Religion in Canada

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Cultural diversity by region

Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does mention "God", and the monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith", but Canada has no official religion and support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. As of 2001, 77% of Canadians claim adherence to Christianity, followed by no religion at 16%, and Islam at 2%.

With Christian ideology having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, it has been recently suggested that Canada has come to enter a post-Christian or secular state, where practice of the religion has "moved to the margins of public life",^[2][3] and irreligion is on the rise.

History

Before the arrival of Europeans, the First Nations followed a wide array of mostly animistic religions. See also Native American mythology. The first Europeans to settle in great numbers in Canada were French Latin rite Roman Catholics, including a large number of Jesuits dedicated to converting the natives; an effort that eventually proved successful^[4].

The first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after they were conquered by the British. Unable to convince enough British immigrants to go to the region, the government decided to import continental Protestants from Germany and Switzerland to populate the region and counterbalance the Roman Catholic Acadians. This group was known as the Foreign Protestants. This effort proved successful and today the South Shore region of Nova Scotia is still largely Lutheran.

The Quebec Act of 1774 acknowledged the rights of the Roman Catholic Church throughout Lower Canada in order to keep the French-Canadians loyal to Britain.

The American Revolution brought about a large influx of Protestants to Canada. United Empire Loyalists, fleeing the rebellious United States, moved in large numbers to Upper Canada and the Maritimes. They comprised a mix of Christian groups with a large number of Anglicans, but also many Presbyterians and Methodists.

In the early nineteenth century in the Maritimes and Upper Canada, the Anglican Church held the same official position it did in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (apart from Scotland where the official church, the Church of Scotland was Presbyterian). This caused tension within English Canada, as much of the populace was not Anglican. Increasing immigration from Scotland created a very large Presbyterian community and they and other groups demanded equal rights. This was an important cause of the 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada. With the arrival of responsible government, the Anglican monopoly was ended^[5].

In Lower Canada, the Roman Catholic Church was officially pre-eminent and had a central role in the colony's culture and politics. Unlike English Canada, French-Canadian nationalism became very closely associated with Roman Catholicism. During this period, the Roman Catholic Church in the region became one of the most reactionary in the world. Known as Ultramontane Catholicism, the church adopted positions condemning all manifestations of liberalism^[6].

In politics, those aligned with the Roman Catholic clergy in Quebec were known as les bleus (the blues). They formed a curious alliance with the staunchly monarchist and pro-British Anglicans of English Canada (often members of the Orange Order) to form the basis of the Canadian Conservative Party. The Reform Party, which later became the Liberal Party, was largely composed of the anti-clerical French-Canadians, known as les rouges (the reds) and the non-Anglican Protestant groups. In those times, right before elections, parish priests would give sermons to their flock where they said things like Le ciel est bleu et l'enfer est rouge. This translates as "Heaven/the sky is blue and hell is red".

By the late nineteenth century, Protestant pluralism had taken hold in English Canada. While much of the elite were still Anglican, other groups had become very prominent as well. Toronto had become home to the world's single largest Methodist community and it became known as the "Methodist Rome". The schools and universities created at this time reflected this pluralism with major centres of learning being established for each faith. One, King's College, later the University of Toronto, was set up a non-denominational school. The influence of the Orange Order was strong, especially among Irish Protestant immigrants, and comprised a powerful anti-Catholic force in Ontario politics; its influence faded away after 1920^[7].

The late nineteenth century also saw the beginning of a large shift in Canadian immigration patterns. Large numbers of Irish and Southern European immigrants were creating new Roman Catholic communities in English Canada. The population of the west brought significant Eastern Orthodox immigrants from Eastern Europe and Mormon and Pentecostal immigrants from the United States.

Domination of Canadian society by Protestant and Roman Catholic elements continued until well into the 20th century, however. Up until the 1960s, most parts of Canada still had extensive Lord's Day laws that limited what one could do on a Sunday. The English-Canadian elite were still dominated by Protestants, and Jews and Roman Catholics were often excluded. A slow process of liberalization began after the Second World War in English-Canada. Overtly Christian laws were expunged, including those against homosexuality. Policies favouring Christian immigration were also abolished.

The most overwhelming change occurred in the Quiet Revolution Quebec in the 1960s. In 1950, the province was one of the most traditional Roman Catholic areas in the world. Church attendance rates were high, and the school system was largely controlled by the church. In the 1960s, the Catholic Church lost most most of its influence in Quebec, and religiosity declined sharply. While the majority of Québécois are still professed Latin rite Roman Catholics, rates of church attendance are today extremely low, in fact, they are the lowest of any region in North America today. Common law relationships, abortion, and support for same-sex marriage are more common in Quebec than in the rest of Canada.

English Canada also underwent secularization. The United Church of Canada, the country's largest Protestant denomination, became one of the most liberal major Protestant churches in the world. It is committed to gay rights including marriage and ordination, and to the ordination of women. The United Church has seen its membership decline substantially since the 1990s, and other mainline churches have seen similar declines, while overall church attendance has increased in the 2000s.

In addition, a strong current of evangelical Protestantism exists outside of Quebec. The largest groups are found in the Atlantic Provinces and Western Canada, particularly in Alberta, southern Manitoba and the southern interior and Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, also known as the "Canadian Bible Belt". There is also a significant evangelical population in southern Ontario. In these areas, particularly outside the Greater Toronto Area, the culture is more conservative, somewhat more in line with that of the Midwestern and southern United States, and same-sex marriage, abortion, and common-law relationships are less popular. This movement has grown considerably in the past few years (primarily in those areas listed above) due to strong influences on public policy and stark divides, not unlike those in the United States, although the overall proportion of evangelicals in Canada remains considerably lower and the polarization much less intense. There are very few evangelicals in Quebec and in the largest urban areas, which are generally secular, although there are several congregations above 1000 in most large cities^[8].

Religious mix

Census results

In the Canada 2001 Census^[1] [1] [2] [3] [4] 72% of the Canadian population list Roman Catholicism or Protestantism as a religion. The Roman Catholic Church in Canada is by far the country's largest single denomination. Those who listed no religion account for 16% of total respondents. In British Columbia, however, 35% of respondents reported no religion—more than any single denomination and more than all Protestants combined. [5]. For further information on historically significant religions in Canada, please see Canadian census results on religion.

Province/territory[9]	Christians	Non-religious	Muslims	Jews	Buddhists	Hindus	Sikhs
Alberta	2,099,435	694,840	49,040	11,085	33,410	15,965	23,470
British Columbia	2,124,615	1,388,300	56,220	21,230	85,540	31,500	135,310
Manitoba	859,055	205,865	5,095	13,040	5,745	3,835	5,485
New Brunswick	657,880	57,665	1,275	670	545	475	90
Newfoundland and Labrador	493,480	12,865	630	140	185	405	135
Northwest Territories	29,645	6,600	180	25	155	65	45
Nova Scotia	780,535	106,405	3,545	2,120	1,730	1,235	270
Nunavut	24,855	1,655	30	0	15	10	0
Ontario	8,413,495	1,841,290	352,530	190,795	128,320	217,555	104,785
Prince Edward Island	123,795	8,950	195	55	140	30	0
Quebec	6,432,430	413,190	108,620	89,915	41,380	24,525	8,225
Saskatchewan	795,935	151,455	2,230	865	3,050	1,585	500
Yukon	16,660	11,015	60	35	130	10	100

Christianity in Canada

Notre-Dame Basilica, a Roman Catholic church in Old Montreal of Montreal, Quebec. On its completion in 1888, it was the largest church in North America.

The majority of Canadian Christians attend church infrequently. Cross-national surveys of religiosity rates such as the Pew Global Attitudes Project indicate that, on average, Canadian Christians are less observant than those of the United States but are still more overtly religious than their counterparts in Western Europe. In 2002, 30% of Canadians reported to Pew researchers that religion was "very important" to them. A 2005 Gallup poll showed that 28% of Canadians consider religion to be "very important" (55% of Americans and 19% of Britons say the same). [6] Regional differences within Canada exist, however, with British Columbia and Quebec reporting especially low metrics of traditional religious observance, as well as a significant urban-rural divide, while Alberta and rural Ontario saw high rates of religious attendance. The rates for weekly church attendance are contested, with estimates running as low as 11% as per the latest Ipsos-Reid poll and as high as 25% as per Christianity Today magazine. This American magazine reported that three polls conducted by Focus on the Family, Time Canada and the Vanier Institute of the Family showed church attendance increasing for the first time in a generation, with weekly attendance at 25 per cent. This number is similar to the statistics reported by premier Canadian sociologist of religion, Prof. Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge, who has been studying Canadian religious patterns since 1975. Although lower than in the US, which has reported weekly church attendance at about 40% since the Second World War, weekly church attendance rates are higher than those in Northern Europe.

As well as the large churches — Roman Catholic, United, and Anglican, which together count more than half of the Canadian population as nominal adherents — Canada also has many smaller Christian groups, including Orthodox Christianity. The Egyptian population in Ontario and Quebec (Greater Toronto in particular) has seen a large influx of the Coptic Orthodox population in just a few decades. The relatively large Ukrainian population of Manitoba and Saskatchewan has produced many followers of the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, while southern Manitoba has been settled largely by Mennonites. The concentration of these smaller groups often varies greatly across the country. Baptists are especially numerous in the Maritimes. The Maritimes and prairie provinces have significant numbers of Lutherans. Southwest Ontario has seen large numbers of German and Russian immigrants, including many Mennonites and Hutterites, as well as a significant contingent of Dutch Reformed. Alberta has seen considerable immigration from the American plains, creating a significant Mormon minority in that province. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims 178,102 members (74,377 of that is in Alberta) as of year-end 2007^[10]. And according to the Jehovah witness year report there are 111,963 active members (members who actively preach) in Canada.

Province/Territory	Christians[11]
Newfoundland and Labrador	97.1%
Nunavut	93.2%
Prince Edward Island	92.8%
New Brunswick	91.4%
Quebec	90.2%
Nova Scotia	86.9%
Saskatchewan	82.6%
Northwest Territories	79.9%
Manitoba	77.8%
Canada	77.1%
Ontario	74.5%
Alberta	71.3%
Yukon	58.4%
British Columbia	54.9%

Irreligion in Canada

Province/Territory	Irreligious[12]
Yukon	37.4%
British Columbia	35.1%
Alberta	23.1%
Manitoba	18.3%
Northwest Territories	17.4%
Canada	16.2%
Ontario	16.1%
Saskatchewan	15.4%
Nova Scotia	11.6%
New Brunswick	7.8%
Prince Edward Island	6.5%
Nunavut	6.0%
Quebec	5.6%
Newfoundland and Labrador	2.5%

Non-Christian religions

Non-Christian religions in Canada are overwhelmingly concentrated in metropolitan cites such as Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, and to a much smaller extent in mid-sized cities such as Ottawa, Quebec, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Halifax. A possible exception is Judaism, which has long been a notable minority even in smaller centres. Much of the increase in non-Christian religions is attributed to changing immigration trends in the last fifty years. Increased immigration from Asia, the Middle East and Africa has created ever-growing Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, and Hindu communities. Canada is also home to smaller communities of the Bahá'í Faith, Unitarian Universalists, Pagans, and subscribers to First Nations religions.

Islam in Canada

A Mosque in Ottawa

The Muslim community in Canada is almost as old as the nation itself. Four years after Canada's founding in 1867, the 1871 Canadian Census found 13 Muslims among the population.^[13] The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in the country.^[14] This building is now part of the museum at Fort Edmonton Park. The years after World War II saw a small increase in the Muslim population. However, Muslims were still a distinct minority. It was only with the removal of European immigration preferences in the late 1960s that Muslims began to arrive in significant numbers.

According to 2001 census, there were 579,640 Muslims in Canada, just under 2% of the population ^[15]. In 2006, the Muslim population was estimated to be 783,700 or about 2.5%.^[16] In 2007, the CBC introduced a popular television sitcom called Little Mosque on the Prairie, a contemporary reflection and critical commentary on attitudes towards Islam in Canada.[7] In 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, visited the Baitun Nur Mosque, the largest mosque in Canada for its inaugural session with the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community^[17].

Province/Territory	Muslims
Ontario	3.1%
Canada	1.9%
Alberta	1.6%
Quebec	1.5%
British Columbia	1.4%
Manitoba	0.4%
Northwest Territories	0.4%
Nova Scotia	0.3%
Saskatchewan	0.2%
Yukon	0.2%
New Brunswick	0.1%
Newfoundland and Labrador	0.1%
Nunavut	0.1%
Prince Edward Island	0.1%

Sikhism in Canada

Sikhs have been in Canada since 1897. One of the first Sikh soldiers arrived in Canada in 1897 following Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Sikhs were one of the few Asian immigrant communities who were loyal members of the British Empire. The irony was that greater entry restrictions were placed on prospective Sikh immigrants as compared to the Japanese and Chinese. While Canadian politicians, missionaries, unions and the press did not want Asian labour, British Columbia industrialists were short of labour and thus Sikhs were able to get an early foothold at the turn of the century in British Columbia. Of the nearly 5,000 East Indians in Canada by 1907, over 98% were Sikhs, mostly retired British army veterans. [3]. Sikh immigration to Canada was banned in 1908, and the population began to shrink.

According to century of struggle and success the Sikh Canadian experience "With the advent of World War II and the internment of Japanese Canadians, Sikhs were able to prosper. Before going to the internment camps Japanese preferred to sell their homes and properties to their Sikh neighbors who they had known for so long. As the war economy picked up speed and moved into high gear, Sikhs were given positions of greater responsibility on the factory floors across the country as well as sharpening their skills as successful businessmen. Just as the war helped to emancipate North American women, showing that they were capable of doing a man's job, Sikhs were showing that they were just as talented as their European counterparts. One of the last major roadblocks remained the right to vote. The year was 1947, fifty years since the first Sikh immigrants had arrived, yet they were still denied this fundamental right. A right that was long overdue and Sikhs rallied to the cause, holding town hall meetings and lobbying local politicians and the government in Ottawa to try change the law." [4]

After the 1960s Canada's immigration laws were liberalized and racial quotas were removed, allowing far more Sikhs to immigrate to Canada. The Sikh population has rapidly increased in the decades since. Major Sikh communities exist in most of the major cities of British Columbia and Ontario. Sikhs have become an integral part of Canada's economy and culture.

Age and religion

According to the 2001 census, the major religions in Canada have the following median age. Canada has a median age of 37.3.^[18]

• Presbyterian 46.1
• United Church 44.1
• Anglican 43.8
• Lutheran 43.3
• Jewish 41.5
• Greek Orthodox 40.7
• Baptist 39.3
• Buddhist 38.0
• Roman Catholic 37.8
• Pentecostal 33.5
• No Religion 31.9
• Hindu 30.2
• Sikh 29.7
• Muslim 28.1

Government and religion

Canada today has no official church, and the government is officially committed to religious pluralism. In some fields Christian influence remains.

Christmas and Easter are nationwide holidays, and while Jews, Muslims, and other groups are allowed to take their holy days off work they do not share the same official recognition . The French version of "O Canada", the official national anthem, contains a Catholic reference to "carrying the cross". In some parts of the country Sunday shopping is still banned, but this is steadily becoming less common. There was an ongoing battle in the late 20th century to have religious garb accepted throughout Canadian society, mostly focused on Sikh turbans. Eventually the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Royal Canadian Legion, and other groups accepted members wearing turbans.

Canada is a Commonwealth realm in which the head of state is shared with 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom. The UK's succession laws forbid Roman Catholics and their spouses from occupying the throne, and the reigning monarch is also ex officio Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but Canada is not bound by these laws. Within Canada, the Queen's title include the phrases "By the Grace of God" and "Defender of the Faith."

While the Canadian government's official ties to Christianity are few, it more overtly recognizes the existence of God and even the supremacy of God [8]. Both the preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the national anthem in both languages refer to God.

In 1957, Parliament declared Thanksgiving "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.", stating that God is almighty and that Canada is blessed. [9]

Some religious schools are government-funded. See Section Twenty-nine of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Other surveys

A 2008 Canadian Press Harris-Decima telephone survey of just over 1,000 Canadians found 23% were willing to state they do not believe in any god.^[19] A 2010 80-question mail-in survey of 420 Canadians by Carleton University Survey Centre and the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies found 30% agreed with the statement "I know God really exists and I have no doubts", 20% acknowledged they "have doubts" but "feel that I do believe in God", 10% answered they believe in God "sometimes", 20% said they don't believe in a "personal God" but "do believe in a higher power", 12% adopted the classic agnostic position and said they "don't know whether there is a God and don't believe there is a way to find out", and 7% said no god exists. Slightly more than half believed in heaven, while less than a third believed in hell, with 53.5% saying they believed in life after death. About 27% said they believe in reincarnation, and 50% expressed belief in religious miracles.^[20]

See also

• Irreligion in Canada
• Religion in North America
• Canadian census results on religion

References

Further reading

• "U.S. Stands Alone in Its Embrace of Religion" 19 December 2002, Pew Centre for People and the Press
• Reginald Bibby, Restless Gods (Toronto: Novalis, 2004).
• Nancy Christie and Michael Gauvreau. Christian Churches and Their Peoples, 1840-1965: A Social History of Religion in Canada (2010)
• Ron Graham, God's Dominion: A Sceptic's Quest (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990).
• Terrence Murphy et al., eds., A Concise History of Christianity in Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996).
• Noll, Mark A. A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (1992) excerpt and text search
• Rawlyk, George. "Religion in Canada: A Historical Overview," . Annals of the American Academy of Political & Social Science, March 1995, Vol. 538, pp 131-142 in JSTOR
• Stackhouse, John. Canadian Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993).

External links

• CBC Digital Archives - Religion in the Classroom
• Canada religious census 2001
• Canadian Church Reading Room, with extensive links to on-line resources on Christianity in Canada (Tyndale Seminary)
• Canada’s Demo-Religious Revolution: 2017

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