Protestantism in Canada

Protestantism in Canada has existed as a major faith in Canada and within Canadian Christianity ever since parts of northern Canada were colonized by the English. As of 2021, 14.1% of Canadians identified as Protestant. According to a study by Pew Researchers published in 2013, 27% of Canadians are Protestant. Based on 2021 census, Protestant faiths collectively form the third largest religious group in Canada after the largest, those with no religious affiliation (34.6%), and the second largest group, Roman Catholicism (29.9%).

Statistics Protestantism in Canada (1871−2021)Branch/Denomination1871 census1881 census1891 census1901 census1911 census1921 census1931 census1941 census1951 census1961 census1971 census1981 census1991 census2001 census2011 census2021 census Methodist–Evangelical 572,396 742,981 861,714 945,043 1,118,300 1,207,515 79,239 70,673 136,492 164,796 176,010 259,500 311,240 308,975 292,205 247,240 Presbyterian 544,998 676,165 755,326 842,459 1,115,472 1,409,407 870,728 830,597 781,747 818,558 872,330 812,105 636,295 409,830 472,385 301,400 Anglican 494,049 574,818 646,059 680,620 1,043,072 1,407,994 1,636,349 1,754,368 2,060,720 2,409,068 2,543,175 2,436,375 2,188,110 2,035,500 1,631,845 1,134,310 Baptist 227,898 275,291 302,565 316,477 382,666 421,731 443,341 484,465 519,585 593,553 593,553 696,850 663,360 729,475 635,840 436,940 Lutheran 37,935 46,350 63,982 92,524 229,864 286,458 394,194 401,836 444,923 662,744 715,740 702,905 636,210 606,595 478,185 328,045 37,065 35,861 29,666 42,425 66,141 81,467 81,077 41,521 35,715 51,304 21,705 137,425 720,385 641,305 647,140 514,055 Congregationalist 21,829 26,900 28,157 28,293 34,054 30,730 694 145 6,600 6,155 2,510 1,150 Anabaptist 13,146 30,065 12,911 50,380 64,732 83,944 119,529 128,432 139,113 181,942 212,345 235,705 269,190 243,275 201,190 158,270 Unitarian/Universalist 7,171 6,643 4,963 5,553 6,545 7,830 7,469 3,517 15,062 21,000 17,510 19,910 20,535 Adventist 6,179 7,211 6,354 8,058 10,417 14,200 16,026 18,485 21,398 25,999 28,585 41,605 52,360 62,880 66,940 68,935 Latter Day Saint 534 6,891 15,982 19,717 22,132 25,328 32,888 50,016 66,635 89,870 100,770 104,745 108,665 87,725 Spiritualist 616 674 1,558 2,263 1,940 3,735 3,295 Jehovah's Witness 99 407 6,678 13,552 7,007 34,596 68,018 174,805 143,480 168,370 154,750 137,775 137,255 Reformed 63 1,073 2,700 2,931 62,257 83,385 104,175 119,020 115,735 102,830 80,650 43 579 7,258 26,669 57,742 95,131 143,877 220,390 339,850 438,995 372,695 480,670 399,035 United Church 8,728 2,017,375 2,208,658 2,867,271 3,664,008 3,768,805 3,758,015 3,093,120 2,839,125 2,007,610 1,214,185 Total responses 3,485,761 4,324,810 4,833,239 5,371,315 7,206,643 8,788,483 10,376,786 11,506,655 14,009,429 18,238,247 21,568,295 24,083,480 26,994,045 29,639,060 32,852,360 36,328,465 Total population 3,485,761 4,324,810 4,833,239 5,371,315 7,206,643 8,788,483 10,376,786 11,506,655 14,009,429 18,238,247 21,568,311 24,343,181 27,296,859 30,007,094 33,476,688 36,991,981

History

Under French control In the early 1600s, the French were the first European nation to establish permanent colonies in Canada, calling the areas they colonized New France. The French attempted to set up these colonies in a way that established the Roman Catholic Church as the foundation of colonial society and gave the Roman Catholic Church a monopoly on religion, with only French-born Roman Catholics being allowed to immigrate to New France after 1627 . The majority of French were Roman Catholic, but there were smaller populations of Protestants and Jews in New France. These non-Catholics who were barred from public worship, public office, and most professions. However, the French aspiration to make Roman Catholicism the foundation of society in New France was never fully realized. With the British conquest of Canada during the French and Indian War and the subsequent signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763), which officially recognized the transition of control over France's Canadian territories to the British Empire, the British began to focus on Protestant expansion in the region.

Under British control There had been prior efforts to introduce Protestantism to the areas of Canada under British control in the years leading up to British control of Canada being officially awarded in the Treaty of Paris. The first large communities of Protestants established by the British were in the Maritimes. Due to prior French control, this territory was inhabited by native populations and French Roman Catholics. The British could not convince British Protestants to immigrate to this area, but the British were intent on introducing Protestantism to counterbalance French Roman Catholic influence, incentivizing French and German Protestants to move to the territory. Thousands moved to Nova Scotia and were known as the Foreign Protestants. The British sought to expand Protestant faith throughout the territory through missionary conversions of native populations and the immigration of Protestants to Canada, favoring the British Church of England and initially suppressing the Roman Catholic Church . Recognizing the majority-Catholic nature of the former French colonies and hoping to prevent Catholic and Protestant conflict, the Treaty of Paris included an acceptance of Roman Catholicism under British rule as Catholicism is a Christian faith. Following the American Revolution, there was a large influx of United Empire Loyalist Protestants from the United States into Canada. Immigrants from many different Protestant faiths came to Canada, introducing these various Protestant faiths to the religious landscape and further preventing the establishment of the Church of England as Canada's official religion. This ambition was wholly abandoned by the mid-1800s, with Christian religious pluralism fully acknowledged and accepted, though Canada was still considered a Christian society. An 1871 census shows that at one point, the majority of Canadians were some form of Protestant, with 56.45% of the population identifying as belonging to a Protestant Faith."Historical statistics, principal religious denominations of the population". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 10-21-21. There was eventually an influx of Roman Catholic and other non-Protestant Christian immigrants to Canada, and Roman Catholicism eventually eclipsed Protestantism as the religious group with the most adherents in 1961. Roman Catholics have remained the largest religious group in Canada since 1961 and Protestant membership is declining. Religion has played a large role in Canadian public life and politics, and secularization in Canada was a long process. Though it began long before then, the 1960s saw the dramatic secularization of Canadian institutions, such as education. Canada detached their institutions from religion as part of an effort to modernize these institutions.

Post-independence The secularization of Canadian society marks a significant institutional and social departure from European-controlled Canadian society, as Canada has transitioned into a post-colonial society, they have attempted to detach from those religious institutional links established by the British Empire. However, while the Protestant faith has particularly declined since secularization, Evangelical Protestantism has grown more popular in Canada. Canada's largest Protestant branch, the United Church of Canada, underwent dramatic liberalization during the 1960s, abandoning evangelical tendencies and creating a gap in the religious market, which may have benefited Evangelical denominations in terms of gaining followers, particularly in more socially conservative areas of the country that are resistant to the modernization and liberalization that has accompanied Canadian Independence and secularization.. There has also been an increase in the numbers of those with no religious affiliation and those belonging to a non-Protestant or Catholic faith. While Protestantism was once the faith of the majority in Canada, the Protestant share of the population has declined by over half of what it was around 150 years ago.

Notable branches

United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada is the largest Protestant group in Canada, with 2021 estimates suggesting the membership of just over 1.2 million. Officially formed in 1925, the United Church of Canada is the amalgamation of almost all of Canada's Congregationalists and Methodists and most of Canada's Presbyterians, and many Christian independents. The United Church of Canada is a mainline Protestant faith, though its founding denominations were evangelical. The church has since gone through efforts to increase inclusivity and liberalization beginning in the 1960s, with declining membership also beginning in the 1960s. Despite declining membership, the United Church of Canada remains the largest Protestant branch and the second-largest Christian branch behind Roman Catholicism, with the church still an influential force in Canada.

Anglican Church of Canada

Originally named the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada traces its origins to the Church of England and the British colonization of Canada. Following the British occupation of formerly French territories, the British began introducing Protestantism to Canada, largely through their own Church of England. The modern Anglican Church of Canada is independent from the Church of England and is one of 45 churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. With 2021 estimates suggesting membership of over 1.1 million members in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada is Canada's second-largest Protestant faith and third largest Christian faith.

Protestantism in Canada

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