I've often wondered how many people with disabilities there really are in Nova Scotia. Always the numbers come from self-identification - the census and various surveys. They never are independently verified, so having a disability could range from quadriplegia to having a bad back. From being mildly dyslexic to being blind. From depressed to institutionalized.
Dalhousie does an employee census, 1700 responses. 5.6% with a disability. That's 95 people. The province does a similar exercise. They report their labour force of 11,000 is 9.2% persons with disabilities - 1,012. HRM has had a Diversity Office for several years, but has not produced a report, claiming privacy concerns.
Statistics Canada says 18.8% of Nova Scotians are people with disabilities. That's roughly 200,000 people.
As far as I know, the only independent assessment of just who is a person with a disability is done by the Canada Revenue Agency. In order to receive a Disability Tax Credit of $8,000 or so, a doctor's signature is needed.
The DTC makes one eligible for a Registered Disability Savings Program. Buried deep in a 2015 report on RDSPs are some revealing numbers:
123,020 Canadians have an RDSP
The average value is $21,444
There are 443,241 eligible Canadians age 0 to 50 (people with a DTC)
So the uptake is 24.3%
In Nova Scotia
3,332 have RDSPs
Average value $17,644
19,040 Eligible
17.5% uptake
19,040 is about a tenth of the 200,000 number we usually use, but my reading of it is that it's the actual number of those receiving a DTC, and therefore quite a realistic number.
$17,644 net worth puts a person somewhere in the second quintile of Canadians, a fact lost on many in the business community. When it comes time to cash out, there are certain advantages to a RDSP, making each dollar go further.
The 19,040 number is probably low, as not everyone has to file taxes or needs a credit of any kind (the DTC is non-refundable), but it would be very difficult to get to 200,000 people with disabilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment