressive in the world.

"This is a victory for Canada's LGBTQ2 community and our entire country," he tweeted. "We are stronger when everyone can be who they are and love freely without fear."

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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