In June 2017, Bill C-16 was passed in Canada, adding gender identity and gender expression to the categories for “hate speech.”  The broad nature of the legislation has led to concerns that it will now be a criminal offence to refuse to call someone by their chosen gender pronoun, an assumption which was further strengthened by the Halton Police tweeting a reminder to people to ask a person their preferred gender pronoun:

Shortly before that, in December 2016, the All Families Are Equal Act 2016 became law in Ontario, Canada. Under the legislation, registries of birth no longer refer to “mother” or “father,” but the generic term “parent” and up to four “parents” are eligible to be listed on a child’s birth certificate. This changes the purpose of a birth certificate from being the primary identity document for a child to a document which reflects the social relationship of the adults responsible for their care.