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RELIGION
Canada has a wide mix of religions, but it has no official religion, and support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. However, most people report they are Christians, and this is reflected in several aspects of life there.
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Religious mix
72% of the Canadian population list Catholic or Protestant as their religion. By far the largest denomination is Catholicism. 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 |
Christianity in Canada
The majority of Canadian Christians only attend church rarely, if at all. Many who describe themselves as Christian are agnostic In general, Canadian Christians are far less fervent that those in the United States but are still more overtly religious than those of Europe. Large regional differences exist, however, as well as a very notable urban-rural divide, especially outside of Quebec. The numbers have been disputed in terms of the percentage of the population who attend church regularly, with estimates running as low as 20% and as high as 35%.
As well as the large churches, Canada also has many smaller Christian groups from Eastern Orthodoxy to Mormonism. The concentration of these smaller groups often varies greatly across the country. The Maritimes have large numbers of Lutherans who were deliberately imported by the British. Southwest Ontario saw large numbers of German migrants, including many Mennonites and Hutterites. The large Ukrainian population of Manitoba and Saskatchewan has produced many followers of the Uniate or Ukrainian Orthodox Churches. Alberta has seen considerable immigration from the American plains creating a large Mormon minority in that province.
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Non-Christian religions in Canada
Non-Christian religions in Canada are more concentrated in metropolitan cites such as Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Ottawa. 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. |
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