In January 2022, the British Columbia government expanded gender options on legal documents and made the process of obtaining such documents easier. Following this decision, SFU is adding new gender designations through go.sfu.ca! This is a good step for better 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion in higher education and beyond and SFSS Out on Campus is very glad that these options are now available.

Many folks may have questions about the new options, so please read on through the FAQ we made to help you out!
If your question is not answered here, please email us at ooc@sfss.ca

Previously, you could only have one of the following options on your official record at SFU: “Man”, “Woman”, and “N/A”. Now, you are able to self-select one of the four options: “Man”, “Woman”, “Non-binary”, and “Prefer not to answer”. This selection is visible on your student record to anyone who can access it. In addition, you can select one of the three options: “Transgender”, “Cisgender”, and “Prefer not to answer”. This selection is visible only to you and some Registrar staff.

These gender options are available for you to have a more accurate representation of who you are. Gender is a complex term, but in this case it refers to how you perceive and carry yourself in the world:

  • “Man” and “Woman” are common gender options, referring to people who feel strongly aligned or otherwise in tune with the concepts of masculinity and femininity respectively.
  • “Non-binary” is a gender that falls in between, outside of, or as a mix of “Man” and “Woman” gender options.
  • “Transgender” is a term for people who identify with a different gender from the one they and/or other people saw them as when they were born.
  • “Cisgender” is a term for people who identify with the same gender as the one they and/or other people saw them as when they were born.
  • “Prefer not to answer” option can be selected by anyone, for any reason!

If you would like to learn more about gender, here are some resources:

This information helps SFU to better understand the SFU community, who is represented or underrepresented, what services, policies, and projects are needed, and what can be improved. It is important to note that this information is stored in accordance with SFU Privacy Disclosure and will not be shared outside of SFU.

It is also important for people to have options to best represent themselves and see themselves accepted and seen by the SFU community. We hope that this will help many students have a better time at SFU.

If you are a new student, you will need to select one answer from the given options. You can always select “Prefer not to answer”!

If you are a current student, no changes will be made; only you can select the new options. Your gender designation will stay the same as the one from your SFU application, and the “Transgender”/”Cisgender”/”Prefer not to answer” selection will be blank. You can always select “Prefer not to answer”!

For technical support, please see GoSFU Guide, as they have step-by-step instructions to select your gender designation.
If you have a technical question, please contact reginfo@sfu.ca

You are always welcome to drop by SFSS Out on Campus, the SFU 2SLGBTQIA+ resource centre. We are open 9am-4pm, Monday to Friday, in the Student Union Building, room 2230. You can email us at ooc@sfss.ca and ooc2@sfss.ca, as well as connect with us on social media and Discord.
There are also folks in the wider community who can assist you: Qmunity, HIM, TransCareBC, and more.