Proposed Canadian border form will check gender against travel documents

[A Canada Border Services Agency logo is seen on a worker at Toronto’s Pearson airport on Dec. 8, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch]

Non-binary people, those who do not identify as being either male or female, will have to have their travel documents already showing their gender in order to properly complete a proposed new border form, the federal government says.

The Trudeau government introduced new legislation on June 15 that would collect biographic information from anyone crossing the border to leave Canada, somewhat like how travellers fill out a customs declaration card when entering the country.

Bill C-21, An Act to amend the Customs Act, would permit the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to collect personal information, such as the full name, birthdate, nationality and sex of “any person who is leaving Canada or who has left Canada.” The plan is to share this information with the United States to create a joint entry-exit system.

This spring, non-binary Canadians were left wondering how to fill out their census forms that asked people to choose their sex from among two options. Statistics Canada said that those who did not wish to pick either could leave the question blank, and instead write in the comments section why they chose to do that.

The new border forms, meanwhile, will “accept the sex indicator received as indicated on someone’s travel document or contained within the flight manifest,” according to an email from CBSA spokeswoman Line Guibert-Wolff.

Flight manifests aren’t public, and there are various travel documents, with passports being the most universally accepted. Passport Canada was taking a look at genderless passports in 2012, according to La Presse, but the Daily Xtra reported the agency rejected the idea two years later. Canadian passport application forms still appear to have a binary gender choice.

Canada’s entry-exit partner, the U.S., doesn’t have a process for non-binary gender on visa forms, BuzzFeed reported last year.

A system to track people exiting the country has been in the works for over half a decade and is over two years late. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said the new system is needed to help track missing children, human trafficking, immigration issues and the like.

But critics have long cited privacy concerns. In May, the federal privacy commissioner’s office said it was looking forward to the opportunity to advise Parliament on the legislation.

The issue of non-binary gender options on official paperwork is increasingly in the public eye. Oregon recently allowed resident Jamie Schupe to legally be considered non-binary, reportedly a first for the U.S.

Several countries including Australia and New Zealand allow a third gender on passports.