Estimated 3.4 million Canadians have some level of disability

Community Action, Dec 9, 2002

OTTAWA -- An estimated 3.4 million Canadians reported some level of disability in 2001, according to a report by Statistics Canada. One out of every seven Canadians aged 15 and over are limited by a physical or psychological condition or by a health condition.

Of the 3.4 million (3.6%) of adults reporting disabilities,

* 1.1 million (3.6%) reported mild levels of disability, 855,000 reported moderate levels, and

* 1.4 million (5.9%) reported severe or very severe levels.

These 3.4 million individuals represented 14.6% of the adult population.

Just under 2.5 million people aged 15 and over had difficulty walking, climbing stairs, or moving from one room to another.

The report, A profile of disability in Canada, does not include residents of nursing homes. More than 1 million adults reported hearing difficulties and some 600,000 had a problem with their vision. More than half-a-million adults reported limitations that were the result of emotional, psychological or psychiatric conditions.

Among seniors aged 65 and over, mobility problems affected an estimated 1.1 million individuals. In addition, more than 887,000 seniors reported they were disabled because of pain.

Activity limitations were reported for close to 181,000 children aged 14 and under. Of these, 26,000 were younger than five and about 155,000 were school-age children. Almost 43% of children with disabilities had severe or very severe disabilities.

Although children aged 14 and under had the lowest rates of disability, they had their own unique conditions. The most widespread disability, reported for 118,000 youngsters, was related to chronic health conditions that reduced activities, such as asthma.

Learning disabilities were reported for an estimated 100,000 school-age children (5 to 14). These children accounted for almost two-thirds of all school-age children who reported disabilities.