Going, Going, Gone? Canadian Churches and the Rise of Non-religion

Abstract

Every ten years Statistics Canada offers an invaluable snapshot of Canadians’ religious affiliation as part of its census enumeration. Until the 1960s almost every Canadian claimed religious affiliation, with just 0.5% identifying themselves as having no religious affiliation. Since then, the “nones” have rocketed up to almost a quarter of the population. Baby boomer men initiated this trend away from religious affiliation, but now they are joined by young female and male adults, who are also raising their own children with no religious affiliation. While this remains a predominantly white Canadian trend, these non-affiliated Canadians are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Since the 1960s, there has also been a sharp increase among those who have only a nominal connection with a Christian denomination, substantially increasing those Canadians who could potentially disaffiliate completely. Having no religious affiliation is now part of Canada’s culturally diverse landscape, and this development has implications for the vitality of Canada’s civil society, which churches were once a formative part of.