12. Canadian Indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – article 30: participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure, and sport

On this page

• 12.1 Participation in a sports or recreational organization
• 12.2 Participation in a cultural or educational organization
• 12.3 Active leisure
• 12.4 Passive leisure

Alternate formats

A PDF version of the Canadian Indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is available on the index page.

12.1 Participation in a sports or recreational organization

Figure 12.1 – Text description

Gender	Persons with disabilities	Persons without disabilities
Men	46%	56%
Women	38%	45%

• Notes: Respondents were asked whether they were a member or participant in the past 12 months in a "sports or recreational organization (for example, hockey league, health club or golf club)".
• Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). To protect the data confidentiality of non-binary respondents, who make up a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories in the survey data used in this report.
• The distribution of men and women in the chart above includes persons who are non-binary. The number of non-binary respondents was too small to use as a unique category. They were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Social Identity, 2020 (Social Research Division calculations).

Persons with disabilities were less likely than those without disabilities to have participated in a sports or recreational organization in the last 12 months. Among persons with disabilities, 46% of men and 38% of women reported participating in a sports or recreational organization in the last 12 months. This compares to 56% of men and 45% of women without disabilities.

12.2 Participation in a cultural or educational organization

Figure 12.2 – Text description

Gender	Persons with disabilities	Persons without disabilities
Men	31%	28%
Women	36%	35%

• Notes: Respondents were asked whether they were a member or participant in the past 12 months in a "cultural, educational or hobby organization (for example, theatre group, book club or bridge club)".
• Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman, or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). To protect the data confidentiality of non-binary respondents, who make up a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories in the survey data used in this report.
• The distribution of men and women in the chart above includes persons who are non-binary. The number of non-binary respondents was too small to use as a unique category. They were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
• Differences between persons with and without disabilities were not statistically significant neither among men nor women.
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Social Identity, 2020 (Social Research Division calculations).

Men aged 15 years and over, regardless of disability, had similar proportions of participation in cultural or educational groups (31% versus 28%).

This was also the case among women with and without disabilities (36% versus 35%).

Women with disabilities were more likely than men with disabilities to have participated in a cultural or educational organization in the last 12 months (36% versus 31%).

12.3 Active leisure

Figure 12.3 – Text description

Gender	Persons with disabilities	Persons without disabilities
Men	3 hours	2.7 hours
Women	2.4 hours	2.1 hours

• Notes: Active leisure refers to the following activity types: arts and hobbies (drawing, painting, crafting, playing an instrument, dancing, collecting, knitting, photography, board and card games, gambling); leisure activities (walking, pleasure driving, birdwatching); writing (letters, cards, books, poems); or use of technology (general computer use, video games, Internet, art, or music production).
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Time Use, 2015. The data was retrieved from "Time use among persons with disabilities in Canada" (PDF format) (Statistics Canada calculations).

Among men aged 15 years and over, on average, men with disabilities spent more time in a day on active leisure activities (3 hours) than men without disabilities (2.7 hours).

Among women aged 15 years and over, on average, women with disabilities spent more time in a day on active leisure activities (2.4 hours) than women without disabilities (2.1 hours).

12.4 Passive leisure

Figure 12.4 - Text description

Gender	Persons with disabilities	Persons without disabilities
Men	4 hours	3.2 hours
Women	3.4 hours	3 hours

• Notes: Passive leisure refers to the following activity types: reading (online or paper version books, periodicals, newspaper, letters); watching television or videos; or listening to music or radio.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey - Time Use, 2015. The data was retrieved from "Time use among persons with disabilities in Canada" (PDF format) (Statistics Canada calculations).

Among men aged 15 years and over, on average, men with disabilities spent more time in a day on passive leisure activities (4 hours) than men without disabilities (3.2 hours).

Among women aged 15 years and over, on average, women with disabilities spent more time in a day on passive leisure activities (3.4 hours) than women without disabilities (3 hours).