Quebec to offer ‘X’ gender option for health cards, driver’s licences

Quebecers who do not identify as male or female will soon be able to opt for an ‘X’ gender marker on their health cards and driver’s licences.

Both Quebec’s automobile insurance board and its public health insurance board say they’ve been informed of the government’s decision to add a third gender option to the government ID cards.

The health insurance board, known as the RAMQ, says it learned of the decision this morning and will immediately start taking steps to implement the change.

Both the RAMQ and the auto insurance board, or SAAQ, say clients who have requested a non-binary marker on their cards will be contacted shortly to discuss the next steps in the process.

Quebec allows a non-binary gender marker on birth and death certificates, but unlike other provinces it has not offered the option on health cards or driver’s licences until now.

Quebec’s minister for the status of women said last year that an interdepartmental committee was studying the issue but didn’t say when the X option might be offered.