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Canadian Survey on Disability: Seeing and hearing disabilities, 2012

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Released: 2016-02-29

Seeing disabilities among Canadians aged 15 years and older

Almost 3% of Canadians aged 15 years and older, or about 750,000 people, reported having a seeing disability that limited their daily activities.

According to data from the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), 5.8% of people in this group reported being legally blind. They are among the 3.8 million Canadians aged 15 years and older who reported having a disability in the survey.

Seeing disabilities frequently co-occurred with other types of disabilities. Almost 90% of Canadians aged 15 years and older who reported a seeing disability also reported at least one other type of disability.

The occurrence of seeing disability was highest among those aged 75 years and older (9.5%).

Canadians aged 15 years and older with a seeing disability had overall lower levels of educational attainment compared with those who did not have any disability. The proportion of Canadians aged 15 to 64 who were not in school and who had not completed high school was higher among those with a seeing disability (23.3%) than among those without any disability (13.1%).

Compared with Canadians aged 15 to 64 without any disability, Canadians with a seeing disability in the same age group had a lower employment rate (37.6% compared with 73.6%) and a lower median annual before-tax income ($17,700 compared with $31,200). As well, a higher proportion of them relied on government transfers as their major source of income (55.7% compared with 18.7%).

Hearing disabilities among Canadians aged 15 years and older

More than 3% of Canadians aged 15 years and older, or 874,600 people, reported having a hearing disability that limited their daily activities. According to 2012 CSD data, 75.2% of this group reported some difficulty hearing, while 22.5% reported a lot of difficulty and 2.3% were deaf or could not hear at all. They are among the 3.8 million Canadians aged 15 years and older who reported a disability in the survey.

Hearing disabilities frequently co-occurred with other types of disabilities. More than 8 in 10 Canadians aged 15 years and older who reported a hearing disability also reported at least one other type of disability.

The occurrence of hearing disability increased with age. For example, 0.4% of the population aged 15 to 24 reported having a hearing disability compared with 14.6% of those aged 75 and older.

Canadians aged 15 years and older with a hearing disability had overall lower levels of educational attainment than those who did not have any disability. The proportion of Canadians aged 15 to 64 who were not in school and who had not completed high school was higher among those with a hearing disability (23.0%) than among those without any disability (13.1%).

Compared with Canadians aged 15 to 64 without any disability, Canadians with a hearing disability in the same age group had a lower employment rate (47.9% compared with 73.6%) and a lower median annual before-tax income ($24,200 compared with $31,200). As well, a higher proportion of them relied on government transfers as their major source of income (46.0% compared with 18.7%).

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The fact sheets "Seeing disabilities among Canadians aged 15 years and older, 2012" and "Hearing disabilities among Canadians aged 15 years and older, 2012," which are part of the publication Canadian Survey on Disability, 2012 (Catalogue number89-654-X), are now available from the Browse by key resource module of our website under Publications.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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