Religion in Canada

Religion in Canada encompasses a wide range of groups and beliefs. Christianity is the most widely professed religion in Canada, with Catholicism being its largest denomination. Christians, representing 53.3% of the population in 2021, are followed by people having no religion at 34.6% of the total population. Other faiths include Islam (4.9%), Hinduism (2.3%), Sikhism (2.1%), Buddhism (1.0%), Judaism (0.9%), Indigenous spirituality (0.2%) and Jainism (0.1%). Rates of religious adherence are steadily decreasing. The preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms refers to God. The monarch carries the title of "Defender of the Faith". However, Canada has no official religion, and support for religious pluralism and freedom of religion is an important part of Canada's political culture. Before the European colonization, a wide diversity of Aboriginal religions and belief systems were largely animistic or shamanistic, including an intense tribal reverence for spirits and nature. The French colonization beginning in the 16th century established a Roman Catholic francophone population in New France, especially Acadia (later Lower Canada, now Nova Scotia and Quebec). British colonization brought waves of Anglicans and other Protestants to Upper Canada, now Ontario. The Russian Empire spread Eastern Orthodoxy to a small extent to the tribes in the far north and western coasts, particularly hyperborean nomadics like the Inuit; Orthodoxy would arrive on the mainland with immigrants from the Soviet Union, Eastern Bloc, Greece and elsewhere during the 20th century. With Christianity in decline after having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, Canada has become a post-Christian, secular state despite the majority of Canadians claiming an affiliation with Christianity. The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives, but still believe in God. The practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and the state.