• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

  • About
  • Podcast
  • Column

Ten Statistics You Should Know about Religion in Canada

June 5, 2018 by wagraham 2 Comments

Canadians seem to lack the statistical studies that our neighbours to the South have. And this means we find it harder to understand our nations religious mood and sensibilities. Yet the Angus Reid Institute, Statistics Canada, and a recent study of churches in Southern Ontario provide fascinating insights into our nation’s religious sensibility.

Here are ten interesting statistics about religion in Canada.

  1. Only 29% of religiously committed people in Canada view evangelism positively. Only 8% of all Canadians view evangelism positively.
  2. Immigrants are more likely to be “super donors” than others in Canada, and 71% of immigrants say that their faith plays an important role in why they give charitably.
  3. When asked what three things were most important to religiously committed people family, comfort, & honesty were the most common answers. The least common were success, being in nature, and intellectual inquiry (only 9% chose intellectual inquiry).
  4. In 2011 Census data Statcan reported that Canada had over 630,000 Baptists. Surprisingly, the same study showed that Canada had about 550,000 Orthodox Christians. This means that Canada has nearly as many Orthodox Christians as it does Baptists.
  5. The median age of United Church persons is 52.3 and of the Anglican Church is 51.1. In contrast, the median age of Muslims in Canada is 28.9. Islam is also the fastest growing religion in Canada, while the United Church and Anglican church are shrinking.
  6. According to the Angus Reid Institute, “Six-in-ten (58%) say that religion should be kept out of public life completely.” Canadians affirm that religious people can privately practice their faith, but most Canadians think religious people should not practice their faith publically.
  7. Canadians favourably view Christianity (68%) and Buddhism (58%), yet Buddhism only accounts for about 1% of the Canadian population.
  8. Among clergy in churches that are shrinking in Southern Ontario, all (100%) disagreed with this statement: “The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally.” Of the same group of clergy, more than 50% agreed that “The Bible is the product of human thinking about God, so some of its teachings are wrong or misguided.”
  9. Among growing churches, their clergy overwhelming (about 90%) believe, “Jesus rose from the dead with a real flesh and blood body, leaving behind an empty tomb.”
  10. In growing churches, 100% of their clergy strongly agreed that “Jesus was crucified, died and was buried but then he was resurrected to eternal life,” while only about 69% percent of shrinking church clergy persons strongly agreed with the same statement.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Filed Under: Culture

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Vincent DJC says

    June 5, 2018 at 10:49 am

    The truth revealed here indicates that Canada has been so blessed in disguise of Christian cultures and frankly by other religions as well.

    Reply
    • wagraham says

      June 5, 2018 at 10:54 am

      The Christian church in Canada succeeds when it holds to traditional beliefs. I think that’s at least suggested here.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Wyatt is the Executive Director of The Gospel Coalition Canada. He enjoys his family and writing. You'll generally find him hiding away somewhere with his nose in a book.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Want articles in your e-mail? Sign up here!

What Does TULIP in Calvinism Mean?

August 22, 2023 By wagraham Leave a Comment

Am I Responsible for Changing Others? 

August 11, 2023 By wagraham Leave a Comment

Technology Isn’t the Bad Guy

August 10, 2023 By wagraham Leave a Comment

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2023 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in