Accessibility - Monitoring the right to housing for people with disabilities

Accessibility

Do people with disabilities have housing that meets their accessibility needs?

Universal design can help make housing more accessible for everyone. Adaptable housing can easily be modified to meet a person's specific accessibility needs.

• Goal: People with disabilities have housing that meets their accessibility needs.
• International law sources:
  • Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – Accessibility
  • United Nations General Comment on Article 9 of the CRPD

Outcome indicators

1. Percentage of people with disabilities who have housing that meets their accessibility needs

   • Description: This looks at people who feel their housing meets their accessibility needs.
   • Results:
     • Many people with disabilities don’t have housing that meets their accessibility needs. In 2022, 16% of people with physical disabilities didn’t have the physical aids they needed in their homes.
       • Data source: Canadian Survey on Disability (2017 and 2022): Assistive Aids, Devices or Technologies – Mobility and Agility
     • Many people with disabilities don’t feel like their homes are accessible. In 2021, only 38% of people with disabilities said they felt their homes were accessible to people with physical disabilities.
       • Data source: Canadian Housing Survey (2021): Dwelling Characteristics
2. Number of accessible housing units in each jurisdiction, including on reserves
   • Description: This looks at the current number of accessible housing units that are available in each province and territory, and on reserves. Accessible housing means housing that is designed and built to meet specific accessibility requirements.
   • Results: Not available. This data is not currently collected through national or provincial / territorial surveys. We are advocating for better data collection and transparency in this area.
3. Number of adaptable housing units in each jurisdiction, including on reserves
   • Description: This looks at the current number of adaptable housing units that are available in each province and territory, and on reserves. Adaptable housing means housing that can easily be modified to meet people's specific accessibility needs.
   • Results: Not available. This data is not currently collected through national or provincial / territorial surveys. We are advocating for better data collection and transparency in this area.
4. Number of social and affordable housing units that are publicly owned and accessible
   • Description: This looks at social and affordable housing units that are publicly owned and accessible.
   • Results: Few publicly owned social and affordable housing units are accessible. In 2016, only 10% of all social and affordable housing units were accessible. In 2020, this number dropped to 9%.
     • Data source: Core Public Infrastructure Survey (2016 and 2020). This survey uses the term “barrier-free” housing instead of “accessible” housing. Since 2022, this data has been collected through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)'s Social and Affordable Housing Survey.
5. Percentage of people with disabilities who paid for their homes to be adapted
   • Description: This looks at people who used their own money to pay for their homes to be adapted to meet their specific accessibility needs. It includes people who accessed public funding, but who still had to pay for part of the renovations themselves.
   • Results: Not available. This data is not currently collected through national or provincial / territorial surveys. The old version of Canada’s disability survey included questions about this issue. (See: Participation and Activity Limitation Survey [PALS] from 2001 and 2006.) Those questions aren’t included in the current Canadian Disability Survey (CSD). We are advocating for better data collection and transparency in this area.
6. Percentage of homeless shelters, transition houses and emergency shelters that are accessible
   • Description: This looks at the accessibility of shelters that provide temporary, short-term or long-term housing for people experiencing homelessness and/or gender-based violence.
   • Results: Not available. This data is not currently collected through national or provincial / territorial surveys. Infrastructure Canada's National Shelter Study does not currently report on the accessibility of shelters. We are advocating for better data collection and transparency in this area.

Policy effort and resource indicators

7. Accessibility standards and building code requirements for housing 
   • Description: This looks at accessibility standards and building code requirements for houses and apartment buildings. It includes requirements for the inside of houses and apartments. It also includes requirements for shared spaces in apartment buildings.
   • Data sources: National and provincial/territorial accessibility standards and building code requirements.
8. Public funding programs for home adaptations
   • Description: This looks at public funding for people to adapt their homes to meet their specific accessibility needs.
   • Data sources: Federaland provincial/territorial government programs.

Additional indicators in development.