Hearing disabilities, 2022
Release date: March 3, 2025
Hearing disabilities, 2022
- In 2022, 5.6% of Canadians aged 15 years and over (or over 1.6 million people) had a hearing disability.Note 1
- Hearing disabilities were more common in older age groups:
- 15 to 24 years: 1.5%
- 25 to 44 years: 2.4%
- 45 to 64 years: 5.4%
- 65 years and over: 13.6%
- The prevalence of hearing disabilities varied by genderNote 2 and age group:
- Women+, 15 to 44 years: 2.6%
- Men+, 15 to 44 years: 1.6%
- Women+, 45 years and over: 7.9%
- Men+, 45 years and over: 9.4%
- 81% of persons with a hearing disability experienced barriers to accessibilityNote 3
- Most common situations where barriers were experienced:
- Using social media or online chat forums to interact with others (42%)
- Using video conferencing (42%)
- 51% of those with a hearing disability used an assistive aid, device or technology
- Most common aids, devices or technologies:
- Hearing aids (65%)
- Closed captioning or subtitles (34%)
- Visual or vibrating alarms or alerts (16%)
- 23% of persons with a hearing disability needed a hearing aid but did not have one
- Of these, 72% cited cost as a reason
Note: The Canadian Survey on Disability covers Canadians aged 15 years and over who experience limitations in their daily activities because of a long-term condition or health-related problem.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2022.
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