In 2021, 53.3 percent of the total population in Canada were Christian, 4.9 percent were Muslim, but almost more than a third are not religious at all – with the rest stating they adhere to Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, the Jewish faith, and other Christian denominations. Canada’s religious pluralismCanada is not a very religious country in general. Canadians adhere to a wide variety of beliefs and faiths, with the majority following Christianity, followed by those who do not believe in any deity or religion at all. As with many Western countries, the younger generations are less inclined to identify with faith, and Christianity in particular is not as popular as it is among the older generations. Alternative worship for the younger generations?Canadian teenagers are no less enthusiastic about religion than their parents, and they are just as grounded in their faith as the older generations. They are, however, also just as indecisive when it comes to whether they would call themselves religious or not. Interestingly, they seem much more interested in traditional aboriginal spirituality than in the Judeo-Christian model. They also seem quite interested in another alternative to Christianity: Buddhism is quite popular among the younger generations. Whether this signifies a general trend away from Christianity and towards religious alternatives remains to be seen.

Data on religion by visible minority, generation status, age and gender for the population in private households in Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations and parts.

Contained within the 4th Edition (1974) of the Atlas of Canada is a map that shows the Indian and Inuit population as a percentage of the total national population by census division as of 1961. The outmoded name Eskimo is used on this 1974 map to denote Canada's Inuit peoples. The locations and populations of Indian communities both on and off reserve is denoted along with Inuit community locations and populations as of 1961. A supplementary graph showing changes in the Indian and Inuit population for 1800 to 1969 is provided.

There were over one million registered Indians in Canada as of December 2020. The region with the largest Indian population was Ontario, with 222 thousand, followed by Manitoba, which counted 164 thousand Indians. The regions with the smallest Indian populations were Yukon, and Northwest Territories.

In 2020, there were 1,021,356 registered Indians in Canada. Between 2000 and 2020, the number of registered Indians in Canada experienced an increase, going from some 670 thousand to over one million.

Registered Indians Registered Indians in Canada are all First Nations people who are, as the name suggests, registered as an officially recognized Indian by the Canadian government. No Inuit or Métis is a Registered Indian under Canadian law, leaving only certain First Nations peoples as qualifiers. The word “Indian” is a legal term in this case and has otherwise fallen out of favor. It has been replaced by First Nations, a term used to describe all Canadian aboriginal people who are neither Métis nor Inuit.

Registered Indian status affords benefits and rights not granted to non-Registered Indians including access to reserves and self-governance within them, exemption of federal and provincial taxes to those living on reserve, and postsecondary education financial assistance. The Indian Act of 1951 established the current Indian Register and was revised in 1985 to include people that had been wrongly excluded by the original law.

The number of Registered Indians has grown significantly since 2000 and currently the largest population resides in Ontario, which also has the largest overall population of aboriginal peoples in Canada. British Columbia is home to the largest number of Indian bands, at 199 in 2020.

Key information about Canada population

• The Canada population reached 41.3 million people in Jun 2024, compared with the previously reported figure of 40.1 million people in Jun 2023
• The data reached an all-time high of 41.3 million people in Jun 2024 and a record low of 14.0 million people in Jun 1950

CEIC extends history for annual Population. Statistics Canada provides Mid-year Population. Postcensal estimates, which are based on the latest Census counts adjusted for Census Net Undercoverage (CNU), including adjustment for Incompletely Enumerated Indian Reserves (IEIR) and the components of demographic growth that occurred since that census. Intercensal estimates are produced using counts from two consecutive censuses adjusted for CNU (including (IEIR) and postcensal estimates) Population prior to 1971 is sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. Population is in annual frequency, ending in June of each year.


Further information about Canada population data

• In the latest reports, Canada Unemployment Rate increased to 6.6 % in Aug 2024
• Monthly earnings of the Canada population was 3,656.6 USD in Jun 2024
• Canada Labour Force Participation Rate increased to 66.2 % in Aug 2024

This map shows the distribution of the North American Indian population. The largest number of North American Indians live in Ontario (118 830); they make up 80% of the total Aboriginal population of that province. They are distributed in the large agglomerations of the south, but also in the north and west of the province. In British Columbia, 77% of Aboriginal people are Indians (113 315). These two provinces account for 42% of the Indian population in Canada. The three Prairie Provinces are home to another 42% of the North American Indian population.

Data on religion by gender and age for the population in private households in Canada, provinces and territories.

Contained within the 5th Edition (1978 to 1995) of the National Atlas of Canada is a map that shows distribution of Indians and Inuit using several types of symbols to represent population in 1976.

About this dataset

Context

The dataset tabulates the population of Canadian by race. It includes the population of Canadian across racial categories (excluding ethnicity) as identified by the Census Bureau. The dataset can be utilized to understand the population distribution of Canadian across relevant racial categories.

Key observations

The percent distribution of Canadian population by race (across all racial categories recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau): 87.26% are white, 3.30% are American Indian and Alaska Native and 9.43% are multiracial.

Content

When available, the data consists of estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2018-2022 5-Year Estimates.

Racial categories include:

• White
• Black or African American
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Asian
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander
• Some other race
• Two or more races (multiracial)

Variables / Data Columns

• Race: This column displays the racial categories (excluding ethnicity) for the Canadian
• Population: The population of the racial category (excluding ethnicity) in the Canadian is shown in this column.
• % of Total Population: This column displays the percentage distribution of each race as a proportion of Canadian total population. Please note that the sum of all percentages may not equal one due to rounding of values.

Good to know

Margin of Error

Data in the dataset are based on the estimates and are subject to sampling variability and thus a margin of error. Neilsberg Research recommends using caution when presening these estimates in your research.

Custom data

If you do need custom data for any of your research project, report or presentation, you can contact our research staff at research@neilsberg.com for a feasibility of a custom tabulation on a fee-for-service basis.

Inspiration

Neilsberg Research Team curates, analyze and publishes demographics and economic data from a variety of public and proprietary sources, each of which often includes multiple surveys and programs. The large majority of Neilsberg Research aggregated datasets and insights is made available for free download at https://www.neilsberg.com/research/.

Recommended for further research

This dataset is a part of the main dataset for Canadian Population by Race & Ethnicity. You can refer the same here

Contained within the 5th Edition (1978 to 1995) of the National Atlas of Canada is a map that shows distribution of Indians and Inuit using several types of symbols to represent population in 1976.

Contained within the 4th Edition (1974) of the Atlas of Canada is a set of three maps. The first two maps show the percentage of population, by census division, who identify with a particular religion. These two maps represent the first and second statistical ranks for the most common religions. The third map shows the diversity of religion by number of dominant religious denominations as well as a breakdown of the particular religions within each census division. A supplementary graph showing the percentage of religions by province is also provided.

Sikhism is a religion that originated on the Indian subcontinent during the fifteenth century. Sikhs follow the teachings of 'gurus', who descend from the first guru Guru Naruk who established the faith. Followers of Sikhism are monotheists, believing in only one god, and other core beliefs include the need to meditate, the importance of community and communal living, and the need to serve humanity selflessly (or 'seva'). Sikhism and the British Empire In total, there are around 26 million Sikhs worldwide, and over 24 million of these live in India. Outside of India, the largest Sikh populations are mostly found in former territories of the British Empire - the UK and Canada both have Sikh populations of over half a million people. Migration from India to other parts of the British Empire was high in the 19th century, due to the labor demands of relatively newer colonies, as well as those where slavery had been abolished. These countries also remain popular destinations for Sikh migrants today, as many are highly trained and English-speaking. Other regions with significant Sikh populations Italy also has a sizeable Sikh population, as many migrated there after serving there in the British Army during WWI, and they are now heavily represented in Italy's dairy industry. The Sikh population of Saudi Arabia is also reflective of the fact that the largest Indian diaspora in the world can now be found in the Middle East - this is due to the labor demands of the fossil fuel industries and their associated secondary industries, although a large share of Indians in this part of the world are there on a temporary basis.

There were 199 Indian bands in British Columbia in 2020, the region with the highest number of Indian bands in Canada. Ontario followed with 126. In total, there were 619 Indian bands in Canada that year.

This service shows the percentage of the population who reported an Aboriginal identity by census subdivision. The data is from the Census Profile, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001.

Aboriginal identity refers to whether the person identified with the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This includes those who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada.

Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population.

For additional information refer to the 2016 Census Dictionary for 'Aboriginal identity'.

To have a cartographic representation of the ecumene with this socio-economic indicator, it is recommended to add as the first layer, the “NRCan - 2016 population ecumene by census subdivision” web service, accessible in the data resources section below.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate consisting of six condensed maps which show the principle religious denominations of the people living in Canada. The 1951 Census of Canada enumerated the religious denomination of which each person was either a member or to which he or she adhered or favoured. This plate shows the distribution of population on this basis of the six religious groups which were most numerous in 1951. These six groups are as follows: Roman Catholic, The United Church of Canada, The Anglican Church of Canada, Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans. Each map is accompanied by a pie chart showing the percentage distribution of each denomination by province and territory.

Within the context of the Canadian Census, defining Indigenous peoples has been an evolving process. This guide was created in an attempt to navigate this definition. The terms “Indian,” “Indian territory,” “Native” etc. were utilized to discover how the Department of Agriculture defined Indigenous peoples and land. All of the censuses have been linked to the original document, though the digital copy located on archive.org.

This statistic shows the distribution of adults in federal correctional services in Canada in the fiscal year of 2022, by religion. About 15 percent of the adult offender population in federal correctional services in Canada claimed no religious affiliation in the fiscal year of 2022.

This statistic shows the percent of Canadian respondents in 2015 that believed that Christianity was more likely than other religions to encourage violence, separated by their level of religiosity. In 2015, 9 percent of respondents who were inclined to towards religion thought that Christianity was more likely than other religions to encourage violence.

The map shows the distribution of the population by census subdivision who identified themselves in the 2006 Census as North American Indian. According to the 2006 Census, 698 025 people identified themselves as North American Indian also referred to as 'First Nations people'.