Beyond the Binary in Canada

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Advancing Gender-Inclusive Health Research

At the Partnership for Women’s Health Research Canada (PWHR), we recognize that advancing women’s health research requires being inclusive of the full spectrum of sex and gender diversity.

Beyond the Binary in Canada is an ongoing initiative involving health researchers, people who experience gender-based health inequities, research administrators and staff, members of research ethics boards, and research partners from across Canada. With these collaborators, PWHR has facilitated the development of the Beyond the Binary in Canada Guide (available in English and French), which provides nationally relevant, community-informed guidance that enables researchers to conduct gender-inclusive health research.

Why beyond the Binary in Canada?

For decades, health research systems have been built on binary understandings of sex and gender. While awareness of sex and gender diversity has grown, researchers and institutions continue to seek practical guidance on how to conduct gender-inclusive research in meaningful and accountable ways.

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Beyond the Binary in Canada responds to that need by:

Explaining how language perpetuates gender-based inequities and limits women’s health research

Sharing practical guidance and examples for researchers to incorporate gender-inclusive language. For example, in research design, recruitment, and data analysis.

Modelling and describing community-oriented principles for researchers to integrate into their practices

All content is community-informed.

Access the Guide

Download the Guide in English

Download the Guide in French

Learn more about our collaborators and the development process described in the Beyond the Binary National Knowledge Exchange

This work aims to ensure that health research environments engage cisgender, transgender, non-binary, Two-Spirit, gender non-conforming, gender creative, and gender-diverse individuals respectfully, accountably, and inclusively.

Our Role AT PWHR

PWHR is proud to collaborate in mobilizing this work nationally. Our role includes:

Supporting pan-Canadian engagement
Amplifying the guidance across partner institutions
Embedding gender-inclusive research principles into broader national conversations on women’s health research
Helping translate guidance into action across research, policy, and institutional practice

Beyond the Binary in Canada reflects our broader commitment to advancing inclusive and equitable women’s health research across the country.

A Brief History

2019-2020: Growing Demand for Guidance about Gender-Inclusive Research

PWHR has supported the national expansion of Beyond the Binary (BTB), but the initiative began in British Columbia (BC) led by the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI), one of PWHR’s founding partners.

In 2019-2020, WHRI saw a significant increase in requests for support related to:

Inclusive language in grant applications
Recruitment materials
Data collection tools

It became clear that individual consultations were not enough – the research community needed written guidance that could be referred to and shared widely. WHRI applied for and received a Michael Smith Health Research BC Convening & Collaborating (C2) Grant to advance the Beyond the Binary project.

2021: Building the Foundation in BC

The project took an emergent and community-engaged approach to developing guidance.

Key activities included:

Conducting a literature review and environmental scan to understand the landscape of gender-inclusive and equitable practices

Establishing two steering committees:
- A Community Steering Committee (CSC)
- A Research Steering Committee (RSC)

Co-creating content to inform guidance

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Importantly, the Community Steering Committee was always engaged first to build accountability into the guidance. The Research Steering Committee was subsequently consulted to assess feasibility and acceptability within research settings.

This approach ensured that lived experience and community leadership shaped the direction of the work.

2022–2023: Launching Beyond the Binary in BC: A Guide

Between 2022 and 2023, the collaboratively developed content was transformed into Beyond the Binary in BC: A Guide. The guide provides structured, practical recommendations to support gender-equitable research practices within BC’s women’s health research community.

2023: Scaling Nationally

In June 2023, a coalition coordinated by PWHR received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Planning and Dissemination Grant to scale this work nationally. Following the same leadership structure that included a Community Task Force and a Research Task Force, the initiative expanded to mobilize:

Pan-Canadian researchers engaged in women’s health

Community partners from coast-to-coast

Leaders of women’s health research institutes and research administrators from across the country, including representatives of all of PWHR’s partners (WHRI, WCHRI, WCH and IWK)

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Together, we adapted and expanded the guidance for national relevance.

2024: Introducing A National Resource for Gender-Inclusive and Equitable Research

Beyond the Binary in Canada is a nationally relevant guide and resource package for gender-inclusive research that:

Reflects research feasibility
Provides examples from different stages of the research process
Promotes justice-oriented, anti-oppressive, and trauma- and resiliency-informed principles and research practices
Offers bilingual accessibility (English and French)

What is next?

Advancing Gender Equitable and Inclusive Research with Research Ethics BoardS

Building on the Beyond the Binary in Canada Guide, PWHR is currently coordinating a national initiative to develop knowledge mobilization tools to support reviewers and Research Ethics Boards to guide health researchers and institutions in their commitments to conducting gender-inclusive and equitable research. This work is being developed with community experts, PWHR partner institutions, representatives from the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB) and the Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium, researchers, reviewers and research ethics board chairs from across Canada. Stay tuned for new resources in 2026.

Funders and Supporters

These efforts to advance gender-inclusive health research have been supported by Michael Smith Health Research BC and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health.

Many individuals have shared generously of their experiences and expertise to create Beyond the Binary. We are grateful to all of them.