Legendary Canadian sex educator Sue Johanson dies at 93

Sue Johanson on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2011

Sex educator, Sue Johanson, who provided candid advice normalising sex to Canadian and US audiences for decades, has died.

The 93-year-old passed away in a long-term care home outside of Toronto on Thursday, her family said.

Her programme, Sunday Night Sex Show, found success in her home country and she eventually hosted a US spinoff.

She often helped fill the gaps in sex education for her North American audience.

Johanson, who was a registered nurse, opened one of Toronto's first birth control clinics in 1970 at her daughter's high school, Don Mills Collegiate Institute. She ran it for two decades.

It was at the clinic that she realised her love of teaching sex education.

In 1984, she snagged a spot on Toronto rock station Q107 with a weekly two-hour call-in show.

From radio, she leapt to television and began hosting the Sunday Night Sex Show programme, which ran from from 1996 to 2005.

It was so popular that from 2002 to 2008 she hosted the US spinoff, Talk Sex With Sue Johanson. It also aired in 23 other countries, including Europe and Brazil.

Johanson became a beloved host who welcomed all questions on sex - with no question too taboo to ask.

She once declared "horny is a beautiful thing".

Johanson authored three books and spoke to thousands of teens and young adults in Canadian schools about sex education.

In 2000, she was awarded the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honours, for being "a strong, successful advocate for sex education in Canada over the last three decades".

Johanson's daughter, Jane, told CBC on Thursday that "everybody felt like they had another mother or another grandmother with Sue".

"My mom was amazing," Jane Johanson said. "She was never judgmental, nor was she condescending or disapproving of any question that came her way."

Lisa Rideout, director of the 2022 documentary Sex With Sue, paid tribute to her on Instagram, writing: "Sue was an incredible, unstoppable force".

"She paved the way for how we talk about sex and sexuality today, unafraid of shattering taboos and toppling conservative viewpoints.

"Canada has lost a national treasure but Sue's legacy will continue to make positive change for decades to come."