Of those people in Nanaimo who were religious, Catholics had the second highest percentage at 10.6 per cent. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

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Census data ranks Nanaimo least religious metro centre in Canada

Oct 27, 2022 | 4:44 PM

NANAIMO — When it comes to the number of Canadians in major centres who classify themselves as not religious, the Nanaimo ranks at the very top.

According to new data from the 2021 Census released by Statistics Canada, Nanaimo had the highest percentage of any city to say they weren’t religious, with 62 per cent of those who answered the question saying they have “no religion and secular perspectives”.

Among those who did identify as religious, Christians were the highest with 32 per cent, inclusive of Catholics at 10.6 per cent, and “Christian not otherwise specified” at 8.8 per cent.

Other British Columbia communities rounded out the top six on the list.

Behind Nanaimo was Kamloops (61 per cent), Victoria (60), Kelowna (54), Chilliwack (49) and Vancouver (47).

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The City of Parksville showed 52 per cent of question respondents identified as not having a major religion.

Parksville does have an older population than Nanaimo, with 44 per cent of their population aged 65+, compared to Nanaimo with only 24 per cent.

Among the most religious metro areas in Canada was St. John’s, NFLD, with only around 20 per cent of the population saying they are not religious.

Saguenay, QC and Drummondville, QC also had high percentages of religious affiliation.

Province-wide, out of the 4,915,945 people who responded to the census question, 52 per cent said they were non-religious, making B.C. the least religious province in the entire country.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow