February 10 to 16 marks Sexual Health Week in Canada. This annual campaign raises awareness on sexual and reproductive health and promotes resources to improve community health in Canada.
From the young to the elderly, through diversity of gender expression, norms, roles, expectations and power dynamics, sexual and reproductive health plays a fundamental role in overall well-being. The need for quality data to guide research and policy is also crucial. Until recently, however, there has been a patchwork of data that may not accurately reflect national needs.
To help fill these data gaps, Statistics Canada asked some questions related to sexual and reproductive health in waves 12 and 13 of the Canadian Social Survey, and is currently collecting data on sexual and reproductive health through the Canadian Sexual and Reproductive Health Survey (CSRHS) from women aged 18 to 49 years until February 28, 2025.
Findings from the Canadian Social Survey highlight the important role of health care providers in promoting sexual and reproductive health awareness
Health care providers play a key role in providing accurate information and education related to sexual and reproductive health. In 2024, 50% of Canadians reported that they typically get information on this topic from doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, sex therapists or other health care providers.
When asked about the specific topics discussed with a health care provider, fewer than 1 in 5 had ever discussed the following: their sexual history (19%), the prevention of sexually transmitted or blood-borne infections (18%), their fertility (18%), their sexual relationships (17%) or their sexuality (11%).
Across all sexual and reproductive health topics covered in this survey, women were more likely than men to have had such discussions with a health care provider (Chart 1). This difference was especially pronounced for birth control and pregnancy prevention. Just over half (52%) of women reported discussing this topic with a health care provider, compared to 10% of men.
Chart 1: Percentage of people who talked about their sexual and reproductive health topics with a health care provider, 2024
Description - Chart 1: Percentage of people who talked about their sexual and reproductive health topics with a health care provider, 2024
The title of the chart is "Percentage of people who talked about sexual and reproductive health topics with a health care provider, 2024."
This is a vertical bar chart.
The vertical axis shows the percentage of respondents who talked about certain topics with a health care provider. It goes from 0 to 60, by increments of 10 percentage points.
The horizontal axis shows six groups of two bars. The first bar represents men, and the second bar represents women. Each group of bars represents the topics that respondents talked about with a health care provider.
The first group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about birth control and pregnancy prevention with a health care provider, at 10% for men and 52% for women.
The second group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about fertility with a health care provider, at 10% for men and 25% for women.
The third group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about their sexual history with a health care provider, at 15% for men and 24% for women.
The fourth group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection prevention with a health care provider, at 14% for men and 22% for women.
The fifth group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about their sexual relationships with a health care provider, at 13% for men and 20% for women.
The sixth group of bars represents the percentage of respondents who talked about their sexuality with a health care provider, at 9% for men and 12% for women.
Note(s): Respondents were asked, “Have you and any health care provider ever talked about any of the following topics?” The terms “women” and “men” are used to refer to a person’s biological sex assigned at birth. All percentages are for the population aged 15 years and older.
Source(s): Canadian Social Survey (5354) - Quality of Life, Health and Compassionate Communities, 2024, and Canadian Social Survey (5354) - Quality of Life, Health and Impacts of Rising Prices, 2024.
Discomfort talking about sexual or reproductive health can prevent some people from getting help
Some people are more willing to talk about sexual and reproductive health with health care providers, while others may experience stigma or other barriers that make such conversations difficult. In some cases, this discomfort can prevent someone from getting the help they need.
Young people were more likely than people from older age groups to report that discomfort talking about their sexual or reproductive health had ever prevented them from getting help from a health care provider (Chart 2). About 1 in 5 people aged 15 to 24 (19%) and aged 25 to 34 (20%) reported that discomfort talking about their sexual or reproductive health had ever prevented them from getting help from a health care provider, compared to 9% among Canadians aged 65 years and older.
Chart 2: Percentage of people whose discomfort discussing their sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, 2024
Description - Chart 2: Percentage of people whose discomfort discussing their sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, 2024
The title of the chart is “Percentage of people whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, 2024.”
This is a vertical bar chart.
The vertical axis shows the percentage of respondents whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care. It goes from 0 to 25, by increments of 5 percentage points.
The horizontal axis shows the age groups of respondents, with each bar representing an age group. From left to right, the age groups are 15 to 24 years, 25 to 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years and 65 years and older.
The first bar represents the percentage of people aged 15 to 24 years whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 19%.
The second bar represents the percentage of people aged 25 to 34 years whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 20%.
The third bar represents the percentage of people aged 35 to 44 years whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 16%.
The fourth bar represents the percentage of people aged 45 to 54 years whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 13%.
The fifth bar represents the percentage of people aged 55 to 64 years whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 11%.
The sixth bar represents the percentage of people aged 65 years and older whose discomfort discussing sexual or reproductive health prevented them from seeking care, at 9%.
Note(s): Respondents were asked, “Has discomfort talking about your sexual or reproductive health ever prevented you from getting help from a health care provider?”
Source(s): Canadian Social Survey (5354) - Quality of Life, Health and Compassionate Communities, 2024, and Canadian Social Survey (5354) - Quality of Life, Health and Impacts of Rising Prices, 2024.
Youth who are Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer and those who use other terms related to gender or sexual diversity (2SLGBTQ+) were even more likely to experience discomfort that prevented them from seeking sexual and reproductive health care. Close to one-third (32%) of 2SLGBTQ+ people aged 15 to 34 reported that discomfort talking about their sexual or reproductive health had prevented them from getting help from a health care provider—compared to 17% of cisgender heterosexual people in the same age group.
Chosen to participate? You can make a difference
If you received a letter inviting you to participate in the CSRHS, please complete the survey online or by phone before February 28, 2025. The data collected will help better inform programs and policies related to sexual and reproductive health.
Participants can visit our Information for survey participants and Trust Centre pages for more information on how we are conducting the survey while keeping personal and business information secure.
Note to Readers
This release is based on data from the Canadian Social Survey (CSS) Quality of Life, Health and Compassionate Communities (from January 26 to March 10, 2024) and CSS Quality of Life, Health and Impacts of Rising Prices (from April 19 to June 2, 2024). Data for the two collection periods were pooled to increase the sample size and overall quality of the estimates.
In this release, the term “Canadians” refers to residents of Canada, regardless of citizenship status.
Although sex at birth and gender refer to two different concepts, the terminology related to gender is used throughout this article to make it easier for readers. Gender refers to an individual’s personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman) and may differ from their sex at birth. For more information on these different concepts, check out the related article, “Sex at birth and gender of people in Canada.”
Whereas the Government of Canada adopted and encourages the use of the acronym 2SLGBTQI+ to refer to Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people and those who use other terms related to gender or sexual diversity, Statistics Canada uses the acronym 2SLGBTQ+ for data analysis purposes as information is not yet specifically collected about intersex people in surveys.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).