What you should know about this study

Almost every year since 1985, Statistics Canada's General Social Survey (GSS) has interviewed adults aged 15 and over living in private households in the 10 provinces. The GSS has collected information about religious affiliation and the frequency of attendance at religious services (excluding special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms). This article uses GSS data to identify trends in adult religious attendance rates and in the percentage of the adult population that has no religion.

Prior to 2003, GSS respondents who indicated they had a religion were asked how frequently they attended religious services. Beginning in 2003, GSS respondents who had a religion were asked how important their religious or spiritual beliefs were to the way they lived their lives. Those who indicated that religious beliefs were not at all important were not asked about their frequency of attendance at religious services in order to reduce response burden. In theory, this implies that pre- and post-2003 religious attendance rates are different, but a comparison of the rates for 2003 and 2004 with those in 2000 and 2001 shows very little difference, suggesting that the impact of the question changes is minimal.

Respondents to the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS)¹ were also asked: "In the past 12 months, how often did you do religious activities on your own? This may include prayer, meditation and other forms of worship taking place at home or in any other location." Information was not collected on individuals specific beliefs or on the specific types of religious activities in which they engage.² Respondents were also asked: "Using a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not important at all and 5 is very important, how important is your religion to you? Again, 1 is not important at all and 5 is very important." Those who reported they had no religion were not asked about their religious practices on their own or about the importance of religion to them, presumably because they would not engage in religious practices or view religion as important to them. However, this does not imply that those with no religious affiliation are not interested in spiritual issues or may not be keenly interested in spiritual growth and spiritual philosophies.

Notes:

1. The 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey surveyed the non-Aboriginal population aged 15 and over only.


2. General Social Survey (GSS) and Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) questions on the frequency of religious attendance are worded differently. GSS respondents are asked "Other than on special occasions, (such as weddings, funerals or baptisms) how often did you attend religious services or meetings in the last 12 months?" EDS respondents were asked "In the past 12 months, how often did you participate in religious activities or attend religious services or meetings with other people, other than for events such as weddings and funerals?" In short, EDS respondents are asked about a somewhat roader range of religious activities (i.e. religious activities or religious services or meetings) than GSS respondents. Consequently, the EDS yields a slightly larger share of Canadians who attend services or meetings on a monthly basis (37% versus 31%).