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Canadians with a Hearing Disability

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Released: 2019-05-08

Living with a hearing disability is unique to each person and crosses all ages and socioeconomic situations. Advances in hearing assistive technology and the various ways to communicate can help Canadians with a hearing disability connect with the world around them. The 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability revealed that while those with a hearing disability use a range of aids and assistive devices, affordability remains an issue for many.

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. In recognition, a new infographic that highlights the characteristics of Canadians aged 15 years and over who experience limitations in their daily activities because of a hearing disability is now available. Here are some key findings:

Over 1.3 million or 5% of Canadians aged 15 years and over have a hearing disability.

Just over one-third of Canadians (35%) with a hearing disability also have a seeing disability.

In 2017, 319,000 Canadians with a hearing disability did not use a hearing aid or cochlear implant but needed them. Of these, 66% said it was because of cost.

The top four aids or assistive devices used by Canadians with a hearing disability are: hearing aid or cochlear implant (30%), closed captioning (14%), telephone-related devices (8%) and visual alarms (7%).

In 2017, 40% of Canadians aged 15 to 44 years with a "more severe" hearing disability used closed captioning or subtitles, compared with 15% of those aged 65 and over.

Almost one-quarter of Canadians (23%) with a hearing disability lip read.

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The infographic "Canadians with a Hearing Disability" is now available online.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

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