6. Canadian Indicators for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - article 20: personal mobility

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• 6.1 Requiring a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter
• 6.2 Having unmet needs for a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter
• 6.3 Being housebound
• 6.4 Reasons for being housebound

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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.

6.1 Requiring a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter

Figure 6.1 – Text description

Gender	15 to 64 years	65 years and over
Men	5%	18%
Women	7%	32%

• Notes: The statistics above are for persons with disabilities who required either a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 (Social Research Division calculations).

Among men with disabilities, those aged 65 years and over were more likely than those aged 15 to 64 years to require a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter (18% versus 5%).

Women with disabilities aged 65 years and over were also more likely than those aged 15 to 64 years to require these devices (32% versus 7%).

Among persons with disabilities aged 65 years and over, women with disabilities were almost twice as likely as men with disabilities to require a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter (32% versus 18%).

6.2 Having unmet needs for a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter

Figure 6.2 – Text description

Gender	15 to 64 years	65 years and over
Men	24%	15%
Women	34%	14%

• Notes: The statistics above are for persons with disabilities who required either a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter, but do not have their needs met.
• The values for men aged 15 to 64 years are to be used with caution due to a higher coefficient of variation in the sample.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 (Social Research Division calculations).

Men with disabilities aged 15 to 64 years were more likely than those aged 65 years and over to report unmet needs for a motorized or manual wheelchair, a walker, or a scooter (24% versus 15%).

Among women with disabilities, unmet needs for these devices were also higher for those aged 15 to 64 years than those aged 65 years and over (34% versus 14%).

6.3 Being housebound

Figure 6.3 – Text description

Gender	15 to 64 years	65 years and over
Men	12%	10%
Women	17%	16%

• Notes: The survey asked respondents if they considered themselves to be housebound. Respondents who answered the survey themselves were asked this question; proxy respondents were excluded.
• A respondent is considered housebound when he/she is unable to leave his/her home environment due to his/her condition or health problem.
• Differences described below are statistically significant (p<0.05).
• Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 (Social Research Division calculations).

Among persons with disabilities aged 15 to 64 years, women were more likely than men to consider themselves housebound due to their condition (17% versus 12%).

Among persons with disabilities aged 65 years and over, women were, again, more likely than men to consider themselves housebound (16% versus 10%).

6.4 Reasons for being housebound

Figure 6.4 – Text description

Reason	Men	Women
Condition or health problem aggravated by being outside	65%	65%
Social connections outside home are limited	35%	40%
Do not feel safe when leaving home	22%	33%
Lack of accessible transportation	17%	18%
Lack of attendant or companion to help	13%	18%
Mobility restrictions	6%*	6%

* = Use with caution.

• Notes: This figure is a revision of a previous version published on December 18th, 2024. One estimate was corrected and more reasons were added.
• The data shown refers to the proportion reporting a given reason among those who considered themselves housebound. Respondents who answered the survey themselves were asked this question; proxy respondents were excluded.
• Additional reasons included in the survey are excluded here due to limitations in data quality.
• E = Use with caution.
• Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017 (Social Research Division calculations).

Among men and women with disabilities aged 15 and over who considered themselves housebound, the most common reason reported for being housebound was “condition or health problem aggravated when going out”, followed by “social connections outside home are limited” and “do not feel safe when leaving home”.