- Summary
- Adherents
- Religious Freedom
- Socio-economic
- Public Opinion
Religious Adherents1 |
Canada | Northern America | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baha'i | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.1% |
| Buddhist | 1.2% | 0.7% | 5.8% |
| Chinese Universalist | 2.0% | 0.2% | 5.8% |
| Christian | 76.7% | 84.9% | 33.3% |
| Confucianist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Ethnoreligionist | 0.4% | 0.6% | 4.0% |
| Hindu | 1.0% | 0.4% | 13.6% |
| Jain | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Jewish | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.2% |
| Muslim | 1.7% | 1.3% | 20.8% |
| Shintoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Sikh | 1.0% | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Spiritist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% |
| Taoist | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Zoroastrian | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Other Religions | 0.2% | 0.4% | 1.6% |
| Neo-religions | 0.2% | 0.4% | -- |
| Non-religious | 12.5% | 9.3% | 11.7% |
| Atheist | 1.9% | 0.4% | 2.3% |
Religious Demography
The country has an area of 3,855,101 square miles and a population of 33 million. According to a 2001 census, approximately 77.1 percent of the population belonged to Christian denominations or claimed Christianity as its religion. Roman Catholics (44 percent of the population) constituted the largest denomination, followed by Protestant denominations (29 percent). United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and Pentecostal were the largest Protestant groups. The Muslim population stood at 2 percent, and approximately 1.1 percent of the population was Jewish. Other religious groups included Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs, each with approximately 1 percent of the population. Several other religions, such as Scientology, Baha'i, Shinto, Taoism, and aboriginal spirituality, each accounted for less than 1 percent. A total of 17 percent claimed no religious affiliation, an increase from 12 percent in the 1996 census. Approximately two-thirds of the country's net population growth is due to immigration. Most of these immigrants were born in Asia and generally practice different religions than the majority native-born citizens. The majority of immigrants settle in urban areas. An April 2006 Ipsos Reid Survey of Christian religious attitudes indicated that, while Christian beliefs had remained largely unchanged since 1996, fewer persons (17 percent) attended church on a weekly basis. A 2002 Pew Research Center poll on religious attitudes found that approximately 21 percent of the population attended church on a weekly basis.2
Sources
Note: All country profiles, maps, and flags are taken from The World Factbook, 2005.
1. The World Christian Database (WCD) is based on the 2600-page award-winning World Christian Encyclopedia and World Christian Trends, first published in 1982 and revised in 2001. This extensive work on World religion is now completely updated and integrated into the WCD online database. Designed for both the casual user and research scholar, information is readily available on religious activities, growth rates, religious literature, worker activity, and demographic statistics. Additional secular data is incorporated on population, health, education, and communications. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.
2. The U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom report is submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State in compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters involving international religious freedom. It includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. These State Department reports are open source.
