Vancouver to remain “no religion” capital

by Travis Lupick on March 10th, 2010 at 6:02 PM

The proportion of people reporting that they identify with “no religion” in Metro Vancouver will likely remain one of the highest of any metropolitan area in Canada.

According to a March 9 Statistics Canada report, it is projected that by 2031, almost 33 percent of people living in Vancouver will not align themselves with any religion. That’s in contrast with 20 percent of Toronto residents and 13 percent of those living in Montreal, according to projected figures.

The latest Statistics Canada report presents census data from 2006 and projections for 2031.

In that period, the percentage of the country’s population identifying themselves as not belonging to a religion could grow from 17.5 percent to 20.9 percent.

Statistics Canada attributes, in part, Vancouver’s unusually high no-religion population to the city’s large number of residents of Chinese origin, who have, according to the federal agency, a “high propensity” to report having no religion on the census.

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Comments

4 Comments

iJay

Mar 11, 2010 at 5:40am

This article is wrong - the Chinese are religious, their God is Money.

Oldtimer

Mar 11, 2010 at 9:39pm

So according to StatsCan 1 in 3 Vancouverites claim no institutional religious affiliation. Kind of re-assuring to hear that 1 in 3 people are able to think and act autonomously and not be subjugated by hierarchical,manipulative revisionist "cults" that seem to dominate contemporary "religion".
Until people self-identify as loving,compassionate beings first and foremost, the world will be mired in conflict and war. When Cultural or religous nationalism is the dominant factor in personal identity, myopia and fundamentalism will prevail, with logic and reason being thrown aside.
While I don't share the previous sentiment about Chinese Canadians in general, I feel that in many ways people of all religions have allowed materialism and monetary gain to take over their lives in a way that warps what ever their personal religious beliefs are.
Ascetics of all religions seem to have at least a true grasp of what it takes to be spiritual, ensuring that money and material gains are cast aside. .