Where do Canadian Muslims look for religious guidance?

Canadian Muslims are most likely to look for religious guidance from local Muslim organizations, local leaders or their own family, according to the national survey conducted by Environics Institute and released on April 27.

Four in ten respondents, however, do not rely on any particular sources of guidance for their faith.

These are the findings of the survey conducted between November 2015 and January 2016.

It is a follow-up to the first-ever national survey of the country’s Muslim population conducted by the Environics Institute in 2006.

In response to the question – Where do Canadians personally look for religious guidance as a Muslim? – the most common sources given by participants in the survey are local Muslim organizations or mosques (22%), one’s own family (11%) or the local Imam or sheik (10%), followed by national Muslim organizations and the Quran.

Very few (1%) mentioned religious leaders outside of Canada.

More than four in ten (42%), however, say they look nowhere in particular for guidance as a Muslim.

Sources of guidance are generally similar across the Canadian Muslim population.

However, younger Muslims, and those Canadian-born, are most likely to identify at least one source, especially local organizations or family.

Older individuals are less apt to name any, although the Quran is most apt to be mentioned by those 60 plus.

Canadian-born Muslims are also more likely to seek guidance from at least one source than are those born in another country.

The Environics Institute is based on interviews conducted by telephone with a representative sample of Muslims 18 years and older, between November 19, 2015 and January 23, 2016.

Canada’s Muslims make up 3.2 percent of the national population, representing the second largest religious group after Christianity, and is one of the fastest growing segments of the Canadian population.

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.