Using 2021 Census data on activity limitations, this new report explores types of disability, demographics like ages, gender, immigration status, and further characteristics such as housing, income, education, and employment to gain insights into the Hamilton residents with disabilities.
The findings section of the report starts with an overview of the almost 220,000 persons in Hamilton who reported activity limitations in the 2021 Census (39% of Hamilton residents). Comparing this data to Ontario, Hamilton’s disability rate is slightly higher than Ontario, especially for persons who report always having an activity limitation (15% of Hamilton residents, compared to 13% of Ontario residents).
This report provides insight into a large and diverse population; however, it only provides a partial picture, as individual lives and experiences are aggregated into summary averages. The summary data in this report may be helpful for providing baseline data to use in other research and reports on disability in Hamilton.
The report recommends three major focus area to improve lives of persons with disabilities in Hamilton:
- Centre the voices of people with disabilities.
- Strengthen disability income supports.
- Improve disability data collection.
View the video of the Community Conversation: Disability Demographics in Hamilton held on April 22, 2026
Disability and Demographics:
Profile of Persons with Activity Limitations in Hamilton
Report prepared by:
Financial support from:
City of Hamilton Enrichment Fund
This report was prepared by Sara Mayo, Social Planner
with the support of the SPRC Social Planning Team. For more information, please contact sprc@sprchamilton.ca.
© Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton 2026
Creative Commons License: CC BY-NC
This license enables re-users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for non-commercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.
Executive Summary
Statistics Canada uses the social model of disabilities to report data on persons with disabilities in Canada, and in the Census counts persons who report who reported being “sometimes”, “often” or “always” limited in their daily activities due to a long-term condition or health problem.
Using 2021 Census data on activity limitations, this report explores types of disability, demographics like ages, gender, immigration status, and further characteristics such as housing, income, education, and employment, to gain insights into the Hamilton residents with disabilities.
Census data on activity limitations has many drawbacks for giving information on people with disabilities, for example, the data only counts people living in private, not collective dwellings, and the Census is a household, not an individual survey. The Census questionnaire can be filled out by one household member for all members of the household. This introduces potential errors in data quality, since the household member completing the survey may not be informed as to the exact activity limitations of other household members.
In the future, Statistics Canada should consider other ways to identify this population, for example, existing administrative data linking could be extended to existing data from the CRA’s Disability Tax Credit.
Despite the data quality issues with activity limitation data from the Census, this report publishes this data because it is the only source of data for persons with disability in Hamilton. The data can be used to gain some insights into this population, keeping in mind the considerations that the data gives only a partial picture with caveats on what the data represents.
The findings section of the report starts with an overview of the almost 220,000 persons in Hamilton who reported activity limitations in the 2021 Census (39% of Hamilton residents). Comparing this data to Ontario, Hamilton’s disability rate is slightly higher than that of Ontario, especially for persons who report always having an activity limitation (15% of Hamilton residents, compared to 13% of Ontario residents).
The two most common activity limitation types in Hamilton are mental health related (18% within the entire Hamilton population), and the other category for a health problem or long term condition that has lasted or is expected to last six months or more (17% of Hamilton residents). Women report higher rates of activity limitations than men in Hamilton (42% vs. 36%), and rates generally rise with increasing age.
Housing insecurity and affordability challenges are greater for people with disabilities than the average for the city. Persons who report always having an activity limitation are more likely to be renters living in non-subsidized units compared to Ontario (33% vs. 28%). Non-subsidized rental units have a higher risk of landlords using tactics to get tenants to leave their unit, due to higher rents that the landlord may be able to charge to new tenants, compared to existing tenants’ rent, and the Residential Tenancies Act’s lack of rent control between tenancies. An extrapolation of this data shows that there are approximately 4,331 additional households with activity limitations living in non-subsidized rental units in Hamilton compared to the provincial average. This means almost 5,000 more households may be at higher risk of eviction than would be expected if Hamilton had the same rates as the Ontario average.
These factors are contributing to Hamilton currently experiencing a homelessness crisis that is exacerbated by low social assistance rates, including ODSP, and the high numbers of people with disabilities being evicted from their housing. A recent SPRC report, Linking Social Assistance Rates and Homelessness in Hamilton, showed that on average in the last 5 year period from 2020 to 2024, 17% of people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton receive ODSP, but this has risen to 24% in January 2025. The number of homeless residents on ODSP in Hamilton has risen from 246 ODSP recipients in January 2024, to 413 in June 2025, a 68% increase in just 18 months. The increase in Hamilton is much higher than in neighbouring communities. The City of Hamilton has responded to the rising number of evictions in Hamilton by enacting a Tenant Support Program, and a Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law, with the goal of reducing bad faith evictions and protecting tenants through new requirements for landlords who want to complete renovations where vacant possession of a unit is required. This bylaw has reduced “renovictions” substantially in its first year.
Persons with disabilities have substantially lower incomes than those without disabilities. In Hamilton, the income gap between residents with activity limitations and those without is over $9,300, and over $5,000 compared to the general population. These disparities stem from multiple factors, including lower employment rates and greater reliance on part‑time work, lower educational attainment, and differences in occupational and industry representation. These differences, in turn, are driven by discrimination and a lack of support for persons with disabilities in education and in the labour market. These barriers often prevent many from working at all.
A significant portion of residents with disabilities rely on Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits, which remain far below the poverty line. Individuals living in residential care facilities face even deeper poverty, receiving only a $149 monthly Personal Needs Allowance, far below the cost of basic necessities.
As a result, poverty rates for persons with disabilities are 50% higher (13.5%) than for those without activity limitations (9%).
Activity limitation rates differ across demographic groups, showing that non‑immigrants have the highest rate of activity limitations (40%), and that recent immigrants (2011–2021) have the lowest activity limitation rate (22%). Lower disability rates among recent immigrants reflect Canada’s immigration policies, which tend to exclude individuals with medical conditions or disabilities. Over time, the Healthy Immigrant Effect diminishes, and disability rates among immigrants converge toward those of non‑immigrants. Cultural differences in self‑perception and reporting of limitations may also influence these observed patterns.
The report highlights that people with disabilities in Hamilton face systemic barriers that limit their full participation in community life. Addressing these inequities requires coordinated action across policy, service, and program areas, with a strong focus on accessibility, income security, housing, and employment. Building on earlier research and long-standing advocacy from disability organizations across Ontario, the report puts forward three key recommendations:
1. Centre the voices of people with disabilities.
Governments and service providers should actively listen to and act upon the lived experiences and priorities identified by persons with disabilities and their advocacy organizations.
2. Strengthen disability income supports.
Ontario should adopt the ODSP Action Coalition’s call to double social assistance rates, including OW and ODSP rates and the Personal Needs Allowance, while federal policymakers should increase the Canada Disability Benefit to provide meaningful poverty reduction.
3. Improve disability data collection.
Statistics Canada should enhance data quality by:
- Linking Census data with administrative sources, such as the Disability Tax Credit.
- Increasing the sample size of the Canadian Disability Survey to allow for local-level reporting of data from the survey.
- Developing solutions to properly include people with disabilities living in collective dwellings in all relevant surveys.
Introduction
In the Canadian Disability Survey, Statistics Canada explains the social model of disabilities:
The premise of the social model is that disability is the result of the interaction between a person’s functional limitations and barriers in the environment, including social and physical barriers that make it harder to function day-to-day. Thus, disability is a social disadvantage that an unsupportive environment imposes on top of an individual’s impairment.
Statistics Canada’s definition of disability includes anyone who reported being “sometimes”, “often” or “always” limited in their daily activities due to a long-term condition or health problem.
This report uses these definitions to investigate broad trends of the population of persons with disabilities in Hamilton.
Using 2021 Census data on activity limitations, this report explores types of disability, demographics like ages, gender, immigration status, and further characteristics such as housing, income, education, and employment.
This report provides insight into a large and diverse population; however, it only provides a partial picture, as individual lives and experiences are aggregated into summary averages. The summary data in this report may be helpful in providing baseline data to use in other research and reports on disability in Hamilton.
Other important sources of information and perspectives on persons with disabilities in Hamilton are the reports, meetings and events of the Accessibility Committee for Persons with Disabilities of the City of Hamilton (ACPD), Accessibility Hamilton Alliance (AHA), and the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO), among others.
Data and methods
The data in this report is from the 2021 Census. The census is conducted every five years, with a short form survey given to all households and a long form survey given to 1 in 5 (20%) private households, randomly selected.
“Private households” is a key characteristic that affects disability data, because many people with disabilities live in “collective households”, such as residential care facilities, nursing homes, group homes for persons with developmental disabilities, and many other homes with staff on site. This puts these homes in the “collective” category, and therefore not eligible to complete detailed data in the long form survey. Researcher at Carleton University, Kendal David, has written that along with the Census, Statistics Canada’s “Canadian Survey on Disability has excluded institutionalized people and anyone living in congregate settings since 1991, erasing them from contemporary federal disability poverty statistics and policy analyses.”
For those private households that receive the Census long form survey, they will be asked to answer questions about activity limitations. The way the survey is carried out, however, is that it can be filled out by one household member for all members of the household. This introduces potential errors in data quality, since the household member completing the survey may not be informed as to the exact activity limitations of other household members, if they don’t take the time to ask each household member, or get each person to complete that part of the survey individually.
Prior to 2021, long form Census questionnaires asked only one question about disability: “Does this person have limitations in their daily activities: Always, Often, Sometimes, or Never.”
In the 2021 Census, additional questions were added so that people could provide answers for five different activity limitation types: vision, hearing, physical (such as walking, or using hands or fingers), cognitive (including learning, memory or attention), and mental health, along with a sixth “Other” category, as seen in Figure 1. Because of the change in the 2021 Census activity limitation questions, it is not possible to compare 2021 data to previous Census data.
Figure 1. Survey questions related to disability in the 2021 Census, Statistics Canada. These questions are to be answered for each household member.
Activities of daily living
The following question is about difficulties a person may have doing certain activities. Only difficulties or long-term conditions that have lasted or are expected to last for six months or more should be considered.
18. a) Does this person have any difficulty seeing (even when wearing glasses or contact lenses)?
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
18. b) Does this person have any difficulty hearing (even when using a hearing aid)?
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
18. c) Does this person have any difficulty walking, using stairs, using their hands or fingers or doing other physical activities?
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
18. d) Does this person have any difficulty learning, remembering or concentrating?
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
18. e) Does this person have any emotional, psychological or mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anorexia, etc.)?
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
18. f) Does this person have any other health problem or long-term condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more?
Exclude: any health problems previously reported in questions 18. a) to 18. e) above.
No
Sometimes
Often
Always
Statistics Canada uses this answer to then contact a random sample of respondents who reported they had activity limitations in the Census, to then contact them and ask them to be part of the Canadian Disability Survey (CDS). This is a longer, more detailed survey, but it has a smaller sample size than the Census, limiting the availability of data at the local level. For the City of Hamilton, there are no CDS data available, so Census data instead is used for local insights into disability.
Data quality and accuracy limitations
As mentioned in the previous section, one major accuracy concern is that the census is a household survey, and it is possible for one household member to be completing the survey on behalf of other household members, even if they don’t have accurate information about their housemates or family members’ activity limitations.
There are many other ways that data accuracy may be compromised, for example:
- Aging as a natural life course event, with related reductions in activities, may bring different standards in people’s perceptions of what is an activity limitation.
- Different people will “normalize” or “minimize” their limitations, whereas someone else with the same limitation might not. For example, some may say, “I’ve adapted to it, so it’s not an issue”.
- Difficulty vs. activity limitation: “I have difficulty, but not sure it counts as a limitation.”
- Question about activity limitation is very broad and may capture many people who have some limitations in daily life, but may not consider themselves to be disabled, and would have answered no if asked “are you a person with a disability”
- Always, Often, Sometimes are not defined and are subjective, and therefore may be interpreted differently by each person. For example, in the case of conditions that are managed by medication, someone may say, “Because I take medication every day, my condition doesn’t limit me, due to the treatment being effective”. Another person with the same condition taking medication might say, “This condition always limits me, because I have to remember to take medication and deal with medication side effects every day.”
Future data collection paths for more meaningful data on persons with disabilities
The many issues with the question used in the census, and how census data may be provided by a different person than the person with a disability themselves, make census data on this population have significant limitations.
In the future, Statistics Canada should consider other ways to identify this population. For example, Census data is linked through an administrative and anonymized process to CRA tax files, and that feature could be leveraged for better data. The CRA’s Disability Tax Credit (DTC) is a recent feature of the tax code, and as more people with disabilities register for a DTC, Statistics Canada could link the DTC to census data to provide profile data of persons with a DTC.
The DTC has a narrow definition of disability, so it would be a much smaller group than the current data on persons with activity limitations. But DTC data would provide insights into persons who are most significantly impacted by their disability or condition.
How to use the data in this report
Despite the above noted data quality issues with activity limitation data from the Census, this report publishes this data because it is the only source of data for persons with disabilities in Hamilton. The data can be used to gain some insights into this population, keeping in mind the considerations that the data gives only a partial picture with caveats on what the data represents. When using this data in other reports or grant proposals, a summary of data quality concerns should also be included, such as “This data on persons with disabilities uses Census data on activity limitations. Because the Census is a general household survey, not designed for capturing individual disability data in all its complexities, among other concerns, the data provided has some limitations. The data can be used for general trends, but individual data points may not be reliable for specific population characteristics.”
Overview of disability population in Hamilton
In the 2021 census, just under 220,000 residents of the City of Hamilton reported activity limitations (figure 2). This represents 39% of the Hamilton population.
Within this group, if we compare persons by the reported frequency of their activity limitation, the largest group (46% of persons with activity limitations) is people who reported these limitations were present sometimes (which may reflect episodic disabilities), with just under 100,000 persons in the sometimes group. Just over 85,000 persons reported always having activity limitations (39% of persons with activity limitations). The remainder, almost 34,000 persons (16%), reported having activity limitations often.
Figure 2. Persons reporting activity limitations, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Figure 3 compares activity limitation rates between the City of Hamilton and Ontario. Hamilton has a slightly larger proportion of the population with activity limitations (39%), compared to Ontario (36%). These differences may be due to historically more accessible and affordable housing available in Hamilton. For example, Hamilton has a large number of apartment towers built in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, which historically had relatively affordable rents compared to larger cities in Ontario. Some persons with physical disabilities may have moved to Hamilton from other cities to live in multi-residential buildings with elevators to meet their minimum needs for accessible housing.
The SPRC report Hamilton’s Social Landscape also pointed to Hamilton’s historical employment sources as another force that explains some of the differences with the Ontario average of persons with activity limitations:
“Another factor influencing the higher disability rate in Hamilton may be the traditional industrial and manufacturing employment base in this city. The types of jobs in these industries have higher rates of workplace injuries and longer term negative health effects, which lead to disability for many workers. Among the set of comparable cities in this report, Windsor, another city with a large manufacturing employment base also has a higher than average disability rate. Again, further investigation is needed to better understand if this factor is a significant explanation for the disability trends.”
Figure 3. Persons reporting activity limitations, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Examining this population by type of activity limitation (Figure 4), mental health related limitations were the most common, at 47% of respondents. The next most common type of activity limitations was Other at 43%, followed by Cognitive limitations at 35%, and Physical limitations at 37% of respondents. Seeing and Hearing limitations were reported by 31% and 21% of respondents, respectively.
Figure 4. Types of activity limitations, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Age and gender demographics
gender analysis of the population with activity limitations (Figure 5) shows that women and girls have a higher disability rate than men and boys. (The population in this chart includes all ages, both adults and children.) While the 2021 Census was the first census to collect gender data on persons who identify as non-binary, Statistics Canada explains that “given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, individuals in the category ‘non-binary persons’ are distributed into the other two gender categories.”
Figure 5 also shows the differences in rates of activity limitations between Ontario and the City of Hamilton, with Hamilton having a slightly higher rate than Ontario.
A breakdown of activity limitations by type and gender in Hamilton (figure 6) shows that females have higher rates of mental health related, physical, and seeing activity limitations. Males have higher rates of cognitive and hearing activity limitations.
Figure 6. Types of activity limitations, by gender, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
The analysis by age group of disability rates shows that the general trend is that disability rates increase over the life course (Figure 7), in Hamilton, growing from 7% of children with activity limitations to 100% of persons aged 100 and older reporting activity limitations.
Comparing Hamilton and Ontario disability rates by age, the largest differences are in the early adulthood groups. Among the 30-34 age group, 37% report activity limitations in Hamilton, compared to 31% in Ontario for this age group, the largest difference seen in this chart.
A summary of the Hamilton data from figure 7 into major age groups and showing total population instead of proportions is displayed in figure 8. The largest major age group of persons with activity limitations is seniors aged 65 and over, with over 61,000 Hamilton residents in 2021. The smallest major age group is young children aged 0-9 years, but it is still a significant population, at over 7,000 children. While the older adult group is the smallest of the adult age groups, it also only includes a range of 10 years (aged 55 to 64), while the other adult age groups have more years included.
Figure 9 shows the major age group breakdown for hearing, physical and seeing activity limitations among Hamilton residents. The patterns are similar between the categories, with a trend of greater disability with increasing age, starting with very low rates in childhood (1-2% range), progressively increasing to 26% of seniors having a hearing disability, 41% having a physical disability, and 21% having a seeing disability.
Figure 9. Body-related activity limitations, by major age groups, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Figure 10 shows the major age group breakdown for cognitive and mental health related activity limitations among Hamilton residents. The patterns are different compared to the previous body-related activity limitations from Figure 8.
Cognitive disability rates are fairly close for most major age groups, ranging from 8% of Hamilton children aged 0-9 years having a cognitive limitation to 14% among older adults aged 55 to 64. The rate among seniors aged 65 and over is significantly higher at 24%, reflecting a higher likelihood of dementia in that age group. Other cognitive-related disabilities that may be included in this data in all age groups include some developmental disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and learning and concentration disabilities such as ADHD. (Some respondents with Autism Spectrum Disorder may also have reported limitations in this category, or may have selected the Other category, since there is no specific category for either developmental or communication disabilities).
Mental health related disability rates are highest in the young adult age group (20-34 years) at 26% among this age group, with the next highest group being adults aged 35-54, with 22% in that age group reporting mental health related limitations. Mental health related conditions is a large category, with this census question specifying “emotional, psychological or mental health conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, anorexia, etc.)”.
Figure 10. Mind-related activity limitations, by major age groups, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
The final disability category in this series of charts is the Other category, which is specified in the census question to be “any other health problem or long-term condition that has lasted or is expected to last for six months or more?” Figure 11 shows that this category shows a similar trend as the body-related categories in Figure 9, with the lowest rates among young children at 4%, increasing with each older age group up to seniors reporting 34% rate of other disabilities. This category may reflect many aging-related disabilities, such as incontinence, feeding and swallowing difficulties, erectile dysfunction, and other sexual limitations, or conditions such as diabetes or cardiac issues that may not fit in the first five categories.
Figure 11. Other activity limitations, by major age groups, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Housing
The Canadian Centre for Housing Rights explains the significance of housing for persons with disabilities:
Housing challenges in Canada are widely recognized as an issue for which all levels of government are responsible. The country-wide affordable housing shortage has an even greater impact on disabled people, who require a more specific type of housing, whether physically accessible, supportive, or simply affordable for those who rely on disability-support payments as their main source of income.
Housing is a fundamental human right, yet for millions of disabled people in Ontario, this right is still out of reach. Rising disability rates, limited accessibility, and ongoing affordability challenges make the need for adequate, affordable, and accessible housing more urgent than ever.
To examine housing challenges for Hamilton residents with disabilities, Core Housing Need is one measure included in this section. CMHC and Statistics Canada define Core Housing Need as:
A private household’s housing falls below at least one of the indicator thresholds for housing adequacy, affordability or suitability, and would have to spend 30% or more of its total before tax income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (attains all three housing indicator thresholds).
The three components of core housing need are:
- Adequacy (no major repairs needed): Adequate housing is reported by their residents as not requiring any major repairs.
- Affordability: Affordable housing has shelter costs equal to less than 30% of total before tax household income.
- Suitability (not overcrowded): Suitable housing has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of resident households according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS), conceived by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and provincial and territorial representatives.
To shed light on housing issues for persons with disabilities in Hamilton, census data from private households is presented in this section. To classify a household by disability status, Statistics Canada, the long form census asks who is the “primary household maintainer” (if more than one person is listed, the first person is designated as the primary household maintainer), then if the primary household maintainer reports an activity limitation, the household is assigned to the activity limitation category. This means that many households with other household members with activity limitations would not be included in this data, so the data does not capture all households with members who have disabilities.
Figure 12 shows that 34% of private households in Hamilton with a primary household maintainer reporting an activity limitation meet at least one of the criteria for core housing need, compared to 31% without activity limitations. A breakdown by the frequency of activity limitations shows that if the household maintainer reports always having the activity limitation, the rate of meeting at least one of the criteria for core housing need rises to 37%.
This indicates that Hamilton residents with disabilities, especially those who have persistent disabilities, are more likely to have housing challenges with affordability, state of repair and/or overcrowding.
To further examine housing insecurity, Figure 13 shows the breakdown of housing types by ownership, subsidized and non-subsidized rentals, and activity limitations of the primary household maintainer.
While housing insecurity can affect any household regardless of tenure, the risk of being evicted is highest in non-subsidized rental housing. Subsidized rental housing and ownership housing both offer a higher degree of housing security. Comparatively, living in a non-subsidized rental unit brings a higher risk of the landlord using tactics to get tenants to leave their unit. That is due to the lack of any regulation of rents between tenancies in Ontario’s Rental Tenancies Act, which creates a perverse incentive for landlords to find a new tenant and raise the rent, instead of prioritizing long-term, stable tenants.
In Hamilton, households with activity limitations are more likely to live in non-subsidized rental units (32%), compared to the general population in Hamilton living in non-subsidized rental units (30%), as seen in Figure 13. These proportions are higher than the average in Ontario, where 27% of both households with activity limitations and the overall population live in non-subsidized units.
The differences grow larger for households where the primary household maintainer reports always having activity limitations. One third (33%) of these households live in non-subsidized rental housing, compared to the provincial average of 28% for this group (Figure 13).
An analysis to extrapolate from the data in Figure 13 is presented in Figure 14. It shows that there are approximately 4,331 additional households with activity limitations living in non-subsidized rental units in Hamilton compared to the provincial average. This means almost 5,000 more households may be at higher risk of eviction than would be expected if Hamilton has same rates as the Ontario average.
Figure 14. Number of private households in non-subsidized rental units, and activity limitation frequency of primary household maintainer, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada
The combination of having a disability and living in non-subsidized rental housing with housing insecurity is stressful and creates additional mental health challenges. For those households with disabilities who actually experience an eviction, the experience can be life-changing, even life-threatening for many. Having a disability makes finding an accessible and appropriate unit critical, yet those units are out of reach for most due to a lack of supply. And after living in a rent-controlled unit for many years, it is not possible to find similarly priced units available for rent, and prices may be double or even triple what a tenant was paying. This rental housing crisis leads to homelessness for many people with disabilities in Hamilton, with shelter providers reporting they are seeing older people seeking shelter more often, and with health and frailty challenges that emergency shelters are not equipped to manage.
These factors are contributing to Hamilton currently experiencing a homelessness crisis that is exacerbated by low social assistance rates, including ODSP, and the high numbers of people with disabilities being evicted from their housing. A recent SPRC report, Linking Social Assistance Rates and Homelessness in Hamilton, showed that on average in the last 5-year period from 2020 to 2024, 17% of people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton receive ODSP, but this has risen to 24% in January 2025 (Figure 15).
Figure 15. ODSP beneficiaries experiencing homelessness as a percentage of total people actively homeless in Hamilton, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and City of Hamilton
Figure 16 explores how many people on ODSP are experiencing homelessness in Hamilton, compared to nearby communities. This data shows housing insecurity for ODSP recipients in Hamilton has been highest in these southern Ontario communities, and that Hamilton’s homelessness crisis for disabled residents on social assistance has grown tremendously in 2024 and 2025. The number of homeless residents on ODSP in Hamilton has risen from 246 ODSP recipients in January 2024 to 413 in June 2025, a 68% increase in just 18 months.
Figure 16. ODSP beneficiaries experiencing homelessness in Hamilton and nearby communities, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services
Recently, the City of Hamilton has acted to work within the limits of the provincial Residential Tenancies Act to try to reduce the risk of eviction of vulnerable tenants by enacting a Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law. The by-law’s goal is to reduce bad-faith evictions and protect tenants through new requirements for landlords who want to complete renovations where vacant possession of a unit is required. Previously, this type of eviction was growing, and many low-income tenants protected by rent control were evicted with this loophole in the Residential Tenancies Act. In addition, the City’s Tenant Support Program and Tenant Defence Fund help support tenants at risk of eviction.
In the first year of the City’s “renoviction” bylaw, there was a substantial drop in the N-13 “renoviction” applications: 23 in 2025 compared to the average of 64 N-13 notices in Hamilton from 2018 to 2024. The next data to track will be whether there is any impact on the number of people who are homeless in Hamilton, with a special focus on updates to the data in Figures 15 and 16, which the SPRC will be doing to shed further light on ODSP recipients experiencing homelessness.
Income
Persons with disabilities have lower income on average than the overall population. As seen in Figure 17, in Hamilton, the gap between persons with and without activity limitations (persons 15 and over with income) was just over $9,300 and between persons with activity limitations and the general population, the gap was just over $5,000. The gaps are larger among men than women.
Some of the factors that cause these differences will be explored in the following sections, including lower employment rates, higher rates of part-time employment, and differences in occupations and industries. On the other hand, discrimination against disabilities in the labour market is a major driver causing the gaps, but it cannot be quantified, as it is a pervasive but largely undocumented force, despite its significant impact.
Figure 17. Average total income in 2019 of persons aged 15 years and older (among persons who had income only), persons with activity limitations and overall population, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Another cause of lower income among persons with disabilities is that many people with disabilities cannot work due to their activity limitations, and can only access the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) for income support. As documented in the 2024 SPRC report and Figure 18, Indecent Social Assistance in Hamilton and Ontario, ODSP rates are well below the poverty line. Figure 18 also shows the paltry “Personal Needs Allowance” monthly income of only $149 for persons with disabilities who live in residential care facilities and similar types of supportive housing, who are not eligible for full ODSP rates. (More information is provided in the 2025 SPRC report, A Province That Forgot: The Case for transforming Ontario’s Personal Needs Allowance to bring dignity to Residential Care Facility tenants in Hamilton and beyond.)
These low social assistance rates and the challenges in the labour market for persons with disabilities, in turn, drive higher poverty rates (Figure 19). The poverty rates are 50% higher among persons with activity limitations (13.5%), compared to people without activity limitations (9%). The differences persist by gender, but among all groups (with and without activity limitations), males have slightly lower poverty rates than females.
Figure 19. Low income measure (LIM) poverty rates (after tax), City of Hamilton, 2021 Census, Statistics Canada
Education
Data by highest educational attainment for the Hamilton population aged 25 to 64 years (Figure 20) shows that the general trend of women having higher educational attainment than men is present both in the population with activity limitations and the overall city population. The population with activity limitations, in both genders, has higher rates of no certificate, high school certificate only, or trades/apprenticeship certificate, compared to the overall population. At the other end of the educational spectrum, bachelor’s or higher degrees, the population with activity limitations has lower rates than the overall population. The rates are nearly equal for attaining college certificates/diplomas among persons with activity limitations and the overall population.
These data point to the need for more support for people with disabilities to enter and complete post-secondary education, to eliminate these educational disparities.
Figure 20. Proportion of highest education attainment, persons aged 25 to 64 years, with population with activity limitations, and overall population, City of Hamilton and Ontario, 2021 Census
Employment
Due to multiple barriers in the labour market for people with disabilities, employment data show that persons with activity limitations have lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates (Figure 21). Persons with disabilities who are working are also more likely to have higher rates of working part-time, compared to the overall population, although total weeks worked are very similar in both groups.
The gender differences in employment data are similar between persons with disabilities and the overall city population, with men having higher employment rates, and higher rates of working full-time, and women having higher rates of working part-time.
Figure 21. Labour market indicators, persons aged 15 and older, with population with activity limitations, and overall population, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Figures 22 and 23 illustrate the portion of workers with disabilities within major occupation and industry categories. Art, culture, recreation and sport is the most significant occupation category, and real estate and rental and leasing is the most significant industry with the rates of workers with disabilities at 42% and 41%, respectively. The categories with the lowest rates of persons with disabilities are natural and applied sciences and related occupations (31%), and utilities industry (28%).
Figure 22. Proportion of workers with disabilities, persons aged 15 and older, by broad category – National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Figure 23. Proportion of workers with disabilities by industries, persons aged 15 and older, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Selected demographic groups
Figure 24 compares rates of activity limitations among Hamilton’s population overall, non-immigrants only, immigrants of any period, recent immigrants from 2011 to 2021 only, and racialized persons (visible minorities, regardless of immigration status). Among these groups, the highest rate of disability is among non-immigrants, at 40%. Recent immigrants have the lowest rates at 22%.
This difference may be largely due to the major criteria in Canada’s immigration system that excludes most persons with medical conditions or disabilities from immigrating to Canada.
Over time, however, the “Healthy Immigrant Effect” leads to immigrants having disability rates closer to the non-immigrant population. The Healthy Immigrant Effect is defined by Statistics Canada as the phenomenon that finds immigrants to be healthier than the Canadian-born population at their time of arrival, but observes that this health advantage, possibly due to difficulties in adjusting to a new environment, stress and/or adoption of risky health behaviours, diminishes over time.
Another factor that may account for some of the differences seen in Figure 24 is how different groups of people may define what an activity limitation is. There could, for example, be cultural differences in what is considered limiting. What people from one cultural background list as a limitation may be considered by people from a different background as just “normal life,” and they may be less likely to report some types of activity limitations.
Figure 24. Rates of persons with activity limitations (living in private households), by selected demographic groups, City of Hamilton, 2021 Census
Recommendations
This report demonstrates that residents with disabilities in Hamilton face multiple, intersecting barriers that are systemic in nature. Addressing these inequities will require coordinated action across policy areas, programs, and community services.
Reducing barriers, improving accessibility, and strengthening income, housing, and employment supports are essential steps toward ensuring that people with disabilities can fully participate in community life.
The following three recommendations build upon earlier reports and the calls to action from many disability advocacy organizations across Ontario:
- Put people with disabilities first: Listen and act on the voices and experiences of persons with disabilities and their advocacy organizations to understand needs and experiences and implement policy and program changes they call for.
- Increase disability income supports: Implement the ODSP Action Coalitions and supporting organizations’ call for a doubling of social assistance rates, including Ontario Disability Support Program, Ontario Works, and the Personal Needs Allowance rates, along with increases to the Canada Disability Benefit.
- Improvements to future data collection: Statistics Canada should link Census data with administrative sources like the Disability Tax Credit to strengthen the information available. The sample size of the Canadian Disability Survey should also be increased to allow data to be available at local levels of geography. Finally, technical and policy solutions should be implemented for people with disabilities living in collective dwellings to be included in surveys and disability data.
Conclusion
The 2021 Census provides the most comprehensive available dataset for understanding the population of Hamilton residents with disabilities, although the data has significant limitations due to the way it is collected, who is included, and what questions are asked. Notwithstanding these limitations, the analysis throughout this report demonstrates that disability—defined through the social model as the interaction between a person’s impairments and the barriers within their environment—affects a significant portion of Hamilton’s population. The sheer size and diversity of this population underscores that disability is not confined to a narrow subset of residents, but is instead embedded across all ages, genders, immigration statuses, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Households led by someone with an activity limitation are more likely to face core housing need and to live in non‑subsidized rental housing, where the risk of eviction is highest. These housing challenges occur alongside lower incomes, reduced access to full-time employment, and inadequate social assistance incomes for those who cannot work, creating conditions that can lead to heightened stress and often to homelessness.
Educational and labour market patterns also illustrate ongoing systemic barriers. Residents with activity limitations have lower rates of higher educational attainment, higher unemployment, and different occupational distributions than the overall population. These outcomes are shaped by longstanding barriers in education, training opportunities, and workplace discrimination and inclusion.
This report recognizes the constraints of disability data from the Census. The exclusion of people in congregate settings, reliance on household reporting, and wording of questions mean that many people’s experiences are excluded from this data. Despite these limitations, the Census remains the only detailed source of local disability data, and it can support planning, policy development, funding proposals, and further research.
This report offers a foundation for ongoing work to make Hamilton a more equitable, inclusive, and supportive city for all residents.