· Web viewIn 2011, these numbers slipped to about 950,000 members, or 7.5% of Ontario’s population. The second largest Protestant group was Anglican, followed by Presbyterian

RELIGION REPORT

FROM THE 2011

NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD

SURVEYCANADA: A NATIONAL PICTURE

Even though the census is held in Canada every five years, statistics on religion is collected only every 10 years. Therefore, the current existing statistics on religion in Canada dates back to the National Household Survey (NHS) in 2011 (religious date was previously collected in the national census). Data for the 2011 NHS was released on May 8th, 2013. The next religious data will be collected in 2021 and will probably be released in mid- 2023. The 2021 NHS will continue to collect more trends on religion, different groups, and the religious breakdowns in Canadian cities and municipalities.

According to the 2011 NHS in Canada, the following data was found about religion:

-Just under seven out of every ten Canadians identify themselves as some kind of Christian according to data from the 2011 NHS. In 2011, Catholics were the largest religious group, drawing just over 12.8 million people, or 39% of the population, however down from 43.2% in 2001 (which counted Roman Catholics specifically).

-At the same time, the number of Canadians who reported religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism has increased substantially. Islam experienced the largest growth in the past decade. A lot of the growth of these groups can be attributed to immigrants.

-Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality was added as a category on the NHS, and included 64,935 people, or 0.2% of the population. Other smaller religions not specified on NHS results included 130, 835 people, or 0.4% of the population.

-In addition, far more Canadians reported in the 2011 NHS that they had no religion. This group accounted for 23.9% of the population, compared with 16.2% a decade earlier, or, compared with 12.3% two decades earlier.

Given below is a table that shows the major religious groups in this country from the 2011 census. In 2011, the government of Canada added, changed the definition of, or deleted some categories that it used in 2001 and 1991 to better reflect Canada’s population in 2011. It also collected religious data using the National Household Survey in 2011 and not the census. For reference, a table with data from 2001 and 1991 has been provided, but it cannot necessarily be used as a comparison.

1

Religion 2001 Total

2001 Percentag

e

1991 Total

1991 Percentag

eRoman Catholic

12,793,125 43.2% 12,203,625 45.2%

Protestant 8,654,845 29.9% 9,427,675 34.9%

No religion 4,796,325 16.2% 3,333,245 12.3%

Christian,n-i-e1

780,450 2.6% 353,040 1.3%

Muslim 579,640 2.0% 253,265 0.9%

Christian Orthodox

479,620 1.6% 387,395 1.4%

Jewish 329,995 1.1% 318,185 1.2%

Buddhist 300,345 1.0% 163,415 0.6%

Hindu 297,200 1.0% 157,015 0.6%

Sikh 278,415 0.9% 147,440 0.5%

1. Includes persons who report "Christian", as well as those who report "Apostolic", "Born-again Christian" and "Evangelical".

2

Religion 2011 Total 2011 Percentage

Buddhist 366,830 1.1%

Catholic 12,810,705 39%

Christian Orthodox

550,690 1.7%

Other Christian 3,036,780 9.2%

Hindu 497,965 1.5%

Jewish 329,965 1%

Muslim 1,053,945 3.2%

Sikh 454,965 1.4%

Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality

Other Religions

No Religious Affiliation

64,935

130,835

7,850,605

0.2%

0.4%

23.9%

It is evident from the table above that people who reported belonging to certain groups such as Muslim (religion is Islam) and Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh has increased significantly in the past decade.

3

The next table gives a breakdown of the growth rate of religious groups whose definition remained the same between 2001 and 2011.For the most part, these religions have increased in membership (with Judaism being the exception) and by quite a significant amount.

DENOMINATION/ RELIGION GROWTH PERCENTAGES BETWEEN 2001 TO 2011

Islam +81.8%Judaism -0.01%

Hinduism +67.55%Sikhism +63.4%

Buddhism +22.1%Christian Orthodox

No Religious Affiliation+14.8%+63.7%

The graph below is a comparison of the years 1991, 2001 and 2011 in Canada for religious groups whose definitions have remained the same.

Figure 1

4

ONTARIO: A PROVINCIAL PICTURE

Ontario, like the rest of Canada, has a mostly Christian population, although closer to six out of ten Ontarians are Christian, versus the overall Canadian average of seven out of ten. The largest Christian group is Catholic, which makes up 31.4% of Ontario’s population.

All major Protestant denominations, declined in the past decade. In 2001, 1.3 million members of the United Church, the largest of the Protestant faiths, accounted for 12% of the province’s population. In 2011, these numbers slipped to about 950,000 members, or 7.5% of Ontario’s population. The second largest Protestant group was Anglican, followed by Presbyterian and Baptist.

Again mirroring the overall Canadian trend, the number of Ontario residents who reported that they had no religious affiliation increased 61.8% to more than 2.9 million. They accounted for 23.1% of Ontario’s population in 2011, compared with 16% in 2001.

The number of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs grew substantially in Ontario. For example, the NHS enumerated more than 581,000 Muslims, well over double the total of 352,530 a decade earlier. Muslims in Ontario accounted for 55% of all Muslims in Canada. Of these three groups, Sikhs experienced the most growth over the past decade (71.6%), although Islam and Hinduism increased roughly the same amount.

Provided now is a table that highlights some religious groups in Ontario by their total percentage. In 2011, the government of Canada added, changed the definition of, or deleted some categories that it used in 2001 and 1991 to better reflect Canada’s population in 2011. It also collected religious data using the National Household Survey in 2011 and not the census. For reference, a table with data from 2001 and 1991 has been provided, but it cannot necessarily be used as a comparison.

5

Religion 2001 Total

2001 Percenta

ge

1991 Total

1991 Percentage

Roman Catholic

3,866,350 34.3% 3,506,820 35.1%

Protestant 3,935,745 34.9% 4,291,785 43.0%

No religion 1,809,535 16.0% 1,226,300 12.3%

Christian n-i-e1

301,935 2.7% 136,515 1.4%

Muslim 352,530 3.1% 145,560 1.5%

Christian Orthodox

264,055 2.3% 187,905 1.9%

Jewish 190,800 1.7% 175,650 1.8%

Buddhist 128,320 1.1% 65,325 0.7%

Hindu 217,560 1.9% 107,705 1.1%

Sikh 104,785 0.9% 50,085 0.5%

6

Religion 2011 Total 2011 PercentageBuddhist 163,750 1.3%

Catholic 3,976,610 31.4%

Christian Orthodox

297,710 2.4%

Other Christian 1,224,300 9.7%

Hindu 366,720 2.9%

Jewish 195,540 1.5%

Muslim 581,950 4.6%

Sikh 179,765 1.4%

Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality

Other Religions


15,905

53,080

2,927,790

0.1%

0.4%

23.1%

Figure 2

7

The top 10 religious denominations in Ontario in 2011 were: DENOMINATION/ RELIGION PERCENTAGES

Catholic 31.4%No Religious Affiliation 23.1%

Other Christian 9.7%United Church 7.5%

Anglican 6.1%Islam 4.6%

Hinduism 2.9%Presbyterian 2.5%

Christian Orthodox 2.4%Baptist 1.9%

The next table gives a breakdown of the growth rate of religious groups whose definition remained the same between 2001 and 2011. All these religions have increased in membership, but to various extents. Judaism, only increased slightly (2.5%). Buddhism and Christian Orthodox increased moderately (27.6% and 12.7%). Islam, Hinudism, Sikhism and those not religiously affiliated all increased signifigantly (65.1%; 68.6%;71.6% and 61.8%).

DENOMINATION/ RELIGION PERCENTAGES Islam +65.1%

Judaism +2.5%Hinduism +68.6%Sikhism +71.6%

Buddhism +27.6%Christian Orthodox

No Religious Affiliation+12.7%+61.8%

The religion that experienced the largest growth was Sikhism (71.6%) followed by Hinduism at 68.8%. Islam experienced a growth of 65.1%, those not religiously affiliated 61.8%, Christian Orthodox 12.7% and Judaism 2.5%. The growth of Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism has been attributed to the large number of immigration to the province of Ontario.

8

The following graph shows a comparison of the religious groups above in the years 1991, 2001 and 2011.

Figure 3

The next section has detailed statistical breakdowns of the religious groups in the Windsor and Essex region. All data is from the NHS conducted in Canada in 2011 since religious data is only collected in Canada every 10 years. The next NHS that included religious data will be conducted in 2021.

9

WINDSOR – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS

DENOMINATION/ RELIGION

TOTAL NUMBER PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL

POPULATIONBuddhist 2,390 1.1%Catholic 87,020 41.8%

Christian Orthodox 8,480 4.1%Other Christian 17,760 8.5%

Hindu 2,510 1.2%Jewish 925 0.4%Muslim 14,305 6.9%

Sikh 1,500 7.2%Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality

Other Religions No Religious

Affiliation

60

78541,605

0.03%

0.4%20%

Figure 4

10

KINGSVILLE – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS



POPULATIONBuddhist 45 0.2%Catholic 6,820 34%

Christian Orthodox 95 0.5%Other Christian 3,360 16.8%

Hindu 0 0%Jewish 15 0.07%Muslim 0 0%

Sikh 0 0%Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality


Affiliation

45

453465

0.2%

0.2%17.3%

11

Figure 5

LEAMINGTON – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS



POPULATIONBuddhist 215 0.8%Catholic 8,155 30.7%


Hindu 70 0.3%Jewish 0 0%Muslim 405 1.5%

Sikh 0 0%Traditional (Aboriginal)

0 0%

12

SpiritualityOther Religions


553,655

0.2%13.8%

Figure 6

AMHERSTBURG – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS





Hindu 0 0%Jewish 0 0%Muslim 30 0.1%

13

Sikh 10 0.05%Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality


Affiliation

10

703,550

0.05%

0.3%16.6%

Figure 7

LaSALLE – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS





14

Hindu 155 0.5%Jewish 165 0.6%Muslim 770 2.7%



Affiliation

25

503,695

0.1%

0.2%13%

Figure 8

TECUMSEH – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2011 CENSUS



POPULATIONBuddhist 0 0%Catholic 14,010 59.9%

15





Affiliation

0

453,300

0%

0.2%14.1%

Figure 9

LAKESHORE – RELIGIOUS BREAKDOWN – 2001 CENSUS



POPULATION16

Buddhist 75 0.2%Catholic 18,305 53.4%





Affiliation

0

257,525

0%

0.01%22%

Figure 10

GLOSSARY OF TERMS (For 1991 and 2001)

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1) Statistics Canada - is the federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture (also known as Stats Can)

2) Census - Every five years, Statistics Canada gathers important information on the Canadian population in order to provide a statistical portrait of Canada and its people. However, religious data is only gathered every 10 years. The last available data was collected during the 2001 census. The next census in 2011 will gather religious data once again. Even though there was a census held nation-wide in 2006, religious data was not gathered during that particular census .

3) Catholic - Includes Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Polish National Catholic Church, and Old Catholic.

4) Christian n-i-e (not identified elsewhere) - Includes persons who report "Christian", as well as those who report "Apostolic", "Born-again Christian" and "Evangelical".

5) Eastern religions - Includes Baha'i, Eckankar, Jains, Shinto, Taoist, Zoroastrian and Eastern religions, not identified elsewhere.

6) Other religions - Includes Aboriginal spirituality, Pagan, Wicca, Unity - New Thought - Pantheist, Scientology, Rastafarian, New Age, Gnostic, Satanist, etc.

7) No religious affiliation - Includes Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist, and No religion, and other responses, such as Darwinism, etc.

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Documents

· Web viewIn 2011, these numbers slipped to about 950,000 members, or 7.5% of Ontario’s population. The second largest Protestant group was Anglican, followed by Presbyterian