Toronto, August 11, 2025 – Today, in a critical victory for Saskatchewan’s trans and non-binary youth, a majority of the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan decided that the challenge to Saskatchewan’s pronoun law could go ahead on the question of whether the law violates trans and non-binary youth’s section 12 Charter rights. The Court of Appeal also decided that although the provincial government used the notwithstanding clause to protect its pronoun law from being found unconstitutional, a court can still declare that the law violates Charter rights.
Because the government of Saskatchewan only used the notwithstanding clause to shield the pronoun law from section 7 rights (the right to security of the person) and section 15 rights (equality rights), today’s decision means that the law can be struck down if the lower court finds section 12 rights (the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual treatment) to be violated.
Further, this decision allows courts to inform the public when a law passed using the notwithstanding clause is discriminatory, which can impact decision-making at the ballot box and validate the experiences of those impacted by such laws. In the case of Saskatchewan’s pronoun law, which requires parental consent before school personnel can refer to a trans or non-binary student under the age of 16 by their proper name and pronouns, leaving the door open for potential judicial recognition of its harms is critically important to affirming the experiences of trans and non-binary youth.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision is a victory for Canada’s most marginalized – including women, trans, and non-binary people – as well as for the public at large,” says Kat Owens, Interim Legal Director at LEAF. “Today, the Court of Appeal affirmed that our Charter rights remain unchanged even in the face of the notwithstanding clause being invoked. If a law harms trans and non-binary youth, then those youth are entitled to have that harm declared in a court of law.”
The Court’s decision is rooted in the arguments that organizations like LEAF brought to its attention. The Court of Appeal agreed with LEAF and others that a judicial decision that a law violates Charter rights would assist voters when judging its government’s actions come election time.
LEAF’s intervention focused on the importance of paying attention to who is being impacted by a law, and how it will affect these groups to have the courts say nothing about the Charter rights violations occurring as a result of the law. While the Court didn’t address trans and non-binary youth directly, it stated that when people believe their Charter rights have been violated, they have a right to access the courts and make arguments to that effect.
LEAF is grateful to be working alongside trans and non-binary community organizations fighting for their Charter rights to be respected. Today, we celebrate the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan’s decision. We know, however, that this decision will not be the last on this issue, and will be in court again when the lower court hears the challenge to Saskatchewan’s pronoun law.
LEAF is grateful to Morgan Camley and Kay Scorer of Dentons Canada LLP, counsel to LEAF in this case. LEAF is also grateful to Barton Soroka of Gerrand Rath Johnson LLP, agent for LEAF in this case.
LEAF’s interventions are guided, informed, and supported by a case committee with expertise in the relevant issues. We are grateful to this intervention’s case committee members: Florence Ashley, Jamie Cameron, Jennifer Koshan, Robert Leckey (prior to appointment to the bench), Samuel Singer, and Xue Xu.
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About the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)
The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) is a national not-for-profit and charity that works to advance the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation, law reform, and public legal education. Since 1985, LEAF has intervened in more than 130 cases that have helped shape the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To find out more, visit www.leaf.ca.
