Muslims in Canada

You are cordially invited to attend a presentation on the

The Environics Institute 2016 Survey of Muslims in Canada

Speaker:

Keith Neuman, Ph.D. Executive Director of the Environics Institute

Respondents

Anita Bromberg, Executive Director- Canadian Race Relations Foundation

Gwen Joy, Director of Grants and Evaluation – Inspirit Foundation

Mohamed Huque, President – Tessellate Institute

Muneeb Nasir, President – Olive Tree Foundation

Moderator

Steve Zhou, Journalist 

About the Environics Institute 2016 Survey Of Muslims In Canada

The survey reveals what it is like to be Muslim in Canada, and how this has changed over the past decade.

The results show that Muslims as a whole are embracing Canada’s diversity, democracy and freedoms, and feeling more positive about the country than a decade ago. This is despite continuing to experience discrimination due to religion and ethnicity, well above levels experienced by the Canadian population-at-large.

This survey is a follow-up to the first-ever national survey of the country’s Muslim population conducted by the Environics Institute in 2006.  In both cases, a complementary survey of the non-Muslim population was also conducted to provide comparative measures of mainstream opinions about the Muslim community.

Key findings from the new survey include the following:

• The vast majority (83%) of Muslims feel very proud to be Canadian, and this sentiment has strengthened since 2006 (especially in Quebec). By comparison, 73 percent of non-Muslims feel similarly proud to be Canadian.
• Most (84%) believe Muslims in Canada are treated better than Muslims are treated in other western countries, and this view has strengthened since 2006 (when it was 77%). An increasing majority also believe that non-Muslim opinions of Islam are generally positive (54%) rather than negative (32%). Non-Muslim opinion is in fact more positive than negative, although no more so than 10 years ago.
• One-third (35%) of Muslims report having experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly in the past five years, primarily due to their religion or ethnicity, but also because of their language or sex. This incidence is unchanged from 2006, and is approximately 50 percent higher than for the Canadian population-at-large.
• Nine in ten (90%) Muslims are optimistic the new federal government will lead to improved relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. At the same time, Muslims are more likely to believe the next generation of Muslims will face more discrimination and stereotyping than Muslims do today, and this view is most prevalent among Muslim youth.

The 2016 survey of Muslims in Canada was conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the Tessellate Institute, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, the Inspirit Foundation, the Olive Tree Foundation, and Calgary-based Think for Actions.