Religions and languages in Canada

Geographically, Canada is a large country. The religion in it is thus quite diverse. Due to the predominance of ​​religious pluralism in the country’s political culture, many religions are considered unrecognized. If we consider the proportion, 77% of the population consider themselves to be believers and Christians. Christianity in the country is divided into Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox. Islam is also widely spread. Its followers are primarily emigrants from poor Arab countries who came to Canada in the past decades. Also among Canadians, you can find Jews, Buddhists, and adherents of other religious denominations. Only a small percentage (only 10% of the total population) recognizes themselves as unbelievers. Furthermore, not all unbelievers consider themselves atheists. Many call themselves humanists and tolerate any religious denomination, but do not consider it necessary to bring religion into their lives or to follow other people’s teachings.

Most atheists live in the largest cities of the country, such as Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The fact is that the inhabitants of these cities are greatly influenced by neighboring countries, and the trend of atheism is now actively spreading not only across Europe but also in America. It is worth noting that this is not the only fact for the gradual rejection of religion. In this case, the major role is played by territorial location. For example, like in other countries, in remote places and small towns, family traditions are much more honored. They therefore attend church regularly, whereas in the city parishioners mainly go to church only during big holidays. Nonetheless, till now Canadians are considered much more religious than, for example, Europeans.

Despite the large territory of the Christian community of Canada, religion is not considered national here, since most Canadians favor the separation of church from state, although the state has a loyal attitude towards religious ideas of the country. Religion in Canada is neither a cult nor the main thing in the life of Canadians. There are no open confrontations between different religious denominations in the country, although tens of thousands of people have emigrated to Canada over the last hundred years, bringing their own culture and religion with them, and thus diluting the habitual way of indigenous Canadians. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

English and French are recognized as the official languages ​​of Canada. All laws, state documentation, and official literature must be in English language. There are also unrecognized languages ​​in the country, such as Chinese, Punjabi, Spanish, Italian and Ukrainian. Basically, people who came to this country a few decades ago communicate in these languages. Statistics show that over time, the children of emigrants begin to speak in both English and French. Thus, in the absence of a constant flow of emigrants, the linguistic integrity of the country will be restored.

Most English-speaking people live in Montreal, while it is in Quebec and Manitoba that you will find the French-speaking population. If we talk about the entire population as a whole, then English triumphs. This is due not only to the territorial location of the country, but also to various historical events that significantly influenced the formation of Canada as a state. However, even in large cities like Montreal, you can find French-speaking communities such as the National Capital Region. In Quebec on the other hand, most people speak French, but there are also English-speaking neighborhoods.

In Canada, you can hear many variants of pronunciation of English; this is a mixture of American and British slangs. A special dialect of the Chinese language can be heard in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. This is due to the influx of emigrants who come from China. Up till now, there are native speakers of such an ancient language as Inuktitut in Canada. It is the traditional language of the Eskimos. Despite the huge variety of linguistic directions, the country does not divide the population according to the language principle. Therefore, even emigrants with minimal knowledge of English can adequately adapt to the country.