ABILITYscaled 50%.png

STATE OF AFFAIRS

OF THE

DISABLED PERSONS OF CANADA

" To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity."

 ~ Nelson Mandela ~

 

NOTE; Validation of statements made on this page can be verified in the "Reference Material" section of this website

  • Canadians with disabilities represent more than 14% of the population
 
  • The long-term unemployment rate for persons with disabilities in Canada is 80%
 
  • This rate of unemployment of Canadians with disabilities is 50% higher than other 1st world countries such as the USA.
 
  • As of this writing, Canada has not signed the ‘optional protocol’ section of the UNCRPD
 
  • As of this writing, Canada has no specific federal legislation pertaining to the rights of persons with disabilities.
 
  • Persons with disabilities continue to be marginalised in Canadian society. Proof of this is documented under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), of which Canada is a signatory (ratified), in the most recent UNCRPD report (May 2017) ‘Concluding observations on the initial report of Canada’, Statistics Canada report ‘Canadian Survey on Disability, 2012’, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) report 2015.
 
  • During the federal election in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau indicated his intent to enact federal legislation in the form of the Canadians with Disabilities Act. In June of 2018 Bill C-81 was presented to the Parliament of Canada for first reading.
 
  • The impact of both the UNCRPD Optional Protocol and federal legislation ‘Canadians with Disabilities Act’ will entrench obligations for both government and corporations in law. Given that Canada has done a poor job of integrating persons with disabilities into society, the changes will be substantial and profound.
 
  • Existing and past employment creation programs for persons with disabilities have not improved this condition as evidenced by the current long-term unemployment rate of disabled persons in Canada.
 
  • Recent statistics from the CHRC tribunal found that of the 40 thousand complaints received between 2009 and 2014, 20 thousand or 49% of these were received from persons with disabilities and that 75% of the 20 thousand complaints from persons with disabilities were employment related.