In Canada, two million gays and lesbians represent a market of 100 billion dollars, according to a study of the IGLCC unveiled in a world premiere

MONTREAL - A non-homogeneous population which has a great purchasing power, a market segment still under exploited, consumers faithful to their favourite brands and which have a higher discretionary income than the population in general... these are some of the conclusions drawn from the first overall portrait of the socio-economic situation of the gay and lesbian community (LGBT) throughout the world which was unveiled yesterday in a world premiere in Montreal.

The study, commissioned by the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC), estimates that in Canada the LGBT population is 2 million people, representing a market of about 100 billion Canadian dollars.

From a qualitative point of view, it is also interesting to note that Canada offers a climate among the most favourable throughout the world for the development of the LGBT market. To arrive at this conclusion, the authors of the study analyzed the economic potential as well as the political, social and media environments of the various researched countries.

"These data confirm our existing perception that the LGBT market is still largely under exploited, even if it represents a basin of consumers with an extremely important purchasing power", declared the Secretary General of the IGLCC, Pascal Lépine.

"In the light of this information, we hope that the various companies throughout the world will become aware of the many opportunities offered by the LGBT market, as well as of its own characteristics, in order to effectively target it by using the most optimal arguments", added Mr. Lépine.

Let us recall that this is the first overall portrait ever to be carried out on the socio-economic situation of the LGBT community throughout the world (13 countries plus Quebec). In a forthcoming stage, the IGLCC will deepen the study by an exhaustive market research for each member country of the organization, starting with Canada.