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MUSLIM COMMUNITIES IN CANADA: GROWTH AND DIVERSITY
Alameen
1-07-2025
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The Canadian Muslim population more than doubled from merely 2% in 2001 to 4.9% in 2021. In numbers, from 579,640 to now 1,775,715 million. This is the highest ever increase of Muslim population, since the record keeping by Stats Canada. Almost 30% of Canadian Muslims are now Canadian by birth. This is greater than the combined total of top five countries by birth, Pakistan (12.7%), Iran (5.8%), Morrocco (4.2%), Algeria (4.2%, and Bangladesh (3.7%). There’s a clear upward trajectory of Canadian Muslim population.
In 1871, the Stat Canada census recorded only 13 Muslims in Canada. By 1931, the population had increased to 645. After the Second World War, by 1971, the Canadian Muslim population had grown to 33,370. Majority of the early Muslim immigrants comprised of highly educated, westernized professionals from Lebanon, Syria, Albania, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt. Mostly concentrated in Alberta and Ontario, with few in Quebec. 70% of them concentrated in urban areas, such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.
A dramatic increased occurred during the beginning of millennium, where the population jumped from 2% in 2001at 579,640, to 3.2% in 2011 surpassing the 1.05 million marks. Sunni Muslims comprised as the single largest Muslim denomination amongst the Canadian Muslims.
With growing population there are growing challenges. Both for the Canadian Muslim leaders as well as Canadian politicians.
In November 2023 the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights published a 79-page report, Combatting Hate, Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada, making 13 recommendations. Unfortunately, the federal government has been too slow to act on these recommendations.
Even though report noted, “Muslims have been important contributors to Canadian society since before Confederation. Now representing 4.9% of the Canadian population, Muslims continue to serve communities across Canada in countless ways. Despite their rich and varied contributions to Canadian society, Muslims are often unfairly vilified and marginalized.”
Therefore, the biggest challenge for the Canadian Muslims is federal government’s inability to combat Islamophobia. The terrorist attack on Quebec City Mosque on January 29, 2017, remains the worst attack on Muslim citizens amongst the G7 nations. A Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights report notes that “this tragedy was not an isolated incident. The Quebec Mosque shooting has been followed by a series of other violent attacks against Muslim communities, including in Edmonton, Saskatoon, London, Mississauga and Toronto. The Quebec Mosque shooting has been followed by a series of other violent attacks against Muslim communities, including in Edmonton, Saskatoon, London, Mississauga and Toronto.”
“The Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights (the committee) was disturbed to hear that incidents of Islamophobia are a daily reality for many Muslims, that one in four Canadians do not trust Muslims, and that Canada leads the G7 in terms of targeted killings of Muslims motivated by Islamophobia.”
Another challenged faced by the single largest population growth in Canada is “Under representation.” The Institute of Islamic Studies, Muslims in Canada Data Initiative (MiCDI) at the University of Toronto noted, “Between the 2001 and 2021 Census, Muslims in Canada grew from 2% to 4.9% of the overall population. Despite the rising population, Muslims remain under-represented in large scale data analyses. Policy makers rely on numbers and robust datasets to ensure their decisions are representative of their constituencies. Without a concerted effort to make Muslims in Canada legible to policy makers, Muslims will remain a blurred and muted group. Coherent and competent data analysis is essential to making a real impact on the state, needs and desires of Muslims in Canada.”
The recent report published by Stats Canada Ontario leads the way representing nearly half of the Canadian Muslim population, at 942,990 at 6.7% of total Muslim population in Canada. This was followed by Quebec at 421,710 (5.1%). Most surprisingly, Alberta, and not BC is the third largest Muslim populated province of Canada with 202,535 (4.8%), where as BC ranked fourth largest province with Muslim population at merely, 125,910 (2.6% of the total Canadian Muslim population. “In terms of major Canadian cities, the highest concentration of Canadian Muslims are in Toronto (8%) followed by Montreal (6%), and Ottawa-Gatineau (5%).
A report prepared by University of Toronto; institute of Islamic Studies highlighted some of the attributes of Canadian Muslims when compared to Canadian population.
Canadian Muslims, “First and second generation Canadian Muslim adults have significantly higher levels of education compared to first and second generation Canadians of other faith backgrounds.”
Unemployment rate amongst Canadian Muslims seemed to be bit higher than the rest of the population. “Proportionately less Canadian Muslims report being employed compared to non-Muslim Canadians, and more Canadian Muslims report being unemployed and looking for work compared to non-Muslim Canadians.”
According to Stat Canada, “In 2021, the Muslim population was relatively young, with a median age of 30, compared with the median age of 41 for the total Canadian population.”
The UoT study drew similar conclusion, “The Muslim Canadian population is much younger than the Canadian population of other faith affiliation. Half of all non-Muslim Canadians are 40 years or older, while only one third of all Muslim Canadians are 40 or older.”
While the Canadian Muslims recognize “under representation” and experiencing “discrimination” at work and by law-enforcement agencies. They must also accept the fact that participation amongst the Canadian Muslim population in the democratic process is extremely low. “Between 36% and 54% of Canadian Muslims voted in the 2011 federal election, and rates were similarly low for provincial and municipal elections. These rates increased for the 2015 federal election, as over three quarters of Canadian Muslims voted. Of those who voted, 65% voted for the Liberal Party, and a minority of Canadian Muslims voted for other parties.”
Stat Canada report breakdown on Canadian Muslim ethnicities, South Asians led the way with 37.6% of total Canadian Muslim population where Pakistan (12.7%) ranked the second highest population by birth countries after Canada (29.5%). Arabs represent 32.2% of the total Canadian population. Followed by West Asians (13%) and blacks at 11.6%.
Overall, it is an excellent news that Canada’s Muslim population is on an upward trajectory at a faster pace than the rest of the country, and other religious groups. The good news is that almost one-third of the Canadian Muslim population is Canadian born. However, we as individuals have responsibilities and obligation to ensure that our community in general keeps up with the overall Canadian population in terms of education, unemployment, strengthening to socio-economic fabric of Canada. The best way to be a contributing member of the society we need to take our democratic obligation more seriously than what we have been thus far. Things will only change, eliminating discrimination, and addressing rising tide of Islamophobia by doing our part in increasing our representation at all political levels.
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