宗教复兴：伊斯兰教、印度教和锡克教在加拿大蓬勃发展
风萧萧_Frank (2026-04-13 08:28:49) 评论 (0)
宗教复兴：伊斯兰教、印度教和锡克教在加拿大蓬勃发展
过去二十年，移民对加拿大宗教构成的影响发生了变化
作者：萨南·伊斯兰 2023年5月16日
https://broadview.org/canada-census-religion/
加拿大统计局最近的人口普查数据显示，过去二十年里，自称穆斯林、印度教徒或锡克教徒的加拿大人口比例翻了一番以上，这主要归功于移民。
2021年，穆斯林——仅次于基督教的第二大宗教群体——占加拿大约3700万人口的4.9%，而2001年这一比例仅为2%。同期，印度教徒的比例从1%跃升至2.3%，锡克教徒的比例也从0.9%增长至2.1%。
2011年至2021年间宗教信仰的增长情况。
“这几乎完全源于移民，以及移民群体中较高的生育率，”滑铁卢大学副教授莎拉·威尔金斯-拉弗拉姆（Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme）说道，她的研究方向是宗教认同的趋势。
她补充说，随着移民的增加，这些宗教信仰将继续增长，尤其是在联邦政府承诺到2025年每年接收约50万新移民的情况下。按照目前的趋势，预计未来许多移民将来自南亚国家（特别是印度），印度教、伊斯兰教和锡克教在这些国家较为普遍。尽管如此，与自称信奉基督教（1940万人）和无宗教信仰（1260万人）的人数相比，自称信奉这三种宗教之一的人数仍然相对较低（340万人）。
虽然其他世界宗教在加拿大发展壮大，但除东正教外，基督教在加拿大所有教派的信徒人数都呈下降趋势。 “就东正教而言，我们正从来自东欧、希腊和俄罗斯的移民中获益匪浅。展望未来，鉴于当前的地缘政治形势，我们似乎将会接收，并且已经开始接收大量乌克兰难民，”威尔金斯-拉弗拉姆说道。
宗教信仰的多元化将遍及加拿大各地，而不仅仅是在大城市。根据人口普查数据，大多数新移民仍然倾向于定居在多伦多、温哥华和蒙特利尔。通常，移民选择加拿大的主要城市中心是因为那里有更多的工作机会、更好的基础设施和服务，以及现有的社交网络。然而，选择在加拿大三大城市定居的新移民比例正在下降。约有4%的人选择在较小的城市地区安家，另有3%的人选择了农村地区。
“我认为高昂的生活成本正在迫使所有人离开热门地区，包括移民，”威尔金斯-拉弗拉姆说道。 “在一些原本多元化程度不高的地区……过去一年里，多元化程度确实有所提高，这是一个关键趋势——人们正从大城市迁出。疫情也对此有所助益，因为有些人可以远程办公。”
莎伊拉·卡特一家对加拿大移民家庭的这种趋势再熟悉不过了。这位48岁的第二代加拿大穆斯林说，她的父亲最初在20世纪60年代末从东巴基斯坦（现孟加拉国）移民到多伦多，因为当时“大家都”都去了那里。但在1981年，为了买房，他带着日益壮大的家庭搬到了安大略省的布兰普顿——当时那里还是个以基督教徒为主的小镇。
布兰普顿当时没有清真寺，所以他们会开车去多伦多庆祝开斋节。“然后突然之间，我想大概在90年代，移民涌入了一大批人，”卡特说。“我们开始看到很多穆斯林和锡克教徒。”
更多Broadview的人口普查报道：
为何超过三分之一的加拿大人声称自己没有宗教信仰
联合教会的信徒人数下降幅度超过其他任何教派
布兰普顿逐渐发展壮大，拥有众多宗教场所、宗教学校以及服务于数万南亚移民的各项服务。对于卡特的父母来说，随着他们宗教信仰的日益虔诚，这种发展尤为重要。
五年前，高昂的房价迫使卡特和丈夫带着家人从布兰普顿搬到了安大略省的小镇谢尔本。但三年后，卡特说，由于周围穆斯林人数稀少，他们感到孤独，于是想要离开——直到人口结构开始发生变化。
印度和巴基斯坦移民开始在该地区购买农田，第一座清真寺于2022年落成。“清真寺和宗教课程一开办，我就开始感受到社区的归属感，”卡特说道。她也开始与非穆斯林邻居分享自己的文化传统。
并非每个人都能像卡特一样找到归属感。令人遗憾的是，伊斯兰恐惧症在加拿大日益抬头。仅2021年一年，针对穆斯林的仇恨犯罪就增加了71%。魁北克省还在2019年通过了备受争议的第21号法案，禁止了许多公共场所的宗教活动。
禁止企业员工在工作场所佩戴宗教标志。一些人认为这项法律针对的是虔诚的穆斯林。
威尔金斯-拉弗拉姆表示，没有足够的数据支持穆斯林移民（其中许多人来自前法国殖民地）因为这项法律而避开魁北克的说法。“通常情况下，经济因素，以及语言因素，更为重要，”她解释道。
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萨南·伊斯兰是大多伦多地区的自由撰稿人。
本文最初发表于《博德维尤》2023年6月刊，标题为“宗教的兴起”。
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Religions on the rise: Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism are thriving in Canada
The proportion of people who report being Muslim, Hindu or Sikh in Canada has more than doubled in the last 20 years largely due to immigration, Statistics Canada’s recent census data shows.
In 2021, Muslims — the largest religious group after Christians — made up 4.9 percent of Canada’s population of roughly 37 million people compared to just two percent in 2001. During the same time period, the share of Hindus jumped to 2.3 percent from one percent, while the proportion of Sikhs grew to 2.1 percent from 0.9 percent.
Growing religions between 2011 and 2021.
“It’s pretty much all coming from immigration, along with higher birth rates amongst immigrants,” says Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo whose research explores trends in religious identities.
She adds that these religions will continue to grow along with immigration, especially with the federal government promising to accept about half a million newcomers every year through 2025. In keeping with current patterns, many future immigrants are expected to arrive from South Asian countries (particularly India), where Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism are common. Still, the overall number of people reporting affiliation to one of these three religions remains relatively low (3.4 million people) compared to those who report Christian affiliation (19.4 million) and no religious affiliation (12.6 million).
While other world religions are growing in Canada, Christianity is on a downward trend across all Canadian denominations, except Orthodox Christianity. “In the case of Orthodox Christianity, we’re gaining heavily from immigration from Eastern Europe, Greece and Russia. And moving forward, it looks like — because of the geopolitical situation currently — we’ll be accepting, and have already started accepting, a large number of Ukrainian refugees,” Wilkins-Laflamme says.
Religious affiliation will become more diverse across Canada, not just in big cities. Most newcomers still prefer to settle in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, according to census data. Typically, immigrants choose Canada’s major urban centres because there are more job opportunities, better infrastructure and services and existing social networks. However, the overall share of new immigrants who are settling in Canada’s three largest cities is declining. About four percent chose to make their homes in smaller urban areas, and three per cent chose rural areas instead.
“I think the high cost of living is pushing everyone out of hot spots, including immigrants,” says Wilkins-Laflamme. “In areas that haven’t necessarily seen much diversity … they’re definitely seeing more in the last year, so that’s a key trend — a move out of the big cities. But that was also helped by the pandemic since some people can do remote work.”
Shaila Carter’s family is all too familiar with these trends among immigrant families in Canada. The 48-year-old second-generation Canadian Muslim says her father initially immigrated to Toronto from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in the late 1960s because that was where “everyone” went. But in 1981, he moved their growing family northwest to Brampton, Ont. — a small, mainly Christian town at the time — to buy a home.
Brampton had no mosque then, so they would drive to Toronto to celebrate Eid. “And then all of a sudden, I think in the ’90s, there was this influx of immigration,” Carter says. “We just started seeing a lot of Muslims and Sikhs.”
More of Broadview’s census coverage:
Why over a third of Canadians now claim to have no religion
The United Church’s numbers have dropped more than any other denomination
Gradually, Brampton grew to offer numerous places of worship, faith-based schools and services catering to tens of thousands of South Asian immigrants. For Carter’s parents, this growth was important as they became increasingly religious.
Five years ago, the cost of housing also led Carter and her husband to move their family from Brampton to the small town of Shelburne, Ont. But three years in, she says they wanted to leave because they felt lonely with so few other Muslims around — until the demographics started changing.
Indian and Pakistani immigrants started buying farmland in the area, and the first mosque opened in 2022. “As soon as they started the mosque and [religious] lessons, I started feeling a [sense of] community,” Carter says. She has also begun to share her cultural traditions with her non-Muslim neighbours.
Not everyone finds belonging like Carter. Sadly, Islamophobia is on the rise in Canada. Hate crimes against Muslims increased by 71 percent in 2021 alone. The province of Quebec also passed the controversial Bill 21 in 2019, banning many public sector employees from wearing religious symbols in the workplace. Some feel this law is directed at observant Muslims.
Wilkins-Laflamme says there isn’t enough data to support the idea that Muslim immigrants, many of whom are emigrating from former French colonies, are avoiding Quebec because of it. “Usually the economic factors, and potentially the language factor, are more important,” she explains.
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Sanam Islam is a freelance journalist in the Greater Toronto Area.
This story first appeared in Broadview’s June 2023 issue with the title, “Religion on the Rise.”
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