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Disability in Canada: A 2006 Profile

Disability Facts about Seniors

Seniors will become an increasingly large portion of the population:

  • In 2005, there were 4.2 million seniors in Canada, representing 13.1% of the total Canadian population.
  • By 2031, the number of seniors in Canada is expected to range between 8.9 and 9.4 million, which would represent between 23% and 25% of Canada’s population.1

As people age, they are more likely to develop a disability. Seniors have the highest disability rate of any group:

  • 43.4% of seniors (1.76 million Canadians) aged 65 and over have a disability.
  • 11.5% of working age Canadians (aged 15 to 64) have a disability.

The increase in the number of seniors has contributed to an increase in the number of people with disabilities:

There has already been an increase in the number of seniors with disabilities.

  • In 2001, there were approximately 1.45 million Canadians aged 65 and over who had a disability.
  • In 2006, there were over 1.76 million Canadians aged 65 and over who had a disability.

The disability rate is even higher among older seniors:

  • 33.0% of seniors aged 65 to 74 have a disability.
  • 56.3% of seniors aged 75 and over have a disability.

Disability type and severity

Older seniors are more likely to have severe or very severe disabilities:

  • 33.6% of younger seniors aged 65 to 74 with a disability indicate that their level of disability is severe or very severe.
  • 44.4% of older seniors aged 75 or over with a disability indicate that their level of disability is severe or very severe.

Mobility disabilities are the most common type of disability for seniors:

  • More than 1.3 million seniors, or one-third of all Canadian seniors, have mobility disabilities. Senior women are more likely to have a mobility disability than senior men (37.2% vs 28.1%).
  • Agility (31.7%), pain (28.0%) and hearing (18.2%) are the other most common types of disability.

Income

Discrepancy in total income between seniors with and without disabilities depends on age:

  • Younger seniors with disabilities aged 65 to 74 have a lower average total income (including employment income, investments and government transfers) than seniors without disabilities in the same age group ($26,081 vs $33,037).
  • Older seniors with disabilities age 75 and over have a higher average total income than older seniors without disabilities ($33,723 vs $30,169).

Caregiving and unmet needs

The most common caregivers for seniors are family members:

  • 68.6% of primary caregivers to seniors are family members.
  • 15.8% of seniors who receive care list their primary caregiver as their spouse.
  • 28.4% of primary caregivers to seniors are friends, neighbours, paid employees, governments and non-profit organizations.

Over 1.2 million seniors with disabilities in Canada require help with everyday activities:

  • 41.6% of seniors with disabilities who require help with everyday activities do not get all the help they need.
Type of activity Senior population requiring assistance Senior population receiving assitance Senior population that have unmet needs Proportion of seniors that have unmet needs
Preparing meals 418850 378530 78630 18.80%
Housework 724400 629280 199710 27.60%
Heavy household chores 963630 839490 322510 33.50%
Running errands 740170 691930 180600 24.40%
Finances 402400 384420 48700 12.10%
Personal care 283690 253440 70980 25.00%

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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Disability Facts about Seniors (PDF Version, 659 Kb)

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1

Statistics Canada, Demography Division. 2005. “Population Projections for Canada, Provinces and Territories 2005-2031, with detailed electronic tables.” Ottawa: Minister of Industry. Catalogue No. 91-520-XIE.

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Date Modified:
2011-08-05