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Summit 2025: Convergence & Emergence
As researchers, educators, service providers, and advocates who work in queer, trans, and Two-Spirit health promotion, our dedication to 2S/LGBTQIA+ people and communities is core to who we are. It’s what unites us and brings us together. We wouldn’t dedicate our careers, and our lives, to helping others in our community live healthier and more affirming lives if we did not believe that queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people need and deserve access to better care and support. And that our work makes a difference in improving health and well-being for 2S/LGBTQIA+ people and the diverse communities we live in.
In the year since the last Summit, 2S/LGBTQIA+ activists and advocates have continued to sound the alarm on rising homophobia and transphobia in Canada and around the world, including the erasure of trans, non-binary, and gender diverse identities, experiences, and people. At the same time, we’re also witnessing wider attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, harm reduction, sexual and reproductive health, immigration, and on many other social justice issues and movements, raising the spectre of funding cuts and disruptions to programs or services, if not outright government hostility.
In response, queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people are showing up for each other. When we pool our resources and spheres of influence, we emerge stronger and more able to advance our community’s health and well-being. In this moment with heightened concerns about the shifting social, economic, and political context for 2S/LGBTQIA+ health and human rights, we must remind ourselves that this is the work that we’ve always done. We must remember that generations of queer people past and present have been doing the work to challenge homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and many intersecting oppressions. Whether in the streets, the courts, the classrooms, the clinics, or our homes, we have been doing the work.
In this time of increasing uncertainty and of growing pressure on the work of 2S/LGBTQIA+ service providers, researchers, advocates, and community organizers, we must remind ourselves and each other of the need and value of our work. It means being able to share and tell stories of the positive impact of our research, health promotion, and advocacy in queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people’s lives. Amid funding cuts and challenges facing 2S/LGBTQIA+ community organizations and providers, it’s imperative to reflect on why it matters for us to do the work, and to have a growing network of 2S/LGBTQIA+ community-based organizations, researchers, and services.
Doing the work also means that we look back, look forward, and also, look in the mirror. 2S/LGBTQIA+ health research, promotion, and advocacy have not always understood or reflected the needs of everyone in our communities. There have always been individuals, groups, and organizations who have made moves for this to change. Then, and now, we must put intersectionality into practice: understanding how systems of oppression impact us in distinct ways, and commit to do the work in a way that recognizes distinct needs. Here’s where reflexivity, relationality, and solidarity come in. As trans visual artist Micah Bazant said, “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” If convergence is us coming together, then emergence is when we depart as something better and more durable than our individual parts. This process of assembly and renewal has always been at the heart of Summit, and is now as necessary as ever.
In these times, more than ever, we have to ask ourselves:
- What are our obligations to each other, our families, communities, and lands, and how can we show up for each other?
- What can we learn from our struggles and our successes?
- How can we honour the work done by people in our communities—service providers, researchers, and community members and organizers—who help create a better world for queer, trans, and Two-Spirit people?
Whatever 2S/LGBTQIA+ health goal we work towards—accessible and affordable medications and care, better and more accessible health data, lower transmission rates, or better mental health outcomes—also works to improve health for all. When we make our health systems work better for 2S/LGBTQIA+ people, we make the system work better for everyone.
Information on Summit 2025
Key information:
Two-Spirit Symposium: November 18 & 19, 2025
Summit 2025: November 20 - 22, 2025
Le Centre Sheraton Montreal
Montreal, QC
For Summit 2025, we’re moving to Montréal/Tiohtià:ke—a first after 20 successful years in Vancouver/Coast Salish Territory. For two decades, we’ve been gathering in Vancouver for the Summit to share insights, to build connections, and to mobilize knowledge and evidence. But now, it’s crucial that we expand our horizons as we work to meet the challenges of this moment and beyond.
This year, we’re thrilled to be hosting the Summit at a much larger venue (Le Centre Sheraton Montreal) over three days instead of the usual two (November 20-22, following the Two-Spirit Symposium on November 18-19). This additional capacity means new conference programming, including space for ancillary events and an exhibition hall (for conference posters as well as rentable tables or booths for community organizations, corporate sponsors, and other partners).
Additional information including key dates regarding the conference schedule, ancillary events, exhibition, and sponsorship opportunities will be shared in early June along with the launch of Summit 2025 registration.
Submitting a proposal
We’re excited to announce that we are now accepting proposals for Summit 2025, taking place November 20-22, 2025 in Montreal, QC.
Each year, CBRC brings together diverse voices, impactful research, and innovative strategies to improve health outcomes for 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities. Whether your work is in community health promotion, research, or grassroots advocacy, we want to hear from you.
We welcome submissions from individuals, organizations, and experts across various disciplines, including healthcare providers, researchers, Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers, community activists, and policymakers. This is your opportunity to showcase your work and offer practical strategies to transform healthcare for queer individuals in your community. At Summit 2025, you can engage, educate, and empower participants to influence the future of 2S/LGBTQIA+ health.
First-time presenters are encouraged to apply. If you need assistance preparing your proposal, please contact us at [email protected].
Important Dates:
- Proposal submission deadline: 11:59 PM Pacific Time on July 6, 2025
- Notification of acceptance: End of August 2025
To read our full submission guidelines, please click here.
We look forward to your submissions!
About Summit
The Summit is CBRC’s annual national knowledge exchange and capacity building conference on the health of 2S/LGBTQIA+ people. Since 2005, the Summit has brought together researchers, service providers, community members, and organizations from across Canada to share the latest in queer and trans health research, programming, services, and advocacy. While the Summit has historically focused on addressing the impacts of HIV and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) on gay, bisexual, trans, Two-Spirit, and queer (GBT2Q) people, in recent years the conference has made intentional shifts to become a more inclusive space to engage with 2S/LGBTQIA+ community-based research, health promotion, and advocacy.
Accessibility Statement
CBRC is committed to providing an inclusive and accessible Summit in order to support participation for everyone. This commitment includes:
- offering full and partial scholarships for confirmed Summit presenters,
- enabling simultaneous interpretation
- post-event video recordings of all plenary sessions with captions in English and in French
- translation of presentation slides from English to French, and vice versa
- offering support to potential Summit 2025 proposal submission authors, and
- ensuring that conference proceedings and ancillary/social events are fully accessible for people with physical disabilities (e.g. wheelchair access, reserved front row seating).
Though we are doing our best to enable everyone’s participation during the Summit, we recognize that some needs may not be met through these measures. If you have other accessibility needs which have not been addressed through this statement, please let us know when completing your registration.
If you have questions or comments regarding accessibility for Summit 2025, please contact [email protected].