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Keeping the faith on the farm
Note to users:
This release refers to data from the Agriculture–Population
database at the national and provincial levels. Some data are available
from both the 20% sample and from the full census. For these data,
there may be small differences between the two due to sampling errors.
These differences are not “conflicts” but the natural
consequences of sampling. |
Introduction
Divergence from general population
United Church stronger among the farm
population
Group declaring “no religion” grows
in both populations
Introduction
Both Canada’s general population and its farm population are still
predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant. They are both showing declining
proportions of people declaring themselves of any of the Protestant denominations,
but the farm population’s decline is much smaller and slower.
Eight out of 10 people in the farm population identified themselves
as either Protestant or Roman Catholic, somewhat higher than the seven
out of 10 in the general population. As in the general population, Roman
Catholic continues to be the largest religious group in the farm population,
accounting for 30.4%, compared with 43.2% of the general population.
In Quebec, over 90% of the farm population is Roman Catholic, somewhat
higher than the 83.2% share of Roman Catholics in Quebec’s general
population.
Farm and general populations by religion, Canada
| |
Farm population 2001 |
Total population 2001 |
| Number of persons |
% |
Number of persons |
% |
| Total number of persons |
727,130 |
100.0 |
29,546,745 |
100.0 |
| Roman Catholic |
220,905 |
30.4 |
12,763,995 |
43.2 |
| Ukrainian Catholic |
7,720 |
1.1 |
126,110 |
0.4 |
| Anglican |
36,090 |
5.0 |
2,010,750 |
6.8 |
| Baptist |
20,340 |
2.8 |
727,830 |
2.5 |
| Lutheran |
39,235 |
5.4 |
605,510 |
2.0 |
| Mennonite |
30,600 |
4.2 |
188,295 |
0.6 |
| Presbyterian |
15,455 |
2.1 |
409,430 |
1.4 |
| United Church |
135,840 |
18.7 |
2,834,435 |
9.6 |
| All other protestant |
95,845 |
13.2 |
1,839,715 |
6.2 |
| Greek Orthodox |
3,270 |
0.4 |
214,995 |
0.7 |
| Ukrainian Orthodox |
1,890 |
0.3 |
32,685 |
0.1 |
| Buddhist |
585 |
0.1 |
300,050 |
1.0 |
| Hindu |
90 |
- |
297,115 |
1.0 |
| Jewish |
455 |
0.1 |
329,925 |
1.1 |
| Muslim |
320 |
- |
579,375 |
2.0 |
| Sikh |
3,440 |
0.5 |
278,265 |
0.9 |
| All other religions |
24,160 |
3.3 |
1,127,430 |
3.8 |
| No religious affiliation |
90,870 |
12.5 |
4,880,820 |
16.5 |
Source: Agriculture-Population linkage database
Divergence from general population
For more than a hundred years Protestants outnumbered Catholics in
the general population. In 1971 the balance changed, and Catholics have
been the largest group since. But this is not the case in the farm
population, where people in the combined Protestant groups outnumber
Catholics by three to two.
Less than 1% of the farm population are members of a major non-Christian
religion, compared with 6% of the general population. Among this group,
which includes the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Muslim religions,
those in the general population who identified themselves as Muslim recorded
the biggest increase since 1991. Muslims are virtually non-existent in
the farm population. In the farm population Sikh is not only the largest
of the major non-Christian groups, but the only one showing an increase.
The significance of Sikhs in the farm population reflects their concentration
in B.C.’s farm community; in fact, in B.C. 5.3% of the farm population
is Sikh compared with only 3.5% of the general population.
United Church stronger among the farm population
Although its share has dropped in both the general and the farm populations,
the United Church is still the second largest religious group, with
19% of the farm population. In the general population, its share
is half that. In Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, the United Church
is the largest religious group. Among the general population, the
United
Church ranks third in Ontario and Manitoba, and second in Nova Scotia.
In each of the three Maritime provinces, the Baptist Church has a significant
following, but New Brunswick is exceptional: More than a quarter of its
farm population declared themselves Baptists, almost as large a proportion
as Roman Catholic, the dominant religion, and half again as large as
the United Church. In Newfoundland and Labrador the Anglican faith was
the highest reported religion among the farm population, even surpassing
Roman Catholic.
Group declaring “no religion” grows in both populations
The group reporting “no religion” in the general population
has been growing steadily: from 7.3% in 1981 to 16.2% in 2001. Those
declaring no religion in the farm population have also increased, from
5.2% to 12.2%. This group was third largest among the national farm population,
but British Columbia retained special status once again, with 32% of
its farm population answering “no religion” on the census.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or
data quality of this release, contact Gaye Ward (613-951-3172), Census
of
Agriculture, or Media Relations (613-951-4636).
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