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Disability in Canada: A 2006 Profile

Disability Facts about the Labour Force

The employment, unemployment and labour force participation rates of working-age adults (15 to 64) with and without disabilities are quite different:

  • The employment rate for working-age adults with disabilities is 53.5% compared to 75.1% for working-age adults without disabilities.
  • The unemployment rate for working-age adults with disabilities is 10.4% compared to 6.8% for working-age adults without disabilities.
  • The labour force participation rate for working-age adults with disabilities is 59.6% compared to 80.2% of those without disabilities.

Labour force participation also differs among gender and disability status:

  • 61.7% of men with disabilities participate in the labour market compared to 85.1% of men without disabilities.
  • 58.0% of women with disabilities participate in the labour market compared to 75.3% of women without disabilities.

People with disabilities are often prevented from entering the labour force due to various limitations and barriers:

  • 65.0% of working-age adults with a disability who were not in the labour force reported they were completely prevented from working.
  • 12.1% of working-age adults who were not in the labour force are limited in their ability to look for work.

 The severity of a disability can also influence the level of limitation at work:

Among the employed group:

  • 81.3% of people with very severe disabilities were limited in the amount of work they could do because of their condition compared to 27.0% of people with mild disabilities.

 A child’s disability has the potential to negatively influence employment of the parents:

Among parents of children with disabilities under the age of 15:

  • 17.1% of parents quit their job;
  • 20.9% of parents did not take a job;
  • 30.4% of parents worked fewer hours;
  • In 24.6% of families, both mother and father are impacted regarding employment modifications. Mothers are more likely to be the main person impacted (64.1%) compared to fathers (8.3%).

Higher levels of education are linked to higher levels of employment, lower levels of unemployment and higher levels of labour force participation regardless of disability status:

Employment rate, by highest level of education attained and disability status for working-age adults aged 15 to 64 (%)
People with disabilities People without disabilities
Below high school diploma 35.0 64.0
High school diploma or equivalent 53.9 75.2
Trades certificate or equivalent 65.8 81.8
College diploma or equivalent 63.2 79.5
University degree or above 73.8 83.6
Total 53.5 75.1
Unemployment rate, by highest level of education attained and disability status for working-age adults aged 15 to 64 (%)
People with disabilities People without disabilities
Below high school diploma 14.0 10.3
High school diploma or equivalent 10.0 6.7
Trades certificate or equivalent 11.8 6.0
College diploma or equivalent 10.8 6.3
University degree or above 6.3 4.3
Total 10.4 6.8
Labour force participation rate, by highest level of education attained and disability status for working-age adults aged 15 to 64 (%)
People with disabilities People without disabilities
Below high school diploma 40.8 71.0
High school diploma or equivalent 60.2 80.5
Trades certificate or equivalent 74.7 87.0
College diploma or equivalent 70.8 84.6
University degree or above 78.9 87.2
Total 59.6 80.2

Source: Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) 2006
Note: Data listed above is of the full 2006 Canadian population and may be different than that of previously released Federal Disability Reports due to different methodology of developing the samples. Please see the 2009 Federal Disability Report, page 3, for more information.

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Date Modified:
2011-06-08