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Included Nations/Regions: Canada [x], Northern America [x]


Religion and State (RAS) Indexes1

Religion Indexes (Canada)

State Funding of Religion
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 96/253
Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 42/253
State Regulation of Majority or All Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 145/253
State Discrimination of Minority Religions
Summary categories: None (0/3), Low (1/3), Medium (2/3), High (3/3)

Ranking: 163/253
For details on how these indexes were constructed, click here

Canada: Major World Religions (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: Baha'is, Ethnic religionists, Jains, Jews, New religionists, Spiritists, Zoroastrians.


Canada: Largest Religious Groups (1900 - 2050) (World Religion Database, 2020)2

The following groups with less than 1% of the population were hidden from this graph: doubly-affiliated, Islamic schismatics, Saktists, Shaivites, Shias, Theravadins, Vaishnavites.


Religious Adherents (World Religion Database 2020)2

Religion Canada
[x]
Northern America
[x]
The World
Baha'is 0.17% 0.17% 0.11%
Buddhists 1.73% 1.34% 6.83%
--Mahayanists 1.55% 1.16% 4.89%
--Theravadins 0.18% 0.16% 1.72%
--Lamaists --- 0.02% 0.23%
Chinese folk-religionists 1.82% 0.22% 5.98%
Christians 63.46% 73.07% 32.16%
--unaffiliated Christians 10.60% 13.72% 1.46%
--Orthodox 3.23% 2.27% 3.75%
--Catholics 37.36% 23.86% 15.90%
--Protestants 9.19% 15.61% 7.51%
--Independents 3.46% 17.65% 5.00%
Daoists --- 0.00% 0.11%
Confucianists --- --- 0.11%
Ethnic religionists 0.41% 0.36% 3.65%
Hindus 1.26% 0.56% 13.58%
--Vaishnavites 0.32% 0.14% 5.15%
--Shaivites 0.60% 0.21% 4.86%
--Saktists 0.35% 0.21% 3.57%
Jains 0.04% 0.03% 0.08%
Jews 0.96% 1.61% 0.19%
Muslims 2.93% 1.54% 24.20%
--Sunnis 2.58% 1.06% 21.56%
--Shias 0.35% 0.30% 2.44%
--Islamic schismatics 0.00% 0.18% 0.21%
New religionists 0.28% 0.49% 0.85%
Shintoists --- 0.02% 0.04%
Sikhs 1.38% 0.25% 0.34%
Spiritists 0.05% 0.07% 0.19%
Zoroastrians 0.02% 0.01% 0.00%
Non-Religious 25.49% 20.26% 11.57%
--Agnostics 22.93% 17.39% 9.65%
--Atheists 2.56% 2.87% 1.92%

Religious demographics (Canada)3

The country has an area of 3,855,101 square miles and a population of 33.1 million. According to the 2001 census, the last census to include questions about religious affiliation, approximately 77.1 percent of the population belongs to Christian denominations or claims Christianity as its religion. Roman Catholics (44 percent of the population) constitute the largest group, followed by Protestant denominations (29 percent). The United Church, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and Pentecostal are the largest Protestant groups. The Muslim population stands at 2 percent, and approximately 1.1 percent of the population is Jewish. Other religious groups include Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs, each with approximately 1 percent of the population. Several other religions, such as Scientology, Baha'i, Shinto, and Taoism each account for less than 1 percent. According to the 2001 census, 0.1 percent of the population identifies itself as followers of "aboriginal spirituality." Approximately 16 percent of the population claims no religious affiliation.

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 religions different from the majority of native-born citizens. According to the 2006 census, "visible minorities" comprise 16.2 percent of the overall population. Ninety-six percent of these minorities live in urban areas, with the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver accounting for 60 percent of the national total of "visible minority" residents.

A 2006 Ipsos Reid Survey of Christian religious attitudes indicates that approximately 17 percent of the population attends a Christian church on a weekly basis. A May 2006 Statistics Canada study reports that approximately 32 percent of the adult population attends a religious service at least once per month.

Summary Information

Canada
[x]
Northern America
[x]
The World
[x]
Region Northern America The World --
Total Population4 35,939,927 357,838,036 7,335,774,068
Area in square miles 3,855,103 8,485,647 196,939,900
Life Expectancy from birth, in years5 82.1 80.6 71.9
Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 43,420.0 50,725.0 16,101.0
Description of Polity Score6 (strongly democratic) -- --
Judicial Independence Composite Score, as average of scores for higher and lower courts7 2.2 2.3 0.8
Official Religion(s)8 Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism -- --

Canada - Google Map


Religion and the State

Religion and State Collection (2014)

Canada
[x]
Is proselytizing Legal?1 Yes
Is religious registration someties denied?1 There is no registration requirement
What are the consequences of registration?1 There is no registration requirement
Official Support: The formal relationship between religion and state.1 Accommodation
The extent to which religious education is mandatory in public schools.1 Optional, or there is a choice between a religion and a non-religion course on topics like ethics, philosophy, or religions of the world.
The extent to which funding is exclusive to one or a few religions.1 Government funding of religion goes primarily to only some religions for which there are a substantial number of adherents in the country, but all religions receive some funds.
The extent to which there are religious requirements and oaths for holding office.1 There are no religious requirements or oaths necessary in order to hold office.

Constitutional Features [ View Excerpts]

Constitution

Canada
[x]
Constitution Year10 1867
Last Amended10 2011
Source10 World Constitutions Illustrated
Translation10 Original was written in English. *Note: Although French is co-official with English, only the English version of the original 1867 document is authoritative.
Current as of10 July 5, 2018

Public Opinion (Canada)

(Calculated by the ARDA from the World Values Survey)11
1982 1990 2000 2005
Religious Affiliation/Identification
Percent belonging to a religious denomination. 89.4 74.1 68.6 ---
Percent identifying as a religious person. 76.6 70.9 73.4 66.7
Percent raised religious. --- 77.7 --- ---
Religious Behaviors
Percent attending religious services at least once a month. 46.5 40 36 34.2
Percent praying to God more than once per week. --- --- 48.9 ---
Percent that meditate or pray. 74.2 73.4 79.9 76.7
Percent attending religious services at least once a month when 12 years old. --- --- --- 27.9
Religious Beliefs
Percent believing in God. 93.5 88.8 89.2 ---
Percent believing in heaven. 76 72 73.7 ---
Percent believing in hell. 43 41.6 50.1 ---
Percent believing in life after death. 71.1 68.7 72.7 ---
Percent believing that there are clear guidelines on good and evil. 31.6 30.5 42.6 ---
Percent believing that politicians who do not believe in God are unfit for public office. --- --- 19.4 17.3
Percent believing that religious leaders should not influence people's vote. --- --- 77.4 77.6
Percent believing that things would be better if there are more people with strong religious beliefs. --- --- 25 22.7
Percent that think that religious faith is an important quality in children --- --- --- 30.4
Percent that agree: We depend too much on science and not enough on faith --- --- --- 61.4
Percent believing church gives answers to people's spiritual needs. 78.4 75.4 72.1 75.5
Percent that do not trust people of other religions --- --- --- 20.2
Percent believing church gives answers on family life problems. 63.6 55.7 47.6 46.1
Percent believing churches give answers to moral problems. 63.9 55.1 50.7 47.1
Percent that often think about meaning and purpose of life --- --- --- 47
Percent believing churches give answers to social problems. --- 43.5 34.8 37.5
Percent believing that religious leaders should influence the government. --- --- 18.4 70.9
Percent believing that people have a soul. 86.5 84.4 91.2 ---
Percent believing in the concept of sin. 76.4 74.1 --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for deaths. --- 83.4 --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for births. --- 67.9 --- ---
Percent believing religious services are important for marriages. --- 81.7 --- ---
Percent believing in a personal God. 52.3 44.1 --- ---
Percent believing in telepathy. 33.6 31.4 --- ---
Percent believing in re-incarnation. 44.3 43.3 --- ---
Religious Experiences
Percent finding comfort and strength from religion. 66.7 62.3 63.1 ---
Attitudes
Percent considering religion important. --- 61.5 60.7 59.1
Percent considering that God is not at all important in their life. 6.3 9.1 10.9 10.3
Percent confident in religious organizations. 70.2 63.5 58.8 59.7

Socio-Economic Measures

Economic Measures

Canada
[x]
Northern America
[x]
The World
[x]
Gross Domestic Product, in billions of current U.S. Dollars5 1,529.8 20,154.2 75,845.1
Imports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 511,049.8 3,225,959.6 20,150,355.0
Exports, in million current-year U.S. dollars14 474,586.9 2,684,011.1 20,790,015.7
Economic Freedom Index, scaled from 0 min to 100 max15 78.5 73.7 62.9
Human Development Index16 0.9 0.9 0.7
2013 Gender Inequality Index (GII)17 0.1 -- 0.4
Gross National Income per capita, in current international dollars5 43,420.0 50,725.0 16,101.0

Military Measures

Canada
[x]
Northern America
[x]
The World
[x]
Composite Index of National Capability, in fraction of 118 0.0091552 0.0742539 0.005162584
2012 Military expenditure (% of GDP)5 1.1 -- --

Other Measures on Religion, State, and Society


Constitution Clauses Related to Religion


Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion) (Canada)10

Constitution Act (1867)

Section 93. Legislation respecting Education.

In and for each Province the Legislature may exclusively make Laws in relation to Education, subject and according to the following Provisions:

(1) Nothing in any such Law shall prejudicially affect any Right or Privilege with respect to Denominational Schools which any Class of Persons have by Law in the Province at the Union;

(2) All the Powers, Privileges, and Duties at the Union by Law conferred and imposed in Upper Canada on the Separate Schools and School Trustees of the Queen’s Roman Catholic Subjects shall be and the same are hereby extended to the Dissentient Schools of the Queen’s Protestant and Roman Catholic Subjects in Quebec;

(3) Where in any Province a System of Separate or Dissentient Schools exists by Law at the Union or is thereafter established by the Legislature of the Province, an Appeal shall lie to the Governor General in Council from any Act or Decision of any Provincial Authority affecting any Right or Privilege of the Protestant or Roman Catholic Minority of the Queen’s Subjects in relation to Education;

*Note: Alternative provisions have been enacted for four provinces: Manitoba (Manitoba Act, 1870, sec. 22); Alberta (Alberta Act, 1905, sec. 17); Saskatchewan (Saskatchewan Act, 1905, sec. 17); Newfoundland (Terms of Union of Newfoundland with Canada, 1949, Term 17, as amended by Constitution Amendment, 2001 [Newfoundland and Labrador]).

Section 93A (1997).

Paragraphs (1) to (4) of section 93 do not apply to Quebec.

Constitution Act (1982)

Preamble

Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:

Section 2. Fundamental Freedoms

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

Section 15. Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law

(1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on … religion, …

(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups including those that are disadvantaged because of … religion, …

Section 29. Rights respecting certain schools preserved

Nothing in this Charter abrogates or derogates from any rights or privileges guaranteed by or under the Constitution of Canada in respect of denominational, separate or dissentient schools.

Variable Details

  • For more details on State Funding of Religion (FUN_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on Societal Discrimination of Minority Religions (SOC_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Regulation of Majority or All Religions (NXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • For more details on State Discrimination of Minority Religions (MXX_4CAT) see this document.
  • Sources

    1 The Religion and State (RAS) Project is a university-based project located at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel and is directed by Jonathan Fox. Round 3 of the RAS includes all countries with populations of 250,000 or more as well as a sampling of smaller states and offers annual measures from 1990 to 2014. The methods used for conducting the RAS3 collection and the complete codebook can be reviewed online. Or, the codebook and data file can be downloaded free of charge here. For details on how the RAS indexes reported on the ARDA’s National Profiles were coded, constructed, and placed into categories, click here.

    2 Todd M. Johnson and Brian J. Grim, eds. World Religion Database (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2022).

    3 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.

    4 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Demographics reports the estimates of religious demographics, both country by country and region by region. The RCS was created to fulfill the unmet need for a dataset on the religious dimensions of countries of the world, with the state-year as the unit of observation. It estimates populations and percentages of adherents of 100 religious denominations including second level subdivision within Christianity and Islam. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database.

    5 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    6 The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP) is engaged in innovative research on the problem of political violence within the structural context of the dynamic global system. The Center supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal-systemic development processes. The Center continually monitors political behavior in each of the world's major states and reports on emerging issues and persisting conditions related to the problems of political violence and "state failure." A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission. *Note: Polity Scores range from -10 to 10 and include the following categories: -10 to -9: strongly autocratic, -8 to -7 autocratic, -6 to -4 weakly autocratic, -3 to +3 anocratic, +4 to +6 weakly democratic, +7 to +8 democratic, +9 to +10 strongly democratic.

    7 Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is a new approach to conceptualizing and measuring democracy. V-Dem provides a multidimensional and disaggregated dataset that reflects the complexity of the concept of democracy as a system of rule that goes beyond simple presence of elections. The V-Dem project distinguishes between seven high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual, and collects data to measure these principles. A dataset with these and other international measures can be downloaded from here. Used with permission.

    8 The Religious Characteristics of States Dataset Project: Government Religious Preference (GRP) measures government-level favoritism toward, and disfavor against, 30 religious denominations. A series of ordered categorical variables index the state's institutional favoritism in 28 different ways. The variables are combined to form five composite indices for five broad components of state-religion: official status, religious education, financial support, regulatory burdens, and freedom of practice. The five components' composites in turn are further combined into a single composite score, the GRP score. The RCS Data Project would like to acknowledge, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude for the significant contributions of Todd M. Johnson, the principal investigator of the World Christian Database, the co-principal investigator of the World Religion Database, and co-author of the World Christian Encyclopedia series.

    9 Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    10 Text from country constitutions was copied from primary documents obtained online using a variety of sources, including the Constitute Project, World Constitutions Illustrated, and government sources. When the text was in a language other than English, it was translated to English by ARDA staff or with web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to differentiate religious content from non-religious content. Text is current to the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are aware of any incorrect information provided on this page.

    11 The World Values Survey is a worldwide investigation of socio-cultural and political change. It is conducted by a network of social scientists at leading universities around the world. Interviews have been carried out with nationally representative samples of the publics of more than 80 societies. A total of four waves have been carried out since 1981. The ARDA has averaged the weighted responses across the waves for each country surveyed. The average responses for all countries have been placed in a single file and can be previewed and downloaded here. See the World Values Survey website for further information and to download the original survey data: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/.

    12 Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization that offers measures of the extent to which governments are accountable to their own people; the rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, belief and respect for the rights of minorities and women are guaranteed. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    13 The CIA's World Factbook was created as an annual summary and update to the now defunct National Intelligence Survey (NIS) studies. The first classified Factbook was published in August 1962, and the first unclassified version was published in June 1971. The NIS program was terminated in 1973 except for the Factbook, map, and gazetteer components. The 1975 Factbook was the first to be made available to the public with sales through the US Government Printing Office (GPO). The year 2010 marks the 67th year of the World Factbook and its predecessor programs. The maps and flags are also from the World Factbook, which is an open source.

    14 Relying on agencies from each country, as well as a synthesis of data from United Nations divisions, Eurostate Demographic statistics, the U.S. Census international database, and its own data collection, the World Bank's Open Data site offers free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.

    15 The Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal Index of Economic Freedom is a systematic, empirical measurement of economic freedom in countries throughout the world. A set of objective economic criteria are used to study and grade various countries for the annual publication of the Index of Economic Freedom. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    16 The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    17 The 2013 Gender Inequality Index is a composite measure reflecting inequality in achievements between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and the labor market. It varies between zero (when women and men fare equally) and one (when men or women fare poorly compared to the other in all dimensions). The health dimension is measured by two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and the adolescent fertility rate. The empowerment dimension is also measured by two indicators: the share of parliamentary seats held by each sex and by secondary and higher education attainment levels. The labor dimension is measured by women’s participation in the work force. Source: The United Nations Human Development Reports provide data and statistical analysis in various areas of human development. The Human Development Report (HDR) presents two types of statistics: the human development indicator tables, which provide a global assessment of country achievements in different areas of human development, and thematic statistical analysis. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission.

    18 Military data is drawn from the National Material Capabilities (v4.0) dataset, which is a component of and hosted by the Correlates of War Project. The Correlates of War Project seeks to facilitate the collection, dissemination, and use of accurate and reliable quantitative data in international relations. Correlates of War data may be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

    19 The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the U.S. State Department's International Religious Freedom reports. The 2003, 2005, and 2008 reports were coded by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The GRI, GFI and SRI values reported on the National Profiles are averages from the 2003, 2005, and 2008 International Religious Freedom reports, while the Religious Persecution measure is an average from the 2005 and 2008 reports. All other measures derived from the International Religious Freedom reports were coded from the reports 2008. A data file with all of the 2008 coding, as well as data files with other cross national collections are available for preview and download from the data archive on this site. Used with permission.

    20 The Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights Dataset contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 15 internationally recognized human rights for 202 countries, annually from 1981-2011. It is designed for use by scholars and students who seek to test theories about the causes and consequences of human rights violations, as well as policy makers and analysts who seek to estimate the human rights effects of a wide variety of institutional changes and public policies including democratization, economic aid, military aid, structural adjustment, and humanitarian intervention. The full CIRI Human Rights Dataset can be accessed through the above link. Used with permission.

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