Sex and Gender

Infoway Sex and Gender Working Group

Infoway’s Sex and Gender Working Group (SGWG) has been convening since 2019 to advance the modernization of gender, sex, and sexual orientation (GSSO) information practices across Canada’s digital health ecosystem. Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month for one hour, from 12:00 ET / 9:00 PT.

The SGWG was established with the support and participation of Canada Health Infoway, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA), the University of Victoria, and multiple Canadian jurisdictions, including Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Ontario, and others. The group has since grown to more than 100 registered participants, who contribute through ongoing collaboration, research exchange, standards alignment, and implementation-focused discussion.

In early 2021, the SGWG released A Proposed Action Plan to Modernize Gender, Sex and Sexual Orientation Practices in Canadian EHRs. This Action Plan articulates seven core aims that continue to guide the group’s work, including equity-oriented data practices, culturally safe and gender-affirming care, interoperability, education, and system accountability.

The SGWG provides a national forum to:

• Examine and advance inclusive, respectful, and clinically meaningful GSSO data practices

• Support implementation of pan-Canadian and jurisdictional standards in EHR systems

• Address structural inequities, including Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination against gender-diverse, Two-Spirit, trans, and non-binary people in healthcare

• Share emerging research, implementation lessons, and policy-relevant insights

Participants are invited to bring their expertise and lived or living experience to help shape practical, implementation-ready strategies for modernizing sex and gender information practices in Canada.

Additional Details

• Meeting notes and related materials are available in the group’s Documents folder.

• Registration is required and remains valid for all future sessions.

• A draft agenda is typically posted to the group forum approximately five days prior to each meeting.

• Participants are encouraged to register for an InfoCentral account and subscribe to receive forum notifications and updates on SGWG activities.

Note: The current group icon represents diversity in sex and gender but is not fully inclusive; this is acknowledged as an area for future improvement.

Upcoming events:

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• view the complete list of documents or documents grouped by folder
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Note: Group members are not currently notified when new documents are added. To notify others, you must post the URL to the new document in the forum. (Notification of document uploads is a feature in development.)