More than 1/3 of New Brunswickers have a disability: StatsCan

More than athird of New Brunswickers are living with a disability, according to the latest Statistics Canada data. At 35.3 per cent, it's the second highest rate in Canada. The national average is 27 per cent.

New Brunswick's disabilityrate is also increasing faster than anywhere else in the countryrising by 8.6 percentage points between 2017 and 2022.

Haley Flaro is the executive director of Ability New Brunswick, a non-profit organization that advocatesfor people living with a mobility disability.

"We weren't surprised given the influx inreferrals we've seen from people with a mobility disability in the last several years needing services," she said, on Information Morning Fredericton.

"But we're certainly quite concerned because there's some significant impacts here on disability services and disability policy in New Brunswick that are going to require ... some big attention."

Aging population, pain managementissues

Flaro says among the trends in the Statistics Canada report is the increased disabilitythat accompanies aging.

"Ensuring access to appropriate rehabilitation and care and independent living and accessible housing for seniors is really critical," she said.

Also concerning, said Flaro, isthe increase in pain disability diagnosis accompanied by a long wait for help.

"We really need some drastic change here,"she said. "Pain disabilities in New Brunswick have a three-and-a-half year wait list for pain management and that's what we have ... between two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years."

"We really need to turn our minds to some of these policy issues to get them rectified," she said.

The mental health connection

Although Ability New Brunswick is focused on mobility disabilities, Flaro said there is a clear connection to mental health problems.

"Between 30 and 35 per centof the individuals we work with also have a diagnosis of a mental health disability," she said.

"We're seeing an increase in diagnosis of depression, of anxiety conditions and certainly seeing the impact of things such as poverty impacting people's mental wellness ... because people with a disability andsingle parents are the two most impoverishedpopulations in our province."

A call for policy change

Flarosaid the alarming disability rates and trends in New Brunswick need to be addressed in disability accessibility legislation now under public review.

"What are the implications here for health policy, social service delivery, you know, accessible housing?" she said.

"I would hope that our housing corporation looked at this data and said, wow, you know, are we ensuring that we're ... committing to an adequate number of accessible housing units to be built over the next five years?"

Flaro said it's a myth thatdisability accessibility is solely about thebuilt environment.

"It's about disability service delivery. It's about employment regulations on the hiring of people with disabilities. It'll be about, you know, disability health services, adapted sport and recreation," she said.

"The framework [for accessibility legislation] isout there for public review right now, and that's going to be a huge cultural foundation to bring attention to disability services and policy in New Brunswick."

Legislation to be introducedin spring,says minister

In an emailed statement,Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Arlene Dunn saidgovernmenttabled theframework for accessibility legislationin December because"ensuring that those living with a disability enjoy the same opportunities for full and equal participation in society as everyone else creates a province that makes everyone feel included and valued."

Dunn said the ongoing consultation by the select committee on accessibility will help the government"tointroduce legislative framework sometime during the spring legislative session."