 | |
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
 828,195 (2021)[1] 2.3% of the Canadian Population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Ontario | 573,700 |
| British Columbia | 81,320 |
| Alberta | 78,520 |
| Quebec | 47,390 |
| Manitoba | 18,355 |
| Religions | |
| Hinduism Majority: Vaishnavism Minority: Shaivism | |
| Languages | |
| Official Home Sacred | |
| Hinduism by country |
|---|
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| Full list |
Hinduism is the third-largest religion in Canada, with approximately 2.3% of the nation's total population identifying as Hindu in the 2021 census. [2][3] As of 2021, there are over 828,000 Canadians of the Hindu faith.[3]
Canadian Hindus generally come from one of three groups. The first group is primarily made up of Indian immigrants who began arriving in British Columbia about 110 years ago.[4] Hindus from all over India continue to immigrate to Canada today. This first wave of Hindu immigrants to arrive in Canada came from nations that were historically under European colonial rule, such as Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and parts of coastal Eastern Africa.[5] The second major group of Hindus immigrated from Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. In the case of Sri Lankan Hindus, their history in Canada goes back to the 1940s, when a few hundred Sri Lankan Tamils migrated to Canada.[6] The 1983 communal riots and later civil war in Sri Lanka precipitated the mass exodus of Tamils with over 500,000 finding refuge in countries such as Canada, the UK, Australia, United States, France and Switzerland. From then on, Sri Lankan Tamils have been immigrating to Canada in particular around Toronto and Greater Toronto Area. A third group is made up of European Canadians who found the Hindu scriptures significant and started to live their lives in accordance to the principles of Hinduism. One of these sects is the Hare Krishna movement.[7] The Toronto district of Scarborough has a particularly high concentration of Hindus, with Hinduism being the dominant religion in several neighbourhoods.[8]
According to the 2021 Census, there are 828,195 Hindus in Canada, up from 297,200 in the 2001 census.[9][10]
- ^ "Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". 26 October 2022.
- ^ "Ethnocultural and religious diversity – 2021 Census promotional material". 21 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Population of Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Non-Religious in Canada According to 2021 Census". To Do Canada. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ "Indo-Canadians in 1920s and 1930s" (PDF). AHSNB Project. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ Wood, John R. (1978). "East Indians and Canada's New Immigration Policy". Canadian Public Policy. 4 (4): 547–567. doi:10.2307/3549977. ISSN 0317-0861. JSTOR 3549977.
- ^ Adler, Mike (2019-12-24). "Opinion | For some Tamil-Canadians in Scarborough, Sri Lanka's war isn't over". Toronto.com. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ "Hare Krishna abandoned street chanting in robes years ago". torontosun. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ "Hare Krishna: The Rise in Krishna Consciousness". HuffPost Canada. 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
- ^ "2011 National Household Survey". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2022-02-09). "Profile table, Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population - Canada [Country]". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-26.