Religion

Canada’s religious composition by neighbourhood and how it has changed since 1871 (Census)

Religion by neighbourhood

The religious make-up of Canada’s neighbourhoods (census tracts), for every metropolitan area (2021 Census). Use the dropdown to switch between groups, and zoom and pan to your area.

Religion is self-reported, and the census asks it only once a decade. The many Christian denominations are rolled into a single “Christian” total.

For a fine resolution view (StatsCan’s dissemination areas) open a metro’s dedicated map (each on its own page for load speed):

→ Religion by dissemination area: Vancouver · Toronto · Montréal · Calgary · Ottawa–Gatineau

How religious affiliation has changed

Canada has recorded religion in its census typically once a decade since 1871, providing a long time series that illustrates change. For its first century, through the mid-20th century, Canada was about 95% Christian. By 2021, Canadians were 53% Christian, while “No religion / secular” rose from 0.2% to 35%. Because of their small size, religions other than Christian and Jewish were counted together as “other religion” up to 1971. Starting from 1981 that catch-all was replaced by a longer list of specific groups. Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist populations have grown noticeably in the 21st century. Use the menu to switch between each group’s share of the population and the absolute number of people; the legend lets you add or remove groups.

Religion is recorded once a decade (years ending in 1) on a total-population basis, and “Christian” sums all Christian denominations. This deep series is Canada only, and methods differ by era — 1981–2001 used the mandatory long form, 2011 the voluntary National Household Survey (flagged on the chart), and 2021 the mandatory census. “Other religions” is shown only through 1971: in that era it was the catch-all for all smaller faiths (including the then-tiny Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist populations), but once those were counted separately from 1981 it would mean something narrower. The line stops rather than imply continuity.

The scale of the shift

The lines above show direction; this ranks magnitude. Over four decades (since 1981) the Christian share fell significantly, while “No religion / secular” rose almost as much. The Muslim, Hindu and Sikh shares quadrupled since 1981. Use the menu to change the baseline year. A comparison of 2021 against 1991, 2001 or 2011 shows how much of the shift is recent.

By province and city, 2001 to 2021

The series above is national. To compare places, the chart below switches between Canada, each province and territory, and the eight largest metro areas across the three most recent censuses: 2001, 2011 and 2021. Shares are of the total population; the smaller groups sit near the bottom of the axis. Click legend entries to isolate them. 2011 was the voluntary National Household Survey, and metropolitan-area boundaries shift a little between censuses, so read each city’s trajectory as informative but not precise values.

How the religious mix varies by city, 2021

The national story plays out differently across the country. Toronto and Vancouver are among the most religiously diverse metros, while Montréal remains strongly Christian (Catholic). Each bar is one metro’s full 2021 composition; the segments sum to 100%.

These are census metropolitan areas, not just the core city: “Toronto” is the wider metro of ~6.2 million spanning the inner GTA (Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughan and more) not the City of Toronto alone (~2.8 million).

Download data