B.C. lab ordered to pay $32K for misgendering transgender, non-binary patients

A British Columbia laboratory, LifeLabs and its subsidiary Excelleris Technologies, was ordered to pay $32,000 in damages for discriminating against transgender and non-binary patients. The human rights tribunal found that the lab misgendered and outed three patients in 2019 at clinics in Vancouver and Burnaby.

A non-binary individual was compelled to choose between male or female to receive lab services, and was subsequently outed to other patients by being required to disclose their gender identity in a public setting. One transgender patient faced difficulty updating their gender marker on medical records, while another was misgendered on lab reports, leading them to opt out of necessary cancer screening to avoid further misgendering.

The tribunal heard from an expert who testified that gender-diverse people often encounter barriers to accessing healthcare, with misgendering posing a "significant source of distress." Tribunal member Theressa Etmanski emphasized that LifeLabs must revise its policies and staff training regarding gender identity and provide private spaces for transgender and non-binary patients to discuss their identity.

Etmanski stated that while a patient's sex may be medically relevant in lab services, there is no evidence to support that the standard is medically necessary or justified. This decision was issued on October 29, 2026, by The Canadian Press, first published on November 8, 2026.