1. Canadian indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – article 5: equality and non-discrimination
On this page
- 1.1 Discrimination of any type
- 1.2 Discrimination based on a physical or mental disability
- 1.3 Discrimination based on physical appearance
- 1.4 Age-based discrimination
- 1.5 Sex-based discrimination
- 1.6 Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression
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.
1.1 Discrimination of any type
Figure 1.1 – Text description
| Gender | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 42% | 28% |
| Women | 47% | 34% |
- Notes: "Discrimination of any type" refers to treating people differently, negatively, or adversely because of their race, age, religion, sex, etc.
- 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 constitute a very small sample, non-binary respondents have been redistributed into the men and women categories.
- Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
- Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2020 (Social Identity) – Social Research Division calculations.
In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, men with disabilities were 1.5 times more likely than those without disabilities to face discrimination of any type (42% versus 28%).
Similarly, women with disabilities were more likely than those without disabilities to experience discrimination of any type in the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic (47% versus 34%).
Generally, women were more likely than men to experience discrimination regardless of having a disability or not.
1.2 Discrimination based on a physical or mental disability
Figure 1.2 – Text description
| Gender | Milder disabilities | More severe disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 4% | 20% |
| Women | 5% | 18% |
- Notes: 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 constitute 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 people who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small as a unique category, they were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
- "Milder" disability is composed of those with "Mild" or "Moderate" disabilities, while "More severe" disability is a combination of those with "Severe" and "Very severe" disabilities.
- Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
- Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2020 (Social Identity) – Social Research Division calculations.
Men with more severe disabilities were 5 times more likely than those with milder disabilities to experience discrimination based on a physical or mental disability (20% versus 4%). This discrimination took place in the 5 years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women with more severe disabilities were over 3 times more likely than those with milder disabilities to experience discrimination based on a physical or mental disability (18% versus 5%). This discrimination took place in the 5 years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.
1.3 Discrimination based on physical appearance
Figure 1.3 – Text description
| Gender | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 16% | 7% |
| Women | 18% | 8% |
- Notes: 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 constitute 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 people who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small 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, 2020 (Social Identity) – Social Research Division calculations.
In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over were twice as likely as persons without disabilities to be discriminated against based on their physical appearance. Among men, 16% of those with disabilities and 7% of those without disabilities reported experiencing this type of discrimination. In comparison, 18% of women with disabilities and 8% of women without disabilities reported this type of discrimination.
1.4 Age-based discrimination
Figure 1.4 – Text description
| Age group | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| 15 to 24 years | 28% | 19% |
| 25 to 34 years | 25% | 12% |
| 35 to 44 years | 11% | 6% |
| 45 to 54 years | 9% | 4% |
| 55 to 64 years | 13% | 9% |
| 65 years and over | 13% | 8% |
- Note: Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
- Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2020 (Social Identity) - Social Research Division calculations.
Across all 6 age groups, persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without disabilities to face age-based discrimination in the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regardless of disability, younger respondents were more likely than older respondents to face age-based discrimination. Among persons with disabilities, 28% of those aged 15 to 24 years and 25% of those aged 25 to 34 years were discriminated against due to their age.
1.5 Sex-based discrimination
Figure 1.5 – Text description
| Gender | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 6% | 3% |
| Women | 21% | 14% |
- Notes: The data refers to the proportion who responded "Yes" to the following question: "In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, have you experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by others in Canada because of your sex?".
- 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 constitute 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 people who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small 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, 2020 (Social Identity) – Social Research Division calculations.
In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, men with disabilities aged 15 years and over were twice as likely as men without disabilities to report discrimination based on their sex (6% versus 3%).
In the same time frame, women with disabilities aged 15 years and over were 1.5 times as likely as women without disabilities to report discrimination based on their sex (21% versus 14%).
1.6 Discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity/expression
Figure 1.6 – Text description
| Gender | Persons with disabilities | Persons without disabilities |
|---|---|---|
| Men | 5% | 2% |
| Women | 5% | 2% |
- Notes: The data refers to the proportion who answered "Yes" to the following question: "In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, have you experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly by others in Canada because of your sexual orientation or because of your gender identity/expression?".
- 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 constitute 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 people who are non-binary. Due to the amount of non-binary respondents being too small as a unique category, they were redistributed into men and women categories to ensure confidentiality.
- Due to data quality concerns, results of if a respondent had experienced discrimination based on their sexuality, or for their gender expression, were combined.
- Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
- Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2020 (Social Identity) - Social Research Division calculations.
In the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over were over twice as likely as persons without disabilities to experience discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Among persons with disabilities, 5% of men and 5% of women had experienced this type of discrimination, compared with 2% of men and 2% of women without disabilities.