New Growing Demographic Requires Business Policy Changes

The 2021 Census has pointed to a growing new demographic advisors must take note of or risk losing a client base that can have significant lifetime value.  How well you embrace the transgender or non-binary demographic can make a big difference but it requires unique practice management changes.  Here’s what you need to know:

Key Census Gender Highlights:

• One in 300 people in Canada aged 15 and older are transgender or non-binary
• A total of 100,815 (0.33% of the population) Canadians aged 15 and older were transgender or non-binary
• The transgender population had an average age of 39.4 years, while the non-binary population had an average age of 30.4 years
• Just under 1 in 100 young adults aged 20 to 24 were non-binary or transgender (0.85%)
• 1 in 6 non-binary people described their gender as "fluid" (7.3%), "agender" (5.1%) or "queer" (4.1%)
• Other responses included "gender neutral" (2.9%), "Two-Spirit" (2.2%), "neither man nor woman" (1.3%) and "gender-nonconforming" (1.1%)

So why should this matter to you and your business?   It is well documented that ‘The Great Wealth Transfer’ is underway and younger generations of Canadians are set to inherit over $150 billion before 2026.  Millennials and Gen Z-ers are challenging the longstanding gender binary mindset that society has historically adopted.  Even those who do not classify themselves as transgender or non-binary believe that there should be more acknowledgement of, and inclusion of this growing community and they seek to work with companies that show a more modern understanding of the gender spectrum.

Steps to take to market to and service a transgender and non-binary audience:

1. Remove Gendered Assumptions
   • Do not assume a person identifies as one gender over another
   • Update your sales script and/or elevator pitch to be gender neutral

2. Ask Your Clients/Prospects/Employees

• Don’t be afraid to ask your client how they identify and/or if they have a family member who identifies on the gender spectrum

3. Use Inclusive Language

• Consider adapting the words you use ie. in place of “his/hers” or “son/daughter” you could say “their” or “child”

4. Redesign Forms
   • Update your client intake or employee application forms to include other gender categories such as: Male/Female/In another way/ Prefer not to say
   • Give clients and employees the option to list (and be called) by their preferred pronouns

5. Update Marketing Messaging and Advertise Inclusivity
   • Include gender neutral images and information or a diversity of gender expressions, not just those that are typically masculine or feminine
   • Display and promote anti-discriminatory messaging

Advisors who act now to adapt their businesses to include this newly defined, and growing, demographic will be in a better position to expand their practice in the future and retain the assets that will flow to the future inheritors of wealth in Canada.