Guidance

Understanding minority stress, resilience, and inclusion

In this self-learning course, you will learn about minority stress, its impacts, and how to support people who experience it

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Minority identities refer to groups in Canada that deserve equal rights. Research shows that people in these groups face special stress that can affect their health and lives because of their identities.

The following groups are considered equity deserving in Canada:

  • Sexual and gender minorities (SGM)
  • Indigenous communities
  • People with disabilities
  • People of colour, also known as visible minorities

Some people may have more than one minority identity. For example, someone could be both a person of colour and a sexual minority.


The following lessons will help you to:

  • Understand what minority stress is and how it affects people with minority identities.
  • Learn about intersectional minority identities and how they can make minority stress worse.
  • Get to know the unique challenges faced by different minority groups in Canada.
  • Identify important skills needed to support people dealing with minority stress, especially during emergencies.

Navigating this self-learning course:

  • This course is divided into 12 main lessons.
  • Each lesson includes information and activities to help you understand its topic.
  • There is a lesson about each group that is considered equity deserving.
  • You can take these lessons in order — or focus on the one(s) that seem most relevant to your experience.
  • You can listen to the information using our audio player and/or download a printable PDF (coming soon) for offline use.
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Jakayla Toney, Unsplash