According to 2001 census, there were 579,640 Muslims in Canada, just under 2% of the population.[1]. In 2006, Muslim population is estimated to be 783,700 or about 2.5%[2]. Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image:1870 census Lindauer Weber 01. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Demographics, concentration, and life

Most Canadian Muslims [i.e. followers of Islam] are people who were raised Muslim. There are also small numbers of converts to Islam from other religions. As with immigrants in general, Muslim immigrants have come to Canada for a variety of reasons. These include higher education, 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 Bosnian Muslims fleeing the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. However Canada has yet to receive any significant numbers of Iraqis [Muslim or Christian] fleeing the Iraqi Civil War. But in general almost every Muslim country in the world has sent immigrants to Canada - from Albania to Yemen.^[1] For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Combatants Lebanese Front Syria LNM PLO Israel Commanders Bachir Gemayel Dany Chamoun Kamal Jumblatt Yasser Arafat Ariel Sharon The Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) was a multifaceted civil war whose antecedents trace back to the conflicts and political compromises reached after the end of Lebanons administration by the Ottoman... The Somali Civil War is an armed conflict in Somalia that started in 1988. ... Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

The majority of Canadian Muslims -- and not coincidentally a large proportion of the country's immigrants -- live in the province of Ontario, with the largest groups settled in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). According to the 2001 Census, there were 254,110 Muslims living in the Greater Toronto Area. ^[2] Assuming that most immigrants from Pakistan and Iran are Muslims, the two largest Muslim communities in the GTA were Pakistani (>50,000) and Iranian (>30,000).^[3] Canada's national capital Ottawa hosts many Lebanese and Somali Muslims, where the Muslim community numbered approximately 40,000 in 2001.^[4] Greater Montreal's Muslim community neared 100,000 in 2001.^[5] It is home to large numbers of Canadians of Moroccan, Algerian and Lebanese descent, as well as smaller Syrian, Iranian, Pakistani and Turkish communities.^[6] These communities are not exclusively, but predominantly, Muslim. In addition to Vancouver, Ottawa, and Montreal, nearly every major Canadian metropolitan area has a Muslim community, including Halifax (3,070), Windsor (10,745), Winnipeg (4,805),Calgary (28,920), Edmonton (19,580), Vancouver (52,590), where more than a third are of Iranian descent, and Toronto (30,230). ^[7] Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 107 Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... A map of Torontos Census Metropolitan Area, which contains a large portion of the Greater Toronto Area. ... This article is about the capital city of Canada. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Concordia Salus (well-being through harmony) Coordinates: , Country Province Region Montréal Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1][2][3]  - Total 365. ... For other uses, see Halifax, Nova Scotia. ... Windsor may refer to many places and other things. ... For other uses, see Winnipeg (disambiguation). ... This article is about the Canadian city. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... For other uses, see Vancouver (disambiguation). ...

Table 1: Current and Projected Muslim Population of Canada^[8]

As the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religious expression, Canadian Muslims face no official religious discrimination. Under Section 2(a) of the Charter, the wearing of the hijab is permitted in schools and places of work. Religious holidays and dietary restrictions are also respected, but outside major urban areas it may be difficult to find halal food. It is also often difficult to observe Islamic rules against usury. The Charter, signed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1981. ... Religious discrimination is valuing or treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe. ... The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ... “Higab” redirects here. ... Halal (حلال, alāl, halaal) is an Arabic term meaning permissible. In the English language it most frequently refers to food that is permissible according to Islamic law. ... Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Sharia) principles and guided by Islamic economics. ...

History

The Muslim community in Canada is almost as old as the nation itself. Four years after Canada's founding in 1867, the 1871 Canadian Census found 13 Muslims among the population.^[9] The first Canadian mosque was constructed in Edmonton in 1938, when there were approximately 700 Muslims in the country.^[10] This building is now part of the museum at Fort Edmonton. The years after World War II saw a small increase in the Muslim population. However Muslims were still a distinct minority. It was only with the removal of European immigration preferences in the late 1960s that Muslims began to arrive in significant numbers. The Masjid al-Haram in Mecca as it exists today A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... Fort Edmonton, circa 1900. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

According to the Canadian Census of 1971 there were 33,000 Muslims in Canada. ^[11] 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. ^[12] The 1991 Census indicated 253,265 Muslims. ^[13] By 2001, the Islamic community in Canada had grown to more than 579,000. ^[14] Preliminary estimates for Census 2006 point to a figure of almost 800,000. ^[15] The community is expected to grow to 1.1 million by 2011 and 1.4 million by 2017.^[16]

Compared to Muslims in Europe, Canadian Muslims have not faced the same set of problems. ^[17] The Muslim community in Canada is just one among many ethnic, religious, racial and cultural communities that together make up Canada. At the same time, it must be noted that although Canadian Muslims may be classified as Muslims for official governmental statistical and policy-making purposes, that does not necessarily mean that all who are identified as such are practicing Muslims. In other words, they may be culturally Muslim, while at the same leading secular lives. Among the more prominent Canadian Muslims are Rahim Jaffer, who has sat as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Edmonton-Strathcona since 1997, Irshad Manji, a feminist Muslim activist who wrote the international bestseller "The Trouble With Islam" - an excoriation of violent radical Islam, and Maher Arar, a Syrian-Canadian renditioned to Syria by the United States due to misleading information received from Canadian intelligence services. The role of Islam in Canada in the 21st century is represented by the success of the television sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie, produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Rahim Jaffer (Arabic: ‎) (born December 15, 1971) is the Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament for the Edmonton—Strathcona district of Alberta. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Located in Edmonton, Alberta, the federal riding of Edmonton-Strathcona is located in the heart of Edmonton. ... Irshad Manji (born 1968) is a Canadian Muslim feminist, author, journalist, and activist. ... Original cover of The Trouble with Islam The Trouble with Islam, published in some editions as The Trouble with Islam Today , is a 2004 book critical of Islam written by Irshad Manji, in which she writes: The Trouble with Islam is an open letter from me, a Muslim voice of... The phrase Islamic fundamentalism is primarily used in the West to describe Islamist groups. ... Maher Arar (born 1970 in Syria) is a Canadian software engineer who was subjected to the United States policy of extraordinary rendition, a process where detainees are transferred from one country to another, with the expectation that they will be tortured in the country to which they are rendered. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Little Mosque on the Prairie is a Canadian sitcom on CBC Television. ... Radio-Canada redirects here. ...

Organizations

The Muslim community in Canada is represented by several organizations: the Canadian Islamic Congress, which represents the conservative mainstream in the community and has the support of most mosques, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) which has its foundation rooted in traditional Islamic ideology with a focus on dynamic application within the current Canadian context, the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) which has now become one of the leading advocacy and civil liberties organizations on behalf of the Muslim community, the Muslim Canadian Congress, a progressive, liberal group that was founded in 2002 as well as other large organisations such as Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). These are only some of the key organisations within the Muslim Canadian community, as the community is a large, diverse community with well over 60 ethno-cultural groups. Thus, organisations are continually emerging as they seek to meet the needs of community members. The Canadian Islamic Congress is the main lobby group for the Muslim community in Canada. ... The Muslim Association of Canada is a non-profit organisation which provides religious and educational services for the Muslim community in Canada. ... The Muslim Canadian Congress is a grassroots organization that claims to provide a voice to Muslims who support a progressive, liberal, pluralistic, democratic, and secular society where everyone has the freedom of religion. ... The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is an umbrella group that describes itself as the largest Muslim organization in North America. ... Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) is a non-ethnic, non-sectarian, open to all, independent, North America wide, grassroots organization. ...

Student associations are strongly established at most Canadian universities, with the MSA at the University of Vancouver, started in 1966, being the largest student organization on campus[3]. 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. The Muslim Students Association, or Muslim Student Union, of the U.S. and Canada, also known as MSA National, is a religious organization dedicated to establishing and maintaining Islamic societies on college campuses in Canada and the United States. ... Atrium of Living Arts Centre, MuslimFest 2006 MuslimFest is an annual one-day festival organized by Young Muslims Canada, DawaNet, and SoundVision. ... Reviving the Islamic Spirit is an annual Islamic conference typically held during the winter holiday season in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

References

1. ^ 2001 Census of Canada: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/home/index.cfm
2. ^ Canada Census 2001
3. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
4. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
5. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
6. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
7. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
8. ^ Canada's Demo-Religious Revolution
9. ^ 1871 Census of Canada
10. ^ Saudi Aramco World: Canada's Pioneer Mosque: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199804/canada.s.pioneer.mosque.htm
11. ^ 1971 Census of Canada
12. ^ 1981 Census of Canada
13. ^ 1991 Census of Canada
14. ^ 2001 Census of Canada
15. ^ Canada's Demo-Religious Revolution
16. ^ Canada's Demo-Religious Revolution
17. ^ Canada's Muslims: An International Comparison: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/islam/muslim-survey.html

See also

• Religion in Canada
• Category containing Canadian Muslims

Top religious denominations in Canada in 2001. ...

External links

• Canada religious census 2001
• Canada’s Demo-Religious Revolution: 2017
• Canadian Muslim Business and service Directory
• Islamic Association in Canada
• Canadian Council Of Muslim Women
• MuslimFest - Artistic, Innovative, Captivating

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