Data on the prevalence of visual impairment, and on the utilization of rehabilitation services were collected on a large sample consisting of 1800 people over age 65 living in the community. As in previous Statistics Canada surveys,- a visual disability was considered present if the answer to one of the following two questions was positive: Do you have trouble reading ordinary newsprint with glasses (if normally worn)? Do you have trouble clearly seeing the face of someone 12 feet away with glasses (if normally worn)? Prevalence of disability at near was 7.6%, prevalence of a distance disability was 4.4%, and prevalence of both types of disability was 3.5%. Among those with both disabilities, 11.4% received services from a rehabilitation center, 23.3% from an eye-care practitioner and 10.0% from a nonprofit agency. The overestimation of the prevalence of visual impairment by survey techniques has already been documented. However, the low utilization of rehabilitation services observed in this study raises questions concerning the respective role of general eye-care practitioners, community-based health centers and rehabilitation centers in the rehabilitative process of the visually impaired elderly.