Setting the foundation for solutions and positive downstream impacts — an evidence-based look at Canada’s growing disability employment gap.
The Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD) runs every five years with the intent to understand and evaluate both the need for and ways to address gaps that cause additional hardship for people with disabilities. One of these gaps is difficulty finding employment, which can ideally be addressed through workplace accommodations — efforts to reduce hardships so that someone with one or more disabilities can perform their work responsibilities effectively and comfortably.
Increased accessibility to accommodations might have positive downstream effects for both employers and people with disabilities alike.
This article provides a digestible starting point so that readers — including employers in any industry, as well as people with disabilities facing these challenges — understand and are motivated to take action so that more people with disabilities might be able to enter the workforce and be enabled to perform to their full potential.
Below are insights from the most recent CSD survey in 2022, compared to the last survey in 2017:
In 2017, approximately 6.25 million Canadians (22.3%) had a disability out of a total population of 28 million (aged 15+).
By 2022, that number grew to nearly 7.98 million (27.0%) out of 29.6 million — an increase of over 1.73 million people.
The disability rate increased by 4.7 percentage points between 2017 and 2022, a notable rise over just five years. The overall population also grew slightly, but the disability population grew at a faster rate, driving the percentage increase.
Source: Blue Green Yellow Inc. 2026; Government of Canada 2023
The percentage of Canadians with disabilities is significant, and growing. However, not every person with a disability wants to work, or if they do, claims they need an accommodation (more information below on reasons not to ask for an accommodation).
Even still, the need for accommodations is growing as well:
Approximately 2,069,390 Canadians aged 25–64 with disabilities were employed in 2017.
37.3% of employed persons with disabilities required one or more workplace accommodations.
In 2022, approximately 1,165,650 employed persons with disabilities required workplace accommodations — a significant 31.1% increase from 2017, adding roughly 276,780 persons.
Source: Blue Green Yellow Inc. 2026; Statistics Canada 2019
This article does not address the discrepancy between the percentage of disabled to abled workers (or how accommodations may decrease that gap), but rather brings awareness to the barriers to those wanting to work. This article is the basis for a hypothesis that increased accessibility to accommodations might have positive downstream effects for both employers and people with disabilities, including:
Some of the barriers that need to be addressed include the following:
‘Barriers to employment’ affect 658,630 persons aged 15–64 across Canada.
The second most common is ‘Limited in ability to work,’ affecting 486,440 persons — and it also has the highest percentage rate at 69.7%.
Source: Blue Green Yellow Inc. 2026; Statistics Canada 2015
Unfortunately, “barriers to employment” and even “limited ability to work” are quite vague and may or may not be addressed via workplace accommodations. What the data does tell us is that a significant number of people with disabilities who do want to work feel that there is some kind of challenge to overcome in regards to reaching their goals of working.
An additional dataset found the following, which helps narrow the focus of the challenges of finding work:
The top reason — work experience — may or may not be tied directly to the lack of accommodation. However, Statistics Canada published findings that only about 65% of people needing a workplace accommodation received accommodations that met all their needs, leaving 35% lacking to some degree in their ability to do their job and therefore gain on-the-job experience at the same potential rate as their peers (Statistics Canada 2024).
The top reason for difficulty in finding work could potentially be explained by the assumption that an accommodation could have allowed them to gain experience, but this is speculation based on a few standard questions from one survey. The next several highest reasons for difficulty finding work do not seem relevant to work accommodation; however, “health condition” remains a significant issue, with almost 50% of those with disabilities looking for work listing this as a factor.
We’ve established the need for accommodations and external barriers to finding work — but there are internal barriers as well:
If we compare the top self-reported reasons for difficulty finding a job to the above chart, 26% of respondents list that they have experienced discrimination in the past — so it’s not surprising that people who believe a workplace accommodation could benefit them still will not ask (Statistics Canada 2024).
Source: Government of Canada 2023
A vast resource that can help address these concerns for people with disabilities is the Job Accommodation Network, which includes a large database of disabilities, related challenges, and potential accommodations to request (askjan.org).
“Work can start now to begin closing the already obvious gaps — employers could benefit from offering accommodations, and individuals with disabilities should begin by advocating for themselves.”
Analysis on this topic will improve over time as the CSD gathers more data to trend, but employers in any sector could benefit from offering accommodations to employees and potential employees by expanding their talent pools and finding solutions to make their people more efficient by reducing challenges. Individuals with disabilities should begin by advocating for themselves — and by doing it for themselves, for others as well — and understanding their rights and options when it comes to finding employment.
Data: Canadian Survey on Disability (CSD), Statistics Canada, 2017 and 2022. Blue Green Yellow Inc. / Datastam analysis, May 2026.
Analysis and visuals: Datastam platform, 2026. All interpretations and writing by the author.
Universe: Canadians aged 15 and older. Employment and accommodation figures reflect self-reported responses from the CSD survey instrument.