Islam in Canada
is the second-largest religion in Canada, practised by approximately 4.9% of the population. Canadian Muslims are one of the most ethnically diverse religious groups across the country. Muslims have lived in Canada since 1871 and the first mosque was established in 1938. Canada is home to the most northern built mosque in the world called the Midnight Sun Mosque.
There are a number of Islamic organizations and seminaries. Opinion polls show most Muslims feel "very proud" to be Canadians, and majority are religious and attend mosque at least once a week. More than half of Canadian Muslims live in Ontario, with significant populations also living in Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia.
The percentage of Muslims in Canada is 4.9% as of the 2021 census. In the Greater Toronto Area, 10% of the population is Muslim, and in Greater Montreal, 8.7% of the population is Muslim.
History
Four years after Canada's founding in 1867, the 1871 Canadian Census found 13 European Muslims among the population. The first Muslim organization in Canada was registered by immigrants from greater Syria living in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1934. The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton in 1938 when there were approximately 700 European Muslims in the country. The building is now part of the museum at Fort Edmonton Park. The years after World War II saw a small increase in the Muslim population. However, Muslims were still a distinct minority. It was only after the removal of European immigration preferences in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Muslims began to arrive in significant numbers.Bosniaks and Albanian Muslims were the founders of Jami Mosque, the first mosque in Toronto in 1968, whose readjustment into masjid occurred on June 23, 1973. The mosque was readjusted for the Bosniaks, with the support of the local Christians. Later, with the action of University of Toronto professor Qadeer Baig, it was purchased by Asian Muslims, while Albanians and Bosniaks later founded the Albanian Muslim Society and Bosanska džamija respectively. The oldest mosque in Toronto, with the oldest minaret in Ontario built in Osmanic style is in Etobicoke, part of the Bosnian Islamic Centre.
The first Madrasa in North America, Al-Rashid Islamic Institute was established in Cornwall, Ontario in 1983 to teach Hafiz and Ulama and focuses on the traditional Hanafi school of thought. The Seminary was established by Mazhar Alam, originally from Bihar, India, under the direction of his teacher the leading Indian Tablighi scholar Zakariyya Kandhlawi. Due to its proximity to the US border city of Massena the school has historically had a high percentage of American students. Their most prominent graduate, Muhammad Alshareef completed his Hifz in the early 1990s then went on to form the AlMaghrib Institute.
As with immigrants in general, Muslim immigrants have come to Canada for a variety of reasons. These include higher education, security, employment, and family reunification. Others have come for religious and political freedom, and safety and security, leaving behind civil wars, persecution, and other forms of civil and ethnic strife. In the 1980s, Canada became an important place of refuge for those fleeing the Lebanese Civil War. The 1990s saw Somali Muslims arrive in the wake of the Somali Civil War as well as Bosniaks fleeing the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. However Canada has yet to receive any significant numbers of Iraqis fleeing the Iraqi War. But in general almost every Muslim country in the world has sent immigrants to Canada – from Pakistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania to Yemen and Bangladesh.
According to the Canadian Census of 1971 there were 33,000 Muslims in Canada. In the 1970s large-scale non-European immigration to Canada began. This was reflected in the growth of the Muslim community in Canada. In 1981, the Census listed 98,000 Muslims. The 1991 Census indicated 253,265 Muslims.
By 2001, the Islamic community in Canada had grown to more than 579,000. In the same year, the fertility rate for Muslims in Canada was higher than the rate for other Canadians.
Population estimates for the Census 2006 pointed to a figure of 800,000. As of May 2013, Muslims account for 3.2% of the total population, with a total of over a million. In January 2017, six Muslims were killed in a shooting attack at a Quebec city mosque.
In the contemporary era, there are halal restaurants across Canada, including over 1000 in the Greater Toronto Area.
One of the first Islamic internet radio stations, , was started in 2019.
Demography
National and ethnic origins
According to the 2011 National Household Survey, there were 424,925 Muslims living in the Greater Toronto Area equalling 7.7% of the total metropolitan population, of which the Muslim community consists of persons of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Iranian, African, Arab, Turkish, Bosniak, Albanian, Caucasian, Southeast Asian, and Latin descent. Greater Montreal's Muslim community was 221,040 in 2011 or nearly 6% of the total metropolitan population which includes a highly diverse Muslim population from Western/Southern Europe, Caribbean, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent. Canada's national capital Ottawa hosts many Lebanese, Turkish, Bosniak, Albanian, South Asian and Somali Muslims, where the Muslim community numbered approximately 65,880 or 5.5% in 2011. In addition to Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, nearly every major Canadian metropolitan area has a Muslim community, including Vancouver, where more than a third are of Iranian descent, Calgary, Edmonton, Windsor, Winnipeg, and Halifax. In recent years, there has been rapid population growth in Calgary and Edmonton because of the booming economy.Branches or denominations
Major Canadian cities have local Muslim organizations that deal mainly with issues pertaining to their home city, but that support national associations. Most Muslim organizations on the national level are umbrella groups and coordination bodies. Student-led initiatives are generally well supported and successful, including annual events such as MuslimFest and the Reviving the Islamic Spirit conference, the largest Islamic event in Canada.Sunni Muslims
The majority of Canadian Muslims follow Sunni Islam.Shia Muslims
Ahmadiyya
The Ahmadiyya Community has about 50 Local Chapters scattered across Canada, mainly in southern Ontario. The community have 25 places of worship in Canada.Geographical distribution
Provinces & territories
Table 1: Muslim Population of Canada in 1991, 2001 and 2011, 2021.| Province/territory | Population | % | Population | % | Population | % | Population | % |
| Ontario | 145,560 | 1.4% | 352,530 | 3.1% | 581,950 | 4.6% | 942,990 | 6.72% |
| Quebec | 44,930 | 0.6% | 108,620 | 1.5% | 243,430 | 3.1% | 421,710 | 5.07% |
| Alberta | 31,000 | 1.2% | 49,045 | 1.7% | 113,445 | 3.2% | 202,535 | 4.85% |
| British Columbia | 24,925 | 0.7% | 56,220 | 1.4% | 79,310 | 1.8% | 125,915 | 2.56% |
| Manitoba | 3,525 | 0.3% | 5,095 | 0.5% | 12,405 | 1.0% | 26,430 | 2.02% |
| Saskatchewan | 1,185 | 0.1% | 2,230 | 0.2% | 10,040 | 1.0% | 25,455 | 2.31% |
| Nova Scotia | 1,435 | 0.1% | 3,550 | 0.4% | 8,505 | 0.9% | 14,715 | 1.54% |
| New Brunswick | 250 | 0.0% | 1,275 | 0.2% | 2,640 | 0.3% | 9,190 | 1.21% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 305 | 0.0% | 630 | 0.1% | 1,200 | 0.2% | 3,995 | 0.80% |
| Prince Edward Island | 60 | 0.0% | 195 | 0.1% | 660 | 0.5% | 1,720 | 1.14% |
| Northwest Territories | 55 | 0.1% | 180 | 0.5% | 275 | 0.7% | 730 | 1.80% |
| Nunavut | – | – | 25 | 0.1% | 50 | 0.2% | 140 | 0.38% |
| Yukon | 35 | 0.1% | 60 | 0.1% | 40 | 0.1% | 185 | 0.47% |
| Canada | 253,265 | 0.9% | 579,640 | 2.0% | 1,053,945 | 3.2% | 1,775,715 | 4.88% |
Metropolitan Areas
Table 2: Muslim Population in Top 20 Metropolitan Areas based on Canada Census 2001, 2011, and 2021.| CMA | Muslim 2001 | % | Muslim 2011 | % | Muslim 2021 | % |
| Toronto | 254,115 | 5.47% | 424,935 | 7.70% | 626,010 | 10.19% |
| Montreal | 100,185 | 2.96% | 221,040 | 5.89% | 365,675 | 8.69% |
| Vancouver | 52,590 | 2.67% | 73,215 | 3.21% | 110,645 | 4.24% |
| Ottawa | 41,725 | 3.97% | 65,880 | 5.42% | 114,780 | 7.84% |
| Calgary | 25,920 | 2.75% | 58,310 | 4.86% | 100,825 | 6.88% |
| Edmonton | 19,575 | 2.11% | 46,125 | 4.05% | 86,120 | 6.16% |
| Quebec City | 3,020 | 0.45% | 6,760 | 0.91% | 19,815 | 2.43% |
| Winnipeg | 4,805 | 0.73% | 11,265 | 1.58% | 24,565 | 3.00% |
| Hamilton | 12,880 | 1.97% | 22,520 | 3.18% | 46,435 | 6.00% |
| Kitchener | 9,180 | 2.24% | 18,940 | 4.03% | 38,655 | 6.80% |
| London | 11,725 | 2.74% | 16,025 | 3.43% | 35,875 | 6.70% |
| Halifax | 3,070 | 0.86% | 7,540 | 1.96% | 13,265 | 2.88% |
| St. Catharines | 3,135 | 0.84% | 4,275 | 1.11% | 10,440 | 2.45% |
| Windsor | 10,745 | 3.52% | 15,575 | 4.94% | 30,145 | 7.26% |
| Oshawa | 2,870 | 0.98% | 5,685 | 1.62% | 22,160 | 5.39% |
| Victoria | 1,230 | 0.40% | 2,485 | 0.74% | 4,975 | 1.28% |
| Saskatoon | 1,140 | 0.51% | 5,680 | 2.21% | 13,100 | 4.21% |
| Regina | 770 | 0.41% | 3,545 | 1.71% | 10,460 | 4.27% |
| Sherbrooke | 1,160 | 0.77% | 2,610 | 1.33% | 6,330 | 2.88% |
| Kelowna | 405 | 0.28% | 555 | 0.31% | 1,760 | 0.81% |