Irreligion in Canada
Irreligion is common throughout all provinces and territories of Canada. Irreligious Canadians include atheists, agnostics, and humanists.[1] The surveys may also include those who are deists, spiritual and pantheists. The 2011 Canadian census reported that 23.9% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation.[2] According to Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, among those estimated 4.9 million Canadians of no religion, an estimated 1.9 million would specify atheist, 1.8 would specify agnostic, and 1.2 humanist.[3]
Contents
Surveys and public opinion polls
In 2011, a survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid showed that 47% of the Canadian population believed religion does more harm in the world than good, while 64% believed that religion provides more questions than answers.[4] A 2008 Canadian Press Harris-Decima telephone survey of just over 1,000 Canadians found 23% were willing to state they do not believe in any god.[5]
The Canadian Ipsos-Reid poll released September 12, 2011 entitled "Canadians Split On Whether Religion Does More Harm in the World than Good," sampled 1,129 Canadian adults and came up with 30% who do not believe in a god. Interestingly, the same poll found that 33% of respondents who identified themselves as Catholics and 28% Protestants said they didn't believe in a god.[6]
A 2010 80-questions mail-in survey of 420 Canadians by Carleton University Survey Centre and the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies found 30% agreed with the statement "I know God really exists and I have no doubts", 20% acknowledged they "have doubts" but "feel that I do believe in God", 10% answered they believe in God "sometimes", 20% said they don't believe in a "personal God" but "do believe in a higher power", 12% adopted the classic agnostic position and said they "don't know whether there is a God and don't believe there is a way to find out", and 7% said no god exists. Slightly more than half believed in heaven, while less than a third believed in hell, with 53.5% saying they believed in life after death. About 27% said they believe in reincarnation, and 50% expressed belief in religious miracles.[7]
Associations
Some non-religious Canadians have formed associations, such as the Humanist Association of Canada, Centre for Inquiry Canada or the Toronto Secular Alliance. In 1999, some non-religious Canadians signed a petition to remove "God" from the preamble to the Canadian Constitution. Svend Robinson, who tabled this petition in Parliament, was subsequently relegated to the backbenches by his party leader.[8] Shortly afterwards, the same group petitioned to remove "God" from the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada", but to no avail.
Irreligion by province
The Canadian provinces and territories ranked by percentage of population claiming no religion according to the 2001 Canadian Census and the 2011 Canadian Census.[9]
| Rank | Jurisdiction | % Irreligious (2001) | % Irreligious (2011) | Change (2001-2011) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | Canada | 16.2% | 23.9% | +7.7 |
| 01 | Yukon | 37.4% | 49.9% | +12.5 |
| 02 | British Columbia | 35.1% | 44.1% | +9.0 |
| 03 | Alberta | 23.1% | 31.6% | +8.5 |
| 04 | Northwest Territories | 17.4% | 30.5% | +13.1 |
| 05 | Manitoba | 18.3% | 26.5% | +8.2 |
| 06 | Saskatchewan | 15.4% | 24.4% | +9.0 |
| 07 | Ontario | 16.0% | 23.1% | +7.1 |
| 08 | Nova Scotia | 11.6% | 21.8% | +10.2 |
| 09 | New Brunswick | 7.8% | 15.1% | +7.3 |
| 10 | Prince Edward Island | 6.5% | 14.4% | +7.9 |
| 11 | Nunavut | 6.0% | 13.0% | +7.0 |
| 12 | Quebec | 5.6% | 12.1% | +6.5 |
| 13 | Newfoundland and Labrador | 2.5% | 6.2% | +3.7 |
See also
- Secular Thought was a Canadian periodical from 1887–1911
- Religion in Canada
- Irreligion by country
- Importance of religion by country
References
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- ↑ The results of this survey are considered accurate to within 4.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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