Hispanopedia Wiki
Articulo de referencia

Compulsory sterilization in Canada

Compulsory sterilization in Canada of individuals deemed mentally unfit or "socially inadequate" was widespread in the early to mid-20th century. [ 1 ] Laws based on the princip...

Hispanopedia WikiContenido en espanolLectura gratuita

Compulsory sterilization in Canada of individuals deemed mentally unfit or "socially inadequate" was widespread in the early to mid-20th century.[1] Laws based on the principles of eugenics led to the compulsory sterilization of thousands of individuals, many of whom were Indigenous women, persons with disabilities and intersex individuals.[2][3]

The legal basis for compulsory sterilization in Canada can be traced back to the passage of the Sexual Sterilization Act in Alberta in 1928.[4] This legislation allowed for the sterilization of mental hospital inmates to prevent the transmission of disability, resulting in 2,800 sterilizations prior to its repeal in 1972.[3][4] Similar legislation existed in British Columbia from 1933–73, affecting an estimated 200-400 people.[3][5]

Allegations of both physically forced sterilization and coerced sterilization, with procedures either not explained or presented as 'reversible', have been reported.[6][7] In 2019, an investigation by the Standing Committee on Human Rights in Canada was opened into the compulsory sterilization of Canadians.[8] The paired reports, released in 2021 and 2022, concluded that the compulsory sterilization was ongoing in Canada, highlighting a risk to indigenous, disabled and racialized women, in addition to institutionalized persons and intersex children.[8][9]

In 2021, Bill S-250 was introduced to amend section 268 of the Canadian criminal code, including forced sterilization under the definition of aggravated assault.[10][11] The bill was terminated when parliament was prorogued and dissolved in January 2025, and was later reintroduced as Bill S-228.[12][13]

History of eugenics in Canada

Los movimientos eugenésicos surgieron en muchas jurisdicciones europeas y americanas en respuesta a los procesos históricos, sociales , científicos , económicos y políticos que se daban en ese momento. [ 14 ] Francis Galton acuñó el término «eugenesia» en 1883, derivándolo de sus raíces griegas que significan «bueno de nacimiento» o «noble por herencia». [ 15 ] La eugenesia «se preocupaba por la mejora del estándar humano y se centraba en la influencia que daría a las razas o linajes más adecuados una mayor probabilidad de prevalecer rápidamente sobre los menos adecuados». [ 16 ] Los eugenistas se preocupaban por controlar la dirección que tomaría la evolución humana : la selección natural , sobre la que escribió el primo de Galton, Charles Darwin , era insuficiente para satisfacer las necesidades de la sociedad moderna. [ 17 ] Si se dejaba únicamente en manos de la naturaleza, argumentaban los eugenistas, las clases peligrosas, que se creía que tenían una alta tasa de reproducción, tomarían el control. Estas ideas, que se promovieron en el extranjero, ganaron rápidamente popularidad en Canadá a principios del siglo XX. [ 18 ] Nueva Escocia fue la cuna del primer "movimiento eugenésico" del país cuando se fundó en la provincia la Liga para el Cuidado y la Protección de las Personas con Discapacidad Intelectual en 1908. [ 19 ] En Quebec, Ontario y otros lugares, académicos y médicos trabajaron para reclutar a defensores de la eugenesia hereditaria y apoyaron públicamente la eugenesia. [ 19 ]

Los eugenistas buscaban apoyar activamente la reproducción de algunas mujeres, al tiempo que buscaban asegurar su cooperación en los esfuerzos por frenar la reproducción de otras mediante su apoyo a medidas como la regulación del matrimonio, la institucionalización y la esterilización . [ 20 ] Muchos eugenistas estaban dispuestos a apoyar ciertos derechos para algunas mujeres en la medida en que estos ayudaran a respaldar la empresa política y económica de la construcción nacional basada en una noción inherentemente racial de quién pertenecía. [ 21 ] La esterilización obligatoria oficial como parte del movimiento eugenésico en Canadá comenzó en la década de 1920. [ 9 ]

Ideology worked to conceal the historical and material relations that gave rise to many of the social problems of Canadian society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by allocating the causes to poverty, crime and illness within individuals instead. Adoption of proposed interventions like sterilization served as a cost-effective public health solution allowing systemic explanations to be avoided, private interests to benefit and exploitative relations to continue. In their efforts, eugenicists also encouraged the reproduction of the "fit", namely women of Anglo-Saxon, middle- and upper-class origins.[2] Fearing a decrease in the birth rate due to their increased access to education, the achievement of work outside the home and rising infant mortality rates, eugenicists sought to bring these women "back home" by enticing them to become crusaders to the eugenic cause.[2][22]

United Nations Concerns and Review

The 1999 international conference of The United Nations Human Rights Commission, stated that Canada "is in violation of international law in its treatment of its aboriginal people" and that the condition of natives in Canada is "the most pressing human rights issue facing Canadians."[23]

The United Nations Committee Against Torture requested that Canada take action against forced sterilization in their 2018 periodic report on Canada.[24] Reviewing reports from the 1970's onward, the committee presented 2 major recommendations that the senate:

"(a) Ensure that all allegations of forced or coerced sterilization are impartially investigated, that the persons responsible are held accountable and that adequate redress is provided to the victims;

(b) Adopt legislative and policy measures to prevent and criminalize the forced or coerced sterilization of women, particularly by clearly defining the requirement for free, prior and informed consent with regard to sterilization and by raising awareness among indigenous women and medical personnel of that requirement."[24]

The same concerns were repeated during the re-evaluation of Canada by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and UN Special Rapporteurs in 2019.[9]

Alberta

The most damaging sterilization program in Canadian history was afforded via the passing of the Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928. From the years 1928 to 1972, sterilizations, both compulsory and optional (when approved by guardian or parent), were performed on nearly 3000 individuals of varying ages and ethnicities. In total, over 2800 procedures were performed. Initially, the act only provisioned sterilizations where consent was given by the subject or legal guardian of the subject, depending on the competency of the individual scheduled to undergo the operation.

The 1937 amendment to the act, during the term of William Aberhart's Social Credit government, allowed for sterilizations to be carried out without consent in the case of those deemed mentally defective. Sterilization of individuals deemed mentally ill still required consent. At the end of World War II, while other eugenic sterilization programs were being phased out, Alberta continued on, even increasing the scope of eligibility for sterilizations.[25] They continued until 1972, when approximately 5000 people were operated upon.

Targeted sterilization

Youths, minorities, and women were sterilized in disproportionately high numbers. Minors, because of their legal dependency on adults, were almost always assigned as "mental defectives", thus bypassing the parental consent requirement.[26] Albertan Indigenous people and Métis, regardless of age, were also targeted. Towards the end of Alberta's sterilization program, Indigenous people and Métis made up 25% of the sterilizations performed.[3]

Furthermore, those of Indigenous ancestry were disproportionately assigned the "mentally deficient" rating, which denied them their legal rights and made them eligible for sterilization without consent. Indigenous people represented only 2.3% of Alberta's general population but 6% of the institutionalized population due to systemic impediments such as poverty, discrimination, and inadequate access to education and healthcare.[27] Women, particularly those who were young, poor, and unmarried, were also disproportionately represented; they were thought to be at high risk for prostitution or at the very least promiscuity, activities suspected of breeding further immorality. While it was conceded that sterilization would not change the behavior of these women, sterilization was intended to prevent them from bearing similarly defective progeny.[28]

Aftermath

Casi 3000 personas fueron esterilizadas por la Ley de Esterilización Sexual . [ 29 ] La verdadera naturaleza de la Ley se reveló cuando Leilani Muir , una ex reclusa del Centro Michener (también conocido como la Escuela Provincial de Capacitación para Discapacitados Mentales , PTS), descubrió en 1971 que había sido esterilizada. [ 30 ] Después de ser admitida en la PTS a los 10 años como una niña no deseada y maltratada, Leilani recibió una educación deficiente. Fue designada erróneamente como una persona con discapacidad intelectual (un individuo con un CI entre 51 y 70), anulando de hecho sus derechos humanos . Se le administraron potentes agentes antipsicóticos sin ninguna razón justificada, ya que no había manifestado ningún síntoma de psicosis durante su internamiento en la PTS. Finalmente, le hicieron una prueba de coeficiente intelectual improvisada, en la que obtuvo una puntuación de 64. Poco después, fue llevada ante la Junta de Eugenesia, y se autorizó la esterilización a la espera del consentimiento de su madre (que fue otorgado sin dudarlo).

En 1995, como indemnización por la humillación sufrida al ser tildada de retrasada mental y su posterior esterilización, Leilani recibió 750.000 dólares canadienses y 230.000 dólares canadienses (equivalentes a 1,84 millones de dólares en 2025 ). [ 30 ] Desde esa victoria, se han abierto otros 1300 casos, varios de ellos relacionados con personas que podrían tener discapacidades mentales reales. 

Columbia Británica

En 1933, Columbia Británica se convirtió en una de las dos provincias en implementar una ley clara de esterilización sexual eugenésica . La Ley de Esterilización Sexual de la provincia , legislada en 1933 y derogada en 1973, se asemejaba mucho a la legislación de Alberta de 1928 , aunque las prácticas diferían. [ 21 ] La Ley creó una Junta de Eugenesia, compuesta por un juez, un psiquiatra y un trabajador social. [ 21 ] [ 31 ] La Junta recibió la autoridad para ordenar la esterilización, con consentimiento, de cualquier interno recomendado por un superintendente, quien "si fuera dado de alta ... sin ser sometido a una operación de esterilización sexual, probablemente produciría o daría a luz hijos que, debido a la herencia, tendrían una tendencia a una enfermedad mental grave o deficiencia mental". [ 32 ] Muchas de las personas presentadas para esterilización bajo el programa de eugenesia de la provincia provenían del Hospital Riverview (Essondale). [ 31 ] En comparación con los "2834 individuos esterilizados bajo la política eugenésica de Alberta, el historiador Angus McLaren ha estimado que en Columbia Británica no más de unos pocos cientos de individuos fueron esterilizados". [ 2 ] [ 21 ] La disparidad entre las cifras de esterilizados en las dos provincias puede atribuirse en parte a las disposiciones más estrictas de la Ley de Esterilización Sexual de Columbia Británica . [ 21 ] Mientras que la legislación de Alberta fue enmendada dos veces para aumentar el alcance y la eficiencia del programa, el programa de esterilización de Columbia Británica permaneció sin cambios. [ 4 ] [ 19 ] Aunque esto parece haber resuelto el problema, a principios de la década de 1970 el público se enteraría de que, de hecho, se estaban llevando a cabo esterilizaciones coercitivas en el Norte a pesar de la falta de legislación. [ 22 ] 

Poblaciones objetivo

Concepts of race have long been connected to dealings with Indigenous peoples in Canada.[20] Eugenic ideology served as a convenient justification for the terrible circumstances created by colonization and it was instrumental in determining how to interfere in the lives of Indigenous peoples.[2] Interventions were often guided by the view that the less progressed were a hazard to society and this justified drastic invasions in their lives. Initial measures advocated in the spirit of negative eugenics including marriage regulation, segregation and sterilization were all imposed on Indigenous peoples.[19]

Policy

The Canadian sterilization laws created a Eugenics Board that could impose sterilizations on people without their consent. This developed into a familiar practice, especially in relation to Indigenous men, women and children.[2]

In 1926 Adolf Lorenz of Vancouver stated, "our sense of humanity is destroying humanity.[16] We are allowing more and more of the poorer human stock to survive and reproduce. ''Sterilization was the best method to decrease the number of feeble-minded being produced.[16] Once the feeble-minded were sterilized and the "problem cured."[16]

In order to conclude who was a potential candidate for sterilization or institutionalization, intelligence tests were being overseen in schools, hospitals, and boys and girls schools. Intelligence tests were initiated in California, which also had the most active eugenic policy in the United States.[33] Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, such as the "Honourable William Sloan", stated California was the leader in developing and carrying out a eugenics act.[33]

In accordance with the Act, only people who were a "patient or in custody" of an institution as defined by the "Mental Hospitals Act" or the "Industrial Home for Girls" or the "Industrial School Act" would be affected by the Act.[32] These individuals, termed by the Act as "inmates", would be involved or living in Essondale (now known as Riverview Psychiatric Institution), or the Boys' or Girls' Industrial Schools (for children deemed delinquent).[32]

Decisions as to which inmates would be sterilized were to be made by the Board of Eugenics.[31] The Board of Eugenics consisted of a judge, a psychiatrist, and a social worker who were appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The Board of Eugenics would receive recommendations from one of the above institutions if the superintendent of the institution believed that the release of an inmate would result "by reason of inheritance" in having children who would have "serious mental disease or mental deficiency.''[34] The recommendations were to be in writing and were to include a history of the inmate to support the institution's recommendation for sexual sterilization.[32] The inmate may, there after, be examined or seen by the Board of Eugenics.[32]

If after the examination of the inmate the Board of Eugenics unanimously agreed that this person would be likely to produce children who would have a serious mental disease or mental deficiency due to inheritance, the Board of Eugenics could order, in writing, that the sterilization take place.[32] The Board of Eugenics would or could appoint the doctor who would perform the procedure.[32]

If the Board of Eugenics believed that the inmate was not capable of consent, a spouse, guardian, or family member would be requested give their for consent. If the inmate had no family, the Provincial Secretary, the predecessor of the Superintendent of the Ministry of Social Services, was to consent on the inmate's behalf.[32]

Timeline

  • 1867- Canadian Constitution Act gives federal parliament legislative authority over "Indians, and Lands reserved for Indians[35]
  • 1870- Canadian Residential Schools in operation[36]
  • 1872- Victoria Lunatic Asylum, British Columbia's first asylum for the insane opens.[37]
  • 1873- British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."[38]
  • 1876- Canada passes the "Indian Act"[39]
  • 1878- British Columbia's Victoria Asylum closed, and the Provincial Asylum for the Insane is opened in New Westminster.[40]
  • 1883- Work therapy introduced in British Columbia's asylums[41]
  • 1883- "Eugenics" coined by Galton[15]
  • 1897- British Columbia passes the "Hospitals for the Insane Act"[42]
  • 1897- New Westminster asylum is renamed the Provincial Hospital for the Insane (PHI)[42]
  • 1904- New mental hospital opened in Coquitlam, British Columbia[40]
  • 1925- British Columbia Royal Commission on Mental Hygiene report.[43]
  • 1927- Canadian Medical Association Journal publishes the editorial "Eugenics and the Medical Profession"[44]
  • 1928- George Godwin's Columbia, or the Future of Canada is published in the To-day and To-morrow Series[45]
  • 1933- British Columbia passes "An Act respecting Sexual Sterilization"[5]
  • 1945- Essondale Report released[32]
  • 1948- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide[46]
  • 1950- British Columbia's Provincial Hospital for the Insane is renamed Woodlands School[31]
  • 1951- Canada amends the "Indian Act"[47]
  • 1964- British Columbia's Colquitz forensic psychiatric hospital closes[42]
  • 1973- British Columbia repeals the Sexual Sterilization Act[32]
  • 1982- Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms signed into law[48]
  • 1985- Following a nationwide trend in de-institutionalization, British Columbia closes Tranquille[42]
  • 1986- Valleyview Hospital in British Columbia closes[49]
  • 1988- British Columbia Mental Health Society is founded[50]
  • 1998- The Mental Health Initiative in British Columbia introduces a new plan for the development of mental health services[42]
  • 2002 - La Columbia Británica publica "Lo que hay que saber: Revisión administrativa de la escuela Woodlands" [ 51 ].
  • 2003- El Ministro de Desarrollo Infantil y Familiar de Columbia Británica emite una disculpa a los antiguos residentes de Woodlands [ 52 ]

Manitoba

En Manitoba, recientes debates judiciales han analizado la legalidad y la permisibilidad ética de la esterilización involuntaria de personas con discapacidad intelectual. Centrándose en aquellas personas declaradas legalmente incapacitadas, los informes de 1990 y 1992 describieron los escenarios en los que podría justificarse una esterilización involuntaria. Como se indicó en el informe de 1990, se requieren tres condiciones para que una persona pueda someterse a cualquier procedimiento médico.

  • Se debe informar al individuo tanto de la naturaleza como de los riesgos y beneficios del procedimiento.
  • El consentimiento debe ser voluntario, no producto de coacción, amenaza o fraude.
  • La persona debe tener la capacidad suficiente para otorgar el consentimiento mencionado anteriormente.

Entre las personas legalmente incapacitadas se incluyen los menores de edad y los adultos con discapacidad suficiente.

El debate llegó al consenso de que la esterilización involuntaria (o esterilización con consentimiento sustitutivo) solo es permisible si tiene un efecto positivo explícito en la salud física o mental del individuo: esto se denomina esterilización terapéutica. Un caso de este tipo fue el de una niña con una discapacidad grave y fobia a la sangre, a quien se le iba a practicar una histerectomía. La justificación de la cirugía no era eugenésica, sino proteger a la niña del trauma psicológico directo que probablemente surgiría con la menstruación. Este juicio se consideró que se situaba justo en el límite entre la intervención quirúrgica terapéutica y la no terapéutica.

This discussion also cites a landmark case in substituted consent known as the Mrs. E. vs. Eve case. In it, a mother, "Mrs. E.", wished to have her moderately intellectually disabled daughter "Eve" sterilized to save her the emotional distress potentially caused by pregnancy and childbirth. Additionally, it was argued that Eve would neither be capable of using any other method of contraception, nor caring for a child should she become pregnant. Since the sterilization was not explicitly therapeutic and carried grave physical harm and an intrusion on Eve's rights, Mrs. E. could not be given the authority to have her daughter sterilized. It was then explored whether or not the government itself could make the decision, using parens patriae jurisdiction. Parens patriae allows the government to make authorizations in the "best interests" where no other source of consent can be attained; this includes children and mentally disabled persons. In the Eve case, the risks were deemed too high and the benefits too obscure to authorize a nontherapeutic sterilization via parens patriae jurisdiction, since a surgical sterilization is an irreversible procedure.[14]

Ontario

Although eugenic sterilization was never instituted in Ontario, the issue saw considerable debate concurrent with the enactment of sterilization laws in Alberta and British Columbia. The formation of the Eugenics Society of Canada (ESC) in 1930 sought to organize supporters of eugenics into a coherent group in order to make their lobbying of the government more effective.[53] Founded in Ontario, the ESC boasted a large number of physicians in its ranks, including Clarence Hincks, one of the most devoted proponents of the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act. Other notable members included the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, H. A. Bruce, and eminent psychiatrist Clarence B. Farrar, who had been head of the Toronto Psychiatric Hospital since 1925.[54]

As social traits like criminality and promiscuity began to edge off the list of heritable traits, the ESC found itself adapting its strategy to that of birth control, while maintaining a focus on economic benefit. It garnered considerable support, but was never able to table eugenic sterilization effectively in the political arena. The ESC met its end shortly after a public relations blunder in 1938, when a representative implied the ESC and the Nazi party sought to achieve similar goals through similar means.[55] It is not surprising then, that when World War II broke out in 1939, the ESC lost nearly all of its support.

Northwest Territories

In 2019, charges were brought against Dr. Andrew Kotaska, who sterilized an Inuk woman after removing both of her fallopian tubes, despite only having her consent to remove one. This occurred in a hospital in Yellowknife. This is the first documented case of a doctor being sanctioned for compulsory sterilization in Canada. His actions were found "unethical" by investigators.[56]

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan never passed legislation regarding the use of sterilization, however eugenics was popular during the province's history. In 1921, individuals deemed 'mentally defective' were institutionalized at a mental hospital outside of Weyburn. The assistant superintendent, A.D. Campbell believed that feeble-minded individuals should be separated in childhood and removed from areas where "contamination of normal people would be impossible".[57]

Following Alberta's "Sexual Sterilization Act", public opinion showed to be in favour with the possible implementation of a similar act in Saskatchewan. A year later in 1929, a coalition of conservatives and progressives, "the Co-operative government", ousted the liberal administration. Among their plans for public health issues were plans for sterilization.[57]

In 1930, a sterilization bill was in process of becoming law, however it was overturned with the implementation of a new government.[57]

In 2017, a report revealed that several indigenous women were coerced or pressured to have tubal ligation during labour at Saskatoon Hospitals.[58]

The amount of forced and coerced sterilization, and those pertaining to indigenous women is not documented. There is evidence that these forced procedures occurred/are occurring. Two hospitals in Saskatchewan (Fort Qu’Appelle and North Battleford) are known to have had these sterilizations performed and were documented. Although the true number is not known, there is further evidence that the Provincial Government of Saskatchewan were aware of unsanctioned sterilization procedures occurring.[59]

The most recent forced sterilization occurred in 2018.[59]

Quebec

Reports of forced and coerced sterilization in Quebec emerged publicly in the early 2020s, particularly involving Indigenous women.[60]

In 2022, researchers affiliated with the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue released a report documenting testimonies from more than 35 First Nations and Inuit women regarding forced sterilization and imposed abortions in Quebec between 1980 and 2019.[61] The report documented at least 22 cases of alleged forced sterilization and described the practice as part of a broader pattern of systemic discrimination in health care.[62]

The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights later stated that forced and coerced sterilization continued to occur in Canada despite the repeal of earlier eugenics legislation, disproportionately affecting Indigenous women and other marginalized groups.[63]

See also

References

  1. ↑"Sterilization of Indigenous Women in Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. October 22, 1921. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  2. 123456Stote, K. (2015). An Act of Genocide: Colonialism and the Sterilization of Aboriginal Women. Fernwood Publishing. p. intro. ISBN 978-1-55266-732-3.
  3. 1234"Eugenics in Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 1921-10-22. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  4. 123Rutherford, Gillian (June 27, 2022). "Reproductive control of Indigenous women continues around the world, say survivors and researchers". University of Alberta. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  5. 12"CHAPTER 59. An Act respecting Sexual Sterilization. - BC Laws". Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  6. ↑Shawana, Christine; Ryan, Chaneesa; Ali, Abrar (January 28, 2021). "Forced or Coerced Sterilization in Canada: An Overview of Recommendations for Moving Forward". International Journal of Indigenous Health. 16 (1). University of Toronto Libraries - UOTL. doi:10.32799/ijih.v16i1.33369. ISSN 2291-9376.
  7. ↑Moran, Padraig (July 19, 2022). "'Incomprehensible' that forced sterilizations still happen in Canada, says survivor". CBC Radio. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  8. 12Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada (2002-07-01). "Forced and coerced sterilization of persons in Canada / Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights ; the Honourable Salma Ataullahjan, chair, the Honourable Wanda Elaine Thomas Bernard, deputy chair, the Honourable Nancy J. Hartling, deputy chair.: YC32-0/432-3E-PDF - Government of Canada Publications - Canada.ca". publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
  9. 123Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada (2002-07-01). "The scars that we carry : forced and coerced sterilization of persons in Canada. Part II / Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights ; the Honourable Salma Ataullahjan, chair, the Honourable Wanda Thomas Bernard, deputy chair.: YC32-0/441-4E-PDF - Government of Canada Publications - Canada.ca". publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-20.
  10. ↑"S-250 (44-1) - LEGISinfo - Parliament of Canada". www.parl.ca. Archived from the original on 2025-04-20. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
  11. ↑"Statutes.ca". www.statutes.ca. Retrieved 2025-09-30.
  12. ↑Boynton, Sean (January 6, 2025). "Trudeau has prorogued Parliament. Here's what that means". Global News. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  13. ↑"S-228 - LEGISInfo - Parliament of Canada". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  14. 12"E. (Mrs.) v. Eve - SCC Cases". scc.lexum.org. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  15. 12Galton, F. (1883). Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development. London: Macmillan.
  16. 1234Hegemonic Heterosexuality, Moral Regulation and the Rhetoric of Choice: Single Motherhood in the Canadian West, 1900 – Mid 1970s Joanne Marie Ritcey 2009
  17. ↑Bashford, A., Levine, P. (Eds.). (2010). The Oxford handbook of the history of eugenics.
  18. ↑Grekul, J., Krahn, H., & Odynak, D. (2004). "Sterilizing the 'feeble-minded': eugenics in Alberta, Canada, 1929–1972". Journal of Historical Sociology, 17, 358–384.
  19. 1234The Right to Consent?: Eugenics in Alberta, 1928–1972, Jana Grekul 2009
  20. 12Menzies, Robert. (1998). "Governing Mentalities: The Deportation of 'Insane' and 'Feebleminded' Immigrants Out of British Columbia From Confederation to World War II". Canadian Journal of Law and Society
  21. 12345McLaren, Angus. (1986). "The Creation of a Haven for 'Human Thoroughbreds': The Sterilization of the Feeble-minded and the Mentally Ill in British Columbia". Canadian Historical Review, LXVII, 2, pp. 127–150.
  22. 12Equality Deferred Sex Discrimination and British Columbia's Human Rights State, 0953-84 DOMINIQUE CLEMENT 2014
  23. ↑Hidden From History: The Canadian Holocaust. A Summary of an Ongoing, Independent Inquiry into Canadian Native "Residential Schools" and their Legacy(PDF) (Report). The Truth Commission into Genocide in Canada. 2001.
  24. 12"Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of Canada". Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2018-12-21. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
  25. ↑Grekul, Jana; Krahn, Arvey; Odynak, Dave (2004). "Sterilizing the "Feeble-minded": Eugenics in Alberta, Canada, 1929–1972". Journal of Historical Sociology. 17 (4): 358–384. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.2004.00237.x. ISSN 1467-6443.
  26. ↑Canada, Parliament, Senate. Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights. (2021). FORCED AND COERCED STERILIZATION OF PERSONS IN CANADA. 43rd Parl., 2nd sess. Rept. 3. Retrieved from the Senate of Canada website: https://sencanada.ca/content/sen/committee/432/RIDR/Reports/RIDR_ForcedSterilization_e.pdf
  27. ↑Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2016-03-14). "Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Alberta". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  28. ↑Grekul, Jana; Krahn, Arvey; Odynak, Dave (2004). "Sterilizing the "Feeble-minded": Eugenics in Alberta, Canada, 1929–1972". Journal of Historical Sociology. 17 (4): 358–384. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.2004.00237.x. ISSN 1467-6443.
  29. ↑Grekul, Jana (2008). "Sterilization in Alberta, 1928 to 1972: gender matters". Canadian Review of Sociology. 45 (3): 247–266. doi:10.1111/j.1755-618x.2008.00014.x. PMID 19579351.
  30. 12MacDonald, J. E. (2018). "(dis)ABILITY RIGHTS: A Forgotten Claim". Canadian Social Work Review. 35 (1): 157–166. JSTOR 26593198. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  31. 1234McCallum, D. (2002). The need to know: Administrative review of Woodlands School. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Children and Family Development. Retrieved from http://www.inclusionbc.org/sites/default/files/The_Need_to_Know.pdfArchived 2016-10-17 at the Wayback Machine
  32. 12345678910van Heeswijk, G. (1994). "An Act Respecting Sexual Sterilization": Reasons for Enacting and Repealing the Act. Master's Thesis (Unpublished Master's Thesis). Retrieved from: https://circle.ubc.ca/bitstream/handle/2429/5575/ubc_1994-0646.pdf?sequence=1
  33. 12Wellerstein, Alex (2011). "States of Eugenics: Institutions and Practices of Compulsory Sterilization in California". In Jasanoff, Sheila (ed.). Reframing Rights: Bioconstitutionalism in the Genetic Age(PDF). MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262297783.
  34. ↑Cornwall, W. D. "Eugenics vs. Euthenics as a Method for Race Betterment". Canadian Medical Association Journal, October 1933; p. 444.
  35. ↑Lyster, C. (2015, January 6). Canadian Constitution Act gives federal parliament legislative authority over "Indians, and Lands reserved for Indians".
  36. ↑Leung, C. (2014, October 12). Canadian Residential Schools in operation.
  37. ↑Kurbegovic, E. (2013, October 16). Victoria Lunatic Asylum, British Columbia's first asylum for the insane, opens.
  38. ↑Lyster, C. (2014, December 15). British Columbia passes the "Insane Asylums Act."
  39. ↑Lyster, C. (2015, February 16). Canada passes the "Indian Act"
  40. 12Foulkes, R. (1961). British Columbia Mental Health Services: Historical Perspective to 1961. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 85, 649-655.
  41. ↑Bickers, S.H. (1910). Treatment of the Insane: Farming as a Cure for Madness—British Columbia's Novel Experiment. Man to Man,
  42. 12345BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services. (2013). History: BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services Timeline. BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services website. Retrieved from http://www.bcmhsus.ca/History.htm
  43. ↑Menzies, R. (2002). "Unfit" citizens and the B.C. Royal Commission on Mental Hygiene, 1925-28. In A. Adamoski, D.E. Chunn, & R. Menzies (Eds.), Contesting Canadian Citizenship: Historical Readings. Peterborough ON: Broadview Press.
  44. ↑A.G.N. (1927). Eugenics and the Medical Profession. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 17(15), 1526-1528.
  45. ↑Godwin, G.S. (1928). Columbia, or the future of Canada. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
  46. ↑"Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide". legal.un.org. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  47. ↑1951-1981: Aboriginal Rights Movement. (n.d.). Canadian in the Making. Aboriginals: Treaties and Relations. Retrieved from http://www.canadiana.ca/citm/themes/aboriginals/aboriginals12_e.html.
  48. ↑Branch, Legislative Services. "Consolidated federal laws of Canada, THE CONSTITUTION ACTS 1867 to 1982". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  49. ↑Josey, K. (1965). From Custodial Care to Rehabilitation: The Changing Philosophy at Valleyview Hospital. (Unpublished masters thesis.). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
  50. ↑"British Columbia Mental Health Society is founded • Timeline • Eugenics Archive". www.eugenicsarchive.ca. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  51. ↑"The Eugenics Archive". eugenicsarchive.ca. Archived from the original on 2023-04-14. Retrieved 2026-06-09.
  52. ↑"Apology for former Woodlands' residents". CBC. May 30, 2003. Retrieved June 9, 2026.
  53. ↑McLaren, A. "The Eugenics Society of Canada. In Our Own Master Race: Eugenics in Canada, 1885-1945 (pp. 107–126)". University of Toronto Press. JSTOR 10.3138/j.ctt130jx77.9. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  54. ↑"Ontario passes "An Act to Authorise the Erection of an Asylum within this Province for the Reception of Insane and Lunatic Person." • Timeline • Eugenics Archive". www.eugenicsarchive.ca. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  55. ↑Kevles, D. J (1999). "Eugenics and human rights. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 319(7207), 435–438". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 319 (7207): 435–438. doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7207.435. PMC 1127045. PMID 10445929. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  56. ↑"Indigenous women in Canada forcibly sterilized decades after other rich countries stopped". AP News. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  57. 123Deighton, Alex. "Saskatchewan". Eugenics Archives. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  58. ↑Collier, Roger (2017-08-21). "Reports of coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in Canada mirrors shameful past". CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal. 189 (33): E1080–E1081. doi:10.1503/cmaj.1095471. ISSN 1488-2329. PMC 5566614. PMID 28827444.
  59. 12"The Coerced Sterilization of Indigenous Women | Gladue Rights Research Database". gladue.usask.ca. Retrieved 2025-10-28.
  60. ↑"Quebec Indigenous groups collecting stories of forced sterilization". CBC News. 2021-09-24.
  61. ↑"Report uncovers forced sterilization in Quebec". CBC News. 2022-11-28.
  62. ↑"At least 22 Indigenous women underwent forced sterilization in Quebec from 1980-2019: report". Indigenous Health Today. 2022-11-24.
  63. ↑"The scars that we carry: forced and coerced sterilization of persons in Canada". Government of Canada.