Religious mobility of immigrants in Canada

Eric Caron Malenfant, Statistics Canada
Vegard Skirbekk, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Anne Goujon, Wittgenstein Centre (IIASA, VID/ÖAW, WU)

Over recent decades, the Catholic and Protestant religions saw their share of the Canadian population steadily decrease while those of the non-affiliated and smallest religious groups increased rapidly. These changes are largely related to immigration from non-European countries as well as individual changes of religion over the lifecourse, or religious mobility. Less understood is how likely immigrants to Canada are to change religion after their arrival, thus contributing not only directly but also indirectly to the changing religious landscape of the country. This paper uses the 1981, 1991 and 2001 censuses, as well as the 2011 National Household Survey and the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey to answer three questions: What is the magnitude of religious mobility among the immigrant population to Canada? What are the socioeconomic characteristics associated with religious mobility among this population? How does religious mobility of immigrants compare to that of the Canadian-born population?