In 2022, the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 with disabilities was 65.1%, compared with 80.1% for those without disabilities. The employment rate for persons with disabilities varied by the severity of the disability. Those with a severe disability were employed at a rate of 50.4% and those with a very severe disability were employed at a rate of 26.8%, according to a report by Statistics Canada.
Ivan Samkov
“In 2022, the unemployment rate for persons aged 16 to 64 with disabilities was 6.9%. The rate was nearly twice as high as for persons in the same age group without disabilities (3.8%). The unemployment rate for persons with disabilities was higher than for persons without disabilities among both women and men,” said the federal agency.
“Persons with disabilities were more likely to work in the public sector than those without disabilities (24.2% of employed persons with disabilities were employed in the public sector, compared with 21.0% of those without disabilities) and to be self-employed (13.0% of those with disabilities, compared with 11.4% of those without disabilities).
“Median hourly wages for persons with disabilities ($26.00) were 5.5% less than for those without disabilities ($27.50) in 2022.”
StatsCan said persons with disabilities have consistently been employed at lower rates than those without disabilities. This has been attributed to several factors, including unmet workplace accommodation needs and workplace discrimination. In 2022, the employment rate among those aged 16 to 64 with disabilities (65.1%) was 15 percentage points lower than the rate for those without disabilities (80.1%). These rates were recorded against the backdrop of strong employment and a tight labour market. As of the second quarter of 2022, employers were seeking to fill nearly one million vacant positions, the highest on record.
“The employment rate gap was more pronounced among those in the older age group. The employment rate for persons aged 55 to 64 with disabilities (51.1%) was 17.0 percentage points lower than for their counterparts without disabilities (68.1%). In this age group, these differences were observed for both men (56.0% employment rate for those with disabilities vs. 72.8% for those without) and women (46.9% vs. 63.3%). This can be explained by lower labour force participation rates among people with disabilities in the older age group (54.6%, compared with 70.6% for those without disabilities), who were more likely to leave their last job due to their own illness or disability (18.0%, compared with 2.3% of those without disabilities).
“An employment rate gap between youth (aged 16 to 24) with and without disabilities was also observed, but it was smaller (54.4% of those with disabilities were employed, compared with 64.0% of those without disabilities).”
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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