From June 23 to July 6, 2020, approximately 13,000 Canadians with long-term conditions or disabilities participated in an online questionnaire, “Impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians: Living with Long-term Conditions and Disabilities.” Statistics Canada is now releasing these findings as part of a series of results based on this crowdsourcing initiative.
As a first release, this article provides a general snapshot of the employment and income impacts of COVID-19 on survey participants aged 15 to 64 living with long-term conditions and disabilities. Among the most noteworthy findings are that over one-third of participants with long-term conditions or disabilities reported experiencing a temporary or permanent job loss or reduced hours during the pandemic, and over half of participants have had difficulty meeting at least one financial obligation or essential need.