To inform the Accessible Canada Act<\/a> (ACA<\/a>), Statistics Canada is releasing several products using data from the\u00a02022\u00a0CSD<\/a> and the\u00a02024\u00a0Survey Series on Accessibility \u2013 Experiences with Accessibility and Information and Communication Technology (SSA-EAICT<\/a>). These products explore barriers to accessibility, defined by the ACA<\/a> as anything that prevents persons with disabilities from fully participating in society, and reflect two priority areas included in the ACA<\/a> for identification, prevention and removal of barriers: information and communication technologies (ICT<\/a>); and communication, other than ICT<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are two reports being released today: “Barriers to accessibility related to communication: Findings from the\u00a02022\u00a0Canadian Survey on Disability<\/a>” and “Barriers to accessibility related to Internet use: Findings from the\u00a02022\u00a0Canadian Survey on Disability<\/a>,” which focus on the prevalence of accessibility barriers related to communication and Internet use across various disability-related and sociodemographic characteristics. Additionally, an infographic and data tables with findings from the SSA-EAICT<\/a> exploring the experiences of persons with disabilities or long-term conditions with barriers related to ICT<\/a> are now available.<\/p>\n The most commonly cited barriers related to communication involve in-person communication<\/p>\n In\u00a02022, close to one in three persons with disabilities (29%) experienced barriers when communicating in person with family or close friends, and more than one in four experienced barriers when communicating in person with medical or health care professionals (27%) or with others such as the general public, customer service, or government representatives (26%).<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n More than\u00a01\u00a0in\u00a08\u00a0(13%) persons with disabilities in Canada experienced barriers when using the Internet for online access to government information, services or supports, and around\u00a01\u00a0in\u00a010\u00a0experienced barriers when booking for appointments, services or reservations online (11%), or while banking or shopping online (9%).<\/p>\n
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In\u00a02024, nearly\u00a03\u00a0in\u00a010\u00a0(29%) persons with disabilities or long-term conditions reported barriers while using their cellphone in the past three months. The most common types of difficulties experienced were related to downloading or installing programs or applications (12%), operating a touchscreen (11%) and manipulating controls such as buttons or dials (10%).<\/p>\n One in four persons with disabilities and long-term conditions experience a barrier while using communication-related activities online<\/p>\n In\u00a02024, one in four (25%) persons with disabilities or long-term conditions experienced a barrier while performing communication-related activities online. The three most commonly experienced difficulties were a lack of adjustable settings (10%), difficulty accessing support services (10%) and time limits to complete actions (9%) on communication-related tools.<\/p>\n Barriers to accessibility are more commonly experienced by those with very severe disabilities and multiple disability types<\/p>\n In\u00a02022, the prevalence of communication-related and Internet-related barriers to accessibility increased with disability severity and number of disability types.<\/p>\n Nearly two-thirds (65%) of those with a very severe disability experienced barriers related to communication, while these barriers were experienced by one-third (33%) of those with a mild disability. Similarly,\u00a064% of those with four or more disability types experienced communication-related barriers, compared with\u00a032% of those with one disability type.<\/p>\n Barriers related to Internet use were experienced by\u00a028% of those with a very severe disability, compared with\u00a09% of those with a mild disability. Nearly half (47%) of those with four or more disability types experienced Internet-related barriers, while such barriers were experienced by\u00a08% of those with one disability type.<\/p>\n Individuals with unmet needs for disability supports or help with everyday activities are more likely to experience barriers<\/p>\n Similar to findings on barriers to accessibility related to public spaces<\/a> and barriers related to behaviours, misconceptions or assumptions<\/a>, barriers related to communication and Internet use were more common among those with unmet needs for disability supports, such as personal assistive aids and devices, medications, and healthcare therapies and services. In\u00a02022, communication-related barriers were experienced by\u00a057% of individuals with unmet needs for disability supports and\u00a035% of those with their support needs met. Internet-related barriers were experienced by\u00a022% of those with unmet disability support needs and\u00a010% of those with their disability support needs met.<\/p>\n In addition, individuals with unmet needs for help with daily activities were more likely to experience communication barriers (63% vs.\u00a026% of those whose needs for help with daily activities were met) and Internet use barriers (39% vs.\u00a012%).<\/p>\n 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> persons and those with lower income are more likely to experience barriers related to communication and Internet use<\/p>\n In\u00a02022, more than three in five (61%) 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> persons with a disability experienced barriers related to communication, and one in five (20%) experienced barriers related to Internet use. Among non-2SLGBTQ+<\/a> persons with a disability, the prevalence of these barriers was lower, with\u00a045% experiencing barriers related to communication and\u00a017% experiencing barriers related to Internet use. Previous analysis of 2SLGBTQ+ persons with disabilities in Canada<\/a> found that 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> individuals experienced communication barriers at higher rates across all age groups, while barriers related to Internet use were experienced at higher rates in some age groups and similar rates in others.<\/p>\n Additionally, persons with lower income experienced barriers at higher rates than those with higher income. More than half (53%) of persons with disabilities in the lowest income quintile experienced barriers related to communication, compared with\u00a043% of persons with disabilities in the highest income quintile. Similarly, barriers related to Internet use were more prevalent among persons with disabilities in the lowest income quintile (20%) than among persons with disabilities in the highest income quintile (14%).<\/p>\n Youth experience barriers to accessibility at different rates than those in older age groups <\/p>\n Among persons with a disability in Canada, barriers to accessibility related to communication were experienced at a higher rate by youth aged\u00a015\u00a0to\u00a024\u00a0years (54%) than by persons aged\u00a025\u00a0to\u00a044\u00a0years (49%),\u00a045\u00a0to\u00a064\u00a0years (43%) or\u00a065\u00a0years and older (50%) in\u00a02022.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n In contrast, youth aged\u00a015\u00a0to\u00a024\u00a0years were less likely to experience barriers related to Internet use (15%) than persons aged\u00a045\u00a0to\u00a064\u00a0years (18%), but experienced Internet-related barriers at the same rate as persons aged\u00a025\u00a0to\u00a044\u00a0years or\u00a065\u00a0years and older.<\/p>\n
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When controlling for other factors, persons with very severe disabilities had three times higher odds than those with mild disabilities of experiencing communication-related barriers and barriers related to Internet use in\u00a02022.<\/p>\n Similarly, persons with disabilities who had unmet needs for disability supports or help with everyday activities had two times higher odds of experiencing barriers related to communication and barriers related to Internet use, when controlling for other variables.<\/p>\n Hearing, developmental and mental health-related disabilities are associated with two times higher odds of experiencing barriers related to communication<\/p>\n In\u00a02022, among persons with a disability aged\u00a015\u00a0years and older, the odds of experiencing communication-related barriers were more than twice as high among persons with a hearing disability compared with those without a hearing disability, after controlling for other factors. Similarly, persons with a developmental disability had more than two times higher odds of experiencing barriers related to communication than those without a developmental disability, and those with a mental health-related disability had two times higher odds of experiencing communication-related barriers than those without a mental health-related disability.<\/p>\n When controlling for other factors, dexterity, learning, and memory disabilities were also associated with higher odds of experiencing communication-related barriers compared with individuals without these disability types. In contrast, having a pain-related disability was associated with lower odds of experiencing communication-related barriers.<\/p>\n Seeing, hearing, dexterity, learning, developmental, mental health-related and memory disabilities were associated with higher odds of experiencing barriers related to Internet use compared with individuals without these disability types.<\/p>\n Youth and 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> persons with disabilities have higher odds of experiencing barriers to accessibility related to communication<\/p>\n In\u00a02022, the odds of experiencing barriers to accessibility related to communication were higher for youth than for those in older age groups when controlling for other factors. In contrast, the odds of experiencing barriers related to Internet use were not significantly different between youth and those in older age groups when controlling for other factors.<\/p>\n Additionally, 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> persons with disabilities had higher odds of experiencing communication-related and Internet-related barriers, consistent with the findings of the descriptive analysis.<\/p>\n Did you know we have a mobile app?<\/p>\n Download our mobile app and get timely access to data at your fingertips! The StatsCAN<\/a> app is available for free on the App Store<\/a> and on Google Play<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD<\/a>) sample is selected from the Census of Population respondents, making it a postcensal survey. For methodological details see Surveys and statistical programs – Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Government of Canada adopted the acronym 2SLGBTQI+<\/a> to refer to Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex people and those who use other terms related to gender and sexual diversity. Statistics Canada uses the acronym 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> for data analysis purposes, as information is not yet collected specifically about intersex people. The term “non-2SLGBTQ+<\/a>” is used to refer to people who are both cisgender (people whose reported gender corresponds to their reported sex at birth) and heterosexual. See Improving data on\u00a02SLGBTQ+ populations<\/a> and Federal\u00a02SLGBTQI+ Action Plan\u00a02022<\/a> for more information. The CSD<\/a> asks respondents their sex at birth, gender (male, female, other) and sexual orientation (heterosexual, lesbian or gay, bisexual or other). This analysis classified any respondents who were not cisgender (people whose reported gender corresponds to their reported sex at birth) and not heterosexual as belonging to the 2SLGBTQ+<\/a> population.<\/p>\n A global severity score was developed for the CSD<\/a>, which was calculated for each person using the number of disability types that a person has, the level of difficulty experienced in performing certain tasks, and the frequency of activity limitations. To simplify the concept of severity, four severity classes were established: mild, moderate, severe, and very severe. “Mild” and “moderate” classes were collapsed into “milder” while “severe” and “very severe” classes were collapsed into “more severe.” It is important to understand, however, that the name assigned to each class is simply intended to facilitate use of the severity score and is not a label or judgment concerning the person’s level of disability.<\/p>\n The CSD<\/a> collected information on\u00a027\u00a0types of barriers to accessibility, touching on the Accessible Canada Act priority areas of Built Environment, Communication, and Information and Communication Technology. These barriers do not represent a comprehensive list of barriers to accessibility. Respondents were asked if they experienced barriers because of their condition using the response categories of “not applicable,” “never,” “sometimes,” “often” and “always.” Respondents who indicated that they experienced barriers “sometimes,” “often” or “always” are included as having experienced a barrier at least sometimes. See the 2022\u00a0CSD questionnaire<\/a> for more information on the barriers to accessibility included within the survey.<\/p>\n The Survey Series on Accessibility \u2013 Experiences with Accessibility and Information and Communication Technology (SSA \u2013 EAICT<\/a>), was collected from October\u00a015\u00a0to November\u00a017,\u00a02024. Participants in the SSA \u2013 EAICT<\/a> were identified as having a disability through their participation in the\u00a02022\u00a0CSD<\/a>, and some participants continued to be considered to have a disability in a similar manner in\u00a02024\u00a0as they did in\u00a02022. For the SSA \u2013 EAICT<\/a>, respondents were asked about any long-term health conditions or difficulties they had with seeing; hearing; walking, using stairs, using their hands or fingers, or doing other physical activities; learning, remembering or concentrating; any emotional, psychological or mental health condition; or any other health problem or long-term condition. Only conditions that have lasted or are expected to last six months or more were included.<\/p>\n The SSA<\/a> is a sample survey with a cross-sectional design. It is based on a probability panel consisting of individuals who agreed to participate in further studies when they responded to the\u00a02022\u00a0CSD<\/a>. As a result of this methodology, it has a low cumulative response rate, which increases the risk of bias. For methodological details see Survey and statistical programs \u2013 Survey Series on Accessibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n All differences mentioned in this release are statistically significant (p <\u00a00.05). Estimates in this release include any non-response cases. The inclusion or exclusion of these cases depends on the objective of the analysis. Future products may take different approaches.<\/p>\n
The reports “Barriers to accessibility related to Internet use: Findings from the\u00a02022\u00a0Canadian Survey on Disability<\/a>” and “Barriers to accessibility related to communication: Findings from the\u00a02022\u00a0Canadian Survey on Disability<\/a>” which are part of the Reports on Disability and Accessibility in Canada (Catalogue number89-654-X<\/a>), are now available.<\/p>\n The infographic “Technology-related barriers faced by persons with disabilities or long-term conditions,\u00a02024<\/a>” is now available in the series Statistics Canada \u2013 Infographics (Catalogue number11-627-M<\/a>).<\/p>\n Contact information<\/p>\n 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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca<\/a>) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca<\/a>).<\/p>\n
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Released:\u00a02025-03-24
In\u00a02022, out of\u00a08\u00a0million Canadians aged\u00a015\u00a0years and older with one or more disabilities,\u00a03.8\u00a0million (48%)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[64,63,237,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-152063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-internet","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nBarriers to accessibility related to communication, persons with disabilities aged\u00a015\u00a0years and older in Canada, by situation,\u00a02022
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\nBarriers to accessibility related to Internet use, persons with disabilities aged\u00a015\u00a0years and older in Canada, by situation,\u00a02022
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\nDifficulties downloading or installing programs or applications are the most common barriers experienced while using a cellphone <\/p>\n
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\nPersons with disabilities who experienced barriers related to communication, by age group,\u00a02022
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\nPersons with disabilities who experienced barriers related to Internet use, by age group,\u00a02022
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\nPersons with unmet needs and more severe disabilities have higher odds of experiencing barriers related to communication and Internet use<\/p>\n
\n \u00a0\u00a0Note to readers
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