Canadian Religion in Global Perspective

Abstract

The goal of this report is to provide a concise high-quality descriptive portrait of key religiosity indicators in 81 countries from 2017-2020 European Values Survey (EVS) and World Values Survey (WVS) data, with a special focus on Canada. Between 2017-2020, the EVS and the WVS ran their 2017 and 7th waves respectively in 81 countries. Adults 18 years or older living in private residences in each country were selected using simple and multistage random sampling techniques (slight variation in sampling procedures between each country). These respondents were administered the master survey questionnaire face-to-face, over the phone or online. The survey questionnaire was administered in the language of choice of the respondent, for languages found among 5% or more of European national populations, and among 15% or more of other national populations. Table A.1 in Appendix A of this report contains the year of data collection, survey and sample size for each of the 81 countries included in the EVS 2017 and WVS7.

For the EVS 2017 and WVS7, a series of questions were asked on religious beliefs, behaviours and belonging, notably on the following key indicators included in this report: salience of religion in life, frequency of religious service attendance and prayer, belief in God and life after death, and religious affiliation. Canada took part in the 2020 WVS: a rare occasion for data collection on key religiosity indicators in the country, and to compare the Canadian situation with many other countries in a large cross-national dataset. A special thank you to the Canadian WVS principal investigator Guy Lachapelle from Concordia University and Léger for the Canadian WVS 2020 data collection.