Gender, sex, and sexual orientation
Gender identity: An individual’s personal experience of being a woman, man or nonbinary, or how the person prefers to self-describe.
Sex at birth: The sex of a person at birth which is a clinical finding, usually determined by a clinician based on phenotypic (e.g., genitals or gonads), physiologic (e.g., hormone levels) and/or genetic characteristics.
Sexual orientation: How a person describes their sexuality or who a person is romantically or physically attracted to.
Relationships
| From class | Relationship | To class |
|---|---|---|
| Gender, sex, and sexual orientation | is a | Social determinants of health |
Contact us
If you have questions about this initiative, would like to be added to our stakeholder notification list or would like to participate in our consultations, please email us.
How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Gender, sex, and sexual orientation. Accessed November 02, 2026.
