The Canadian government is warning citizens who list “X” as their gender on their passports could have problems entering the U.S. and other countries.
In a change made in recent days, the Department of Global Affairs added an advisory to its United States travel advice page for 2SLGBTQ+ Canadian passport holders.
“While the Government of Canada issues passports with an ‘X’ gender identifier, it cannot guarantee your entry or transit through other countries,” it wrote. “You might face entry restrictions in countries that do not recognize the ‘X’ gender identifier.”
The notice advises that Canadians “may still be asked to provide your sex/gender information as either male or female when travelling.”
The move comes months after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. government to only recognize two sexes: male and female. The order also directed that all documents issued by the U.S. federal government refer to “sex” rather than “gender.”
Trump’s executive order is before the courts, with the administration seeking to lift a U.S. district court order that barred the State Department from enforcing Trump’s policy to restrict the issuance of U.S. passports that recognize genders other than male and female.
Trans and non-binary Nexus card applicants lose ‘X’ gender marker
In January, the Canadian government said an estimated 3,600 citizens have listed “X” as their gender on their passports — an option that has been available to Canadians since 2019.
Alexandre Fournier, a spokesperson for the Department of Global Affairs, said late Wednesday afternoon that the department added the same notice to its advisories for “all destinations” on Sept. 23, although the page for the U.S. said it was changed on Sept. 29 to add “updated information on 2SLGBTQi+ persons.”
The department has not yet responded to questions from CBC News regarding what prompted the change, whether there had been any incidents and how many Canadians currently have their gender indicated as X in their passports.
Jennifer Young, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Canada, said the current U.S. government shutdown prevents the embassy from commenting on the change.
“Due the current lapse in appropriations, we are not in a position to provide comment or schedule interviews at the time,” she wrote in an email.
This is the latest move by Global Affairs to increase its warnings about travelling to the United States. In 2023, the government updated its travel advisory after a number of U.S. states adopted anti-2SLGBTQ+ laws, warning Canadian travellers of laws that criminalize same-sex activities or target people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Earlier this year, the Canadian government’s travel advisory was updated to warn of the prospect of additional scrutiny when entering the U.S.
In August, the Canada Border Services Agency advised that Canadians who apply for a new Nexus trusted traveller card or renew existing cards would no longer be able to list X as their gender.
