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Canadians opinions on the contribution of religious and faith communities to society have shifted to the negative after discovery of the unmarked graves of hundreds of children at former residential school sites across the country, according to a new survey.
The study, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute with non-partisan think tank Cardus and released on Tuesday, surveyed nearly 1,300 Canadians about their religious practices. According to the survey, the number of Canadians who believe that religion contributes more bad than good to society has grown in the past few years, up from 14 per cent in late 2017.
Last summer, ground-penetrating radar confirmed there were hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites across the country, many of which were run by the Catholic Church,” researchers wrote in the report. “In the intervening four years, and with those tragic histories brought into the spotlight, Canadians opinions on the contribution of religious and faith communities to society have shifted to the negative.”
Canadians from different faith communities are divided about the contributions of religious groups more broadly in Canada. Evangelical Christians and Muslims are most positive, Angus Reid Institute wrote in a tweet. According to the survey, spirituality varies across the country.
One-fifth of Canadians identify as “Non-Believers,” while four-in-five respondents said they had some openness to God or spirituality. The largest group of Canadians identify as “Spiritually Uncertain,” representing almost half of the population at 46 per cent, according to the survey. The number of Canadians who identify as “Religiously Committed” has shrunk slightly in recent years, researchers said, while the number who say they are uncertain has grown.
The survey comes after data released by Statistics Canada in late 2021 showed only 68 per cent of Canadians 15 or older now report having a religious affiliation. It’s the first time that number has dipped below 70 per cent since StatCan began tracking the data in 1985. This decline is not across the board; the number of Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Hindus is increasing, and StatCan predicts the number of Canadians reporting a non-Christian religious affiliation could double by the year 2036.
