Canadian Cities With the Largest Muslim Populations

Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau hold Canada’s largest Muslim populations by census metropolitan area (CMA), according to Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census of Population, the most recent Canadian census to collect data on religious affiliation. Below are the ten CMAs with the highest Muslim population counts from that census, ranked by absolute population, followed by what the data does and does not measure.

Which Canadian cities have the largest Muslim populations?

The ranking below covers the ten census metropolitan areas with the highest Muslim population counts in Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census Profile. It is not a list of every CMA in Canada, only the ten with the highest counts; other CMAs with established Muslim communities fall outside this top ten by absolute count and are not included here.

How does Statistics Canada measure religion?

The count comes from a single self-reported question on the long-form census questionnaire, which about a quarter of households receive. Statistics Canada’s own account of the release states that “the census collects information on people’s religious affiliation, regardless of whether or not they practise that religion”: a respondent who writes “Muslim” is counted as Muslim whether or not they attend a mosque or observe religious practice. The figures in the table above cover the “population in private households” only.

Religion is not asked every census cycle. The 2021 figures are compared throughout Statistics Canada’s release to figures from 2011 and 2001, not 2016, because the question was last asked before that in 2011. Treat 2021 as the newest available government count of Muslims in Canada by city, not a current-year figure.

What does the census data not capture?

The religion question measures self-identified affiliation, not attendance, belief intensity or connection to a specific mosque or organization. Statistics Canada directs readers who want data on religious practice and the importance of religion to its General Social Statistics Program rather than the census. The census also does not publish a list of mosques, congregation sizes or attendance figures for any city; any such figures need to come from the institutions themselves.

Where is Muslim population growth concentrated?

Nationally, the share of Canada’s population reporting Islam as their religion rose from 2.0% in 2001 to 4.9% in 2021, and Statistics Canada counted nearly 1.8 million people reporting Islam, the second most commonly reported religion after Christianity. Ontario, home to five of the ten CMAs in the table above and part of a sixth, posted the highest percentage of Muslims (6.7%) of any province. Immigration is one of the key drivers of non-Christian religions in Canada: Statistics Canada reported that immigrants made up the majority of Muslims (63.1%) in 2021.

Related: Top 10 Muslim-Owned Companies Shaping Canada’s Economy.

City notes

Toronto

Toronto is the largest Muslim population center in Canada by CMA, with a Muslim population of 626,010 recorded in the 2021 Census, more than the next two CMAs combined. Halal dining options in the city are surveyed in Top 10 Halal-Friendly Restaurants in Toronto.

Montreal

Montreal’s 365,675 Muslims make it the second-largest CMA on this list and the largest in Quebec.

Ottawa-Gatineau

The national capital region recorded 114,780 Muslims in 2021, split across the Ontario and Quebec sides of the CMA.

Vancouver

Vancouver’s CMA recorded 110,645 Muslims, the largest total in British Columbia.

Calgary and Edmonton

Alberta’s two largest CMAs both rank in the national top six: Calgary recorded 100,825 Muslims and Edmonton recorded 86,120. Edmonton is also home to the Al Rashid Foundation of Canada, which operates the Al Rashid Mosque and traces its own history to 1938, when, in the foundation’s words, “Canada’s first mosque” opened in the city.

London

London’s CMA recorded 35,875 Muslims, the ninth-highest count in Canada. The London Muslim Mosque, whose own history page describes efforts beginning in the 1950s and doors opening in 1964, is described on that page as the first mosque in Ontario and the second in Canada.

Frequently asked questions

What is this ranking based on?

Absolute Muslim population by census metropolitan area, as reported in Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census Profile, not Muslim share of each city’s total population.

Does this cover every Canadian city with a significant Muslim community?

No. It covers the ten CMAs with the highest absolute counts in Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census. Other Canadian CMAs have established Muslim communities but are not part of this top ten.

Is 2021 the most current data available?

Yes, for religion specifically. Statistics Canada’s 2021 release is built on the most recent census cycle to include a religion question; the prior count was in 2011.

Does the census track mosque attendance or religious observance?

No. It records self-reported religious affiliation only. Statistics Canada points to its General Social Statistics Program, not the census, for data on practice and observance.

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