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Executive SummaryA Government of
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“We want a -Speech from the Throne, |
Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities 2004 is the Government of Canada’s second comprehensive progress report on disability in
To help answer these questions, Advancing Inclusion 2004 presents information about Canadians with disabilities, their families, the challenges they face in fully participating in Canadian society, and Government of Canada policies, programs and initiatives that address these challenges.
The first federal report on disability, Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities 2002,[1] introduced an “accountability framework” - the first attempt at a framework that would allow Canadians to assess these questions. The 2002 framework identified important aspects of inclusion, provided indicators to measure those aspects and linked Government of Canada actions to the indicators.
To improve the 2002 framework, the Government asked a range of interested parties, including 30 federal departments and agencies as well as 23 national disability organizations and Aboriginal groups, for their suggestions. Thanks to responses from them and others over the past two years, Advancing Inclusion 2004 has been able to build on the groundwork of the first report to present an improved accountability framework.
The new framework is built around six aspects of inclusion, or outcome areas (see Figure 1):
These six outcome areas are understood by governments and the disability community to represent key aspects, or building blocks, of full inclusion. Not everyone needs equal support in all of the areas. But inclusion is most likely when the experiences of Canadians with disabilities in these areas are similar to the experiences of other Canadians.
Disability Supports Health and Well-being Skills Development and Learning Inclusion Capacity of Disability Community Employment Income |
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For each outcome area there is a set of indicators of progress. Indicators are measures that governments use to identify issues, monitor progress and report to citizens. This report uses 29 indicators of progress (see Figure 2). Most of the indicators presented in the 2002 report are still here, and some new ones have been added.
This report also continues the approach used in 2002 of incorporating unique information about Aboriginal people with disabilities into each chapter.
Figure 2 Indicators of progress Disability supports
Skills development and learning
Employment
Income
Capacity of the disability community2
Health and well-being3
* A new indicator since the 2002 report. |
In December 2003 the Government of Canada and provincial governments endorsed the Multilateral Framework for Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities.[2] Advancing Inclusion 2004 is designed to meet the Government’s reporting commitments under this new initiative.
Advancing Inclusion 2004 addresses a range of issues so that it can broadly assess
Disability is part of the human experience. One in eight Canadians has a disability - a total of 3.6 million people. For
Three quarters of Canadians without disabilities know someone with a disability, most often a family member or friend. As well, an estimated 2.8 million Canadians provide support to a family member or friend with a long-term health condition or disability.
There are many types of disability, and many Canadians have more than one type. Disabilities related to mobility, agility and pain are the most common types in
Disability can affect us at any point in our lives. Some people are born with disabilities, while others experience them later in life because of accidents, illness or disease. In
More than 80% of Canadians believe there has been some progress in including people with disabilities in Canadian society over the past decade. Yet only one in ten believes these individuals are fully included today. Canadians feel that people with disabilities should have the opportunity to participate in life to their fullest potential-that this is part of the “Canadian way” of doing things. Most feel that while the solutions might be expensive, they are necessary and the social benefit is worth it.
For us to better understand disability in
Disability supports are products and services that help people with disabilities carry out activities of daily life. Having access to needed disability supports in ways that enable people to make choices, pursue their own life paths, and secure citizenship is the foundation for full participation at home, school and work, and in the community.
Many supports are directly for individuals with disabilities, but others assist family members. Accessible environments such as public buildings, transportation systems and information media are also essential for people with disabilities to be included in everyday life.
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Skills development and learning opens many doors. It gives us more opportunities to be employed, to earn a good income and to gain a high standard of living for ourselves and our families. Like all Canadians, people with disabilities want and need the chance to learn, develop their skills to the fullest potential and make use of their talents and ideas. Canadians with disabilities want to participate in society as lifelong learners, but the evidence suggests that they still face barriers in this area.
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Governments and the disability community agree-finding a good job is key to the quality of life and financial well-being of people with disabilities. Employment among Canadians with disabilities has shown modest improvement in recent years. But
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Having enough income to meet their needs and to be active in their community is essential to the well-being and inclusion of people with disabilities. The income available to individuals with disabilities is affected by a number of interrelated factors, such as the ability to earn income through employment, the adequacy of income support programs and the cost and availability of disability supports.
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Individuals, organizations and communities all play an important part in advancing the inclusion of persons with disabilities in
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Health is more than the absence of disease - it is the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual capacity to live fully. Many factors, including human biology, the health care system, individual behaviour and social and economic conditions, can affect health. The Government of Canada, following a “population health” approach, takes this full range of factors into account in its decisions and actions to protect and improve Canadians’ health. People with disabilities share the same desire for health and well-being as other Canadians. However, evidence shows that they face many disadvantages in this area.
Key Findings
Government Action-Examples
Expenditures
Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities 2004 focuses mainly on inclusion and the results of Government of Canada programs. However, for a more complete picture, it is also important to look at the Government’s total disability-related expenditures. Figure 3 shows a breakdown of the roughly $7.5 billion the Government spent on disability in 2003-04. This breakdown reflects the cumulative effect of spending decisions over the past number of years.
Coming up with a single number for the Government of Canada’s disability-related spending is difficult. That is mostly because certain expenditures that may assist people with disabilities are not exclusively designed to do so. Government expenditures can be grouped into three categories: (1) measures that exclusively target people with disabilities and their families, (2) measures that have a significant disability-related component and (3) measures for the general population.[5]
Income support expenditures have long been the cornerstone of the Government of Canada’s support for persons with disabilities. For the past four decades the Government has administered the country’s largest earnings replacement program, the Canada Pension Plan’s disability component. As well, recognizing its unique responsibility toward veterans with disabilities, the Government has historically contributed to income support for this group. Spending on the Veterans Disability Pension Program has risen in recent years, from over $1.3 billion in 2001-2002 to over $1.5 billion in 2003-2004.
Besides income support measures, the Government has recently introduced or improved tax relief and tax benefits to recognize that people with disabilities and their caregivers face extra expenses. Since 1996 the Government of Canada’s investment in tax measures has doubled.
Other programs have become spending priorities as well. Programs that encourage skills development and employment, such as those under the Multilateral Framework for Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities, have seen added investments. So have programs related to disability supports, such as the Veterans Independence Program and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s renovation programs.
Income support: $ 5,499 Tax measures: $1,345 Other programs: $ 626 |
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Conclusion
The Government of Canada believes that the information in Advancing Inclusion 2004 represents a considerable step forward in assessing
Advancing Inclusion 2004 shows evidence of limited improvement in some areas such as employment, and difficulty in others such as community capacity. This mixed assessment may be due to the complex and varied nature of disability itself and the many avenues we must take to achieve full inclusion. Nonetheless, the Government of Canada will continue to work with its many partners, both to reach the goal of full inclusion of persons with disabilities in
As this report has shown, many Government of Canada departments and agencies have programs and services for persons with disabilities. The departments and agencies listed below directly contributed information to this report and assisted with reviews and comments. Their participation is gratefully acknowledged.
[1] Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities 2002 is available on the Office for Disability Issues website: http://www.sdc.gc.ca/en/gateways/topics/pyp-pup.shtml.
[2] Under the Multilateral Framework, federal and provincial governments agreed to release public reports on December 3 each year. While the
[3] The 2004 federal budget provided funding for another PALS following the 2006 census. Comparing PALS 2006 findings with those from PALS 2001 will make it possible to monitor progress on disability issues.
[4] The $25 million set aside for 2003-04 has been carried over and spread out over future years.
[5] When estimating total expenditures, measures in the first category can be entirely included and those in the third category are excluded. However, it is often difficult to determine what amounts to include from measures in the second category. In order to provide a basis for comparison, this report follows the same approach as that adopted in the 2002 edition of Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. (See the full report for more details).
Last modified : 2004-12-02 | top | Important Notices |