Canadian policy-makers need to be aware that the country is not as comfortable with official secularism as many might expect. That\u2019s not to imply that we\u2019re a deeply religious country; we\u2019re not. But the notion that religion and faith must stay out of politics, public policy and public life is not one on which you\u2019d find unanimity \u2014 or even near unanimity \u2014 in Canada. In fact, public opinion is split almost down the middle.<\/p>\n
When Cardus partnered with the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) to poll Canadians on faith-related issues<\/a>, one key finding from a fall survey was that a wide swath of Canadians are open to voices of faith playing a role in public policy issues and public life. A slight majority (53 percent) of the almost 2,000 adults surveyed say religious and faith communities should have \u201cnot much influence\u201d or \u201cno influence at all\u201d on the country\u2019s public life. The other 47 percent say those communities should have \u201csome influence\u201d or be \u201ca major influence\u201d on Canadian public life. When you take into account the 2.2 percent margin of error, the teeter-totter of public opinion is almost perfectly balanced. But that\u2019s likely not what most would expect to find in 2017 as census data and news reports highlight the growing number of Canadians with no religious affiliation.<\/p>\n While the national picture shows a split decision among Canadians on the extent to which faith communities should influence public life, the regional breakdown provides more insight. In Quebec, which had the experience of the Quiet Revolution and where anticlerical attitudes are common, 64 percent of respondents want \u201cnot much\u201d or \u201cno\u201d influence for faith communities. Ontario and British Columbia reflect the national split almost exactly. Majorities in the rest of the provinces favour faith communities having \u201csome\u201d or \u201ca major\u201d influence on public life. In Saskatchewan, for example, there is a 60-40 split in favour of faith communities, possibly reflecting the legacy of the social gospel movement.<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, when the pollster asked whether religious and faith communities were relevant to addressing social issues and challenges, we again ended up with a national split. While 52 percent of respondents say these communities are becoming less relevant or aren\u2019t relevant at all, 48 percent say they\u2019re as relevant as ever or more relevant than ever. Again, we can extrapolate from those numbers that nearly half the population sees a role for religion in social challenges, such as poverty relief and provision of housing.<\/p>\n Those in authority should not dismiss or ignore a point of view or opinion on a public policy issue just because it comes from a religious perspective.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What this tells us is that there is room in a diverse and tolerant nation for voices of faith in the Canadian public square today. In practical terms, it means that those in authority should not dismiss or ignore a point of view or opinion on a public policy issue just because it comes from a religious perspective. Enough Canadians are open to religious sources of opinion or viewpoints that decision-makers need not fear their public airing. Perhaps we can even start to build up the public vocabulary we would need in order to let religion and faith have a place in polite company.<\/p>\n Examples of the mix of faith and politics from around the world, however, don\u2019t inspire confidence. Think of Iran or Afghanistan, for example, or even of the way Russia has co-opted religion for political ends. Some will fear, no doubt, that opening the door to religion and faith in Canadian public policy will lead to the political extremism we see in so many places around the world. Thankfully, polling by ARI last spring<\/a> suggests those fears are misplaced.<\/p>\n So where do Canadians stand politically? ARI found<\/a> that, in typical Canadian fashion, 54 percent of Canadians say they\u2019re \u201cin the middle.\u201d The rest are almost equally divided between the left-leaning and very left on the one hand, and the right-leaning or very right on the other.<\/p>\n Those numbers can be sliced and diced in a number of ways, including by level of religiosity. That\u2019s where things get even more interesting. Looking just at the 21 percent of Canadians whom ARI would call \u201creligiously committed\u201d \u2014 for example, those who are most certain of their beliefs and most likely to pray or attend worship services regularly \u2014 just over half of them identify as middle-of-the-road politically. When it comes to the 19 percent of Canadians who reject religious belief, you find the same thing. Just over half of nonbelievers identify as centrist.<\/p>\n There are some differences, however. A little more than one-third of the religiously committed self-identify as being on the political right, while 14 percent say they are leftist. Nonbelievers are the opposite: just over one-third are leftist, with 14 percent on the political right.<\/p>\n In short, being religious doesn\u2019t lead to homogeneous views or to political extremes. Opening up the public space to voices of faith could lead to discussions and the expression of views that might make some of us uncomfortable. That goes with the territory of a free and open society. But there\u2019s little reason to fear it would lead to the evil we see in some parts of the world, or even the poisoned political climate of the United States.<\/p>\n We can even go a step further. There\u2019s a good chance that bringing religiously inspired perspectives to the public sphere would help create a better country.<\/p>\n ARI asked Canadians about the best way to live life. Should they prioritize achieving their own dreams or should they be more concerned about helping others? Religiosity is the fault line between the answers. Fully two-thirds of the religiously committed prioritize helping others. An almost equal proportion of nonbelievers choose taking care of yourself first.<\/p>\n On the question of whether \u201crich people\u201d should enjoy spending their money as they wish or should share the wealth with the less fortunate, the answers were equally interesting. Almost 70 percent of the religiously committed responded in favour of sharing the wealth. A much smaller majority, 54 percent, of nonbelievers did the same.<\/p>\n Do religious and faith communities have some role to play in public life? About half of Canadians would agree that they do. But, more importantly, we have good reason to believe that giving space to the voices of faith wouldn\u2019t simply be a neutral exercise; it would help make this country a better place.<\/p>\n This article follows from a November round table in Ottawa titled \u201c<\/em>Spirited Citizenship: Care, Conflict, and Virtue<\/em><\/a>,\u201d a joint Cardus\/Angus Reid Institute initiative, marking Canada\u2019s sesquicentennial.<\/em><\/p>\n Photo: Panoramic view of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and CN Tower, Toronto, Ontario. Shutterstock, by Diego Grandi.<\/span><\/p>\n Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it. <\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ? <\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Canadian policy-makers need to be aware that the country is not as comfortable with official secularism as many might expect. That\u2019s not to imply that we\u2019re a deeply religious country; we\u2019re not. But the notion that religion and faith must stay out of politics, public policy and public life is not one on which you\u2019d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":255721,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-08-30T06:41:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"6f1a5920-3288-44d8-9f08-e831636fcfb9","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-08-30T06:41:26Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AbxpZIDKIRNifCOgxY2_PuQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9358,9357,9372],"tags":[8633],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4295,4251],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7045],"class_list":["post-265761","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politique","category-politiques-sociales","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-religion","irpp-category-politique","irpp-category-politique-sociale","irpp-tag-religion"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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