In April 2013, the British Columbia Humanist Association commissioned a poll from Justatson Market Intelligence to probe the province's religiosity and support for secular values. The results show that two-thirds of the province is not religious and one in five do not believe in a "higher power."
You can see some of our results in the following presentation:
For our initial results, please share these infographics, highlighting the key results of our poll. Click to enlarge.
Survey details:
Justason Marketing Intelligence
- Sample size: n=600
- Represents: BC adults 18+
- Telephone-online hybrid
- Field dates: 15-23 April 2013
- Margin of error: +/- 4.0 percentage points
Do you practice or participate in a particular religion or faith?
Yes: 33.1%
No: 64.2%
Don’t know: 2.8%
Which of the following best describes your religion?
Respondents were only those who participate in or practice a particular religion or faith
Christianity (net): 77.2%
- Protestant: 27.2%
- Catholic: 24%
- Christian Orthodox: 4.7%
- Other Christian: 21.4%
Other religions (net): 20.7%
- Buddhist: 2.9%
- Sikh: 2.4%
- Jewish: 1.2%
- Muslim: 1.7%
- Other: 12.5%
Don't know: 2.1%
Regardless of whether you participate in a particular religion or faith, do you believe in a higher power?
Yes: 70.4%
No: 20.2%
Don't know: 9.4%
How often do you attend religious services such as church, synagogue, mosque or temple?
About once a week or more often: 14.7%
1 to 2 times a month: 4.3%
Several times a year: 5.8%
Only on holidays: 3.2%
Never / Don't attend: 68.3%
Don't know: 3.7%
Do you agree or disagree with the following: Public education in British Columbia should...?
| Encourage students to explore their personal spirituality. | Encourage students to explore personal options in organized religion. | Encourage students to practice a specific religion or faith. | Encourage students to learn about religions and faiths from around the world. | Not teach about religion. | Not teach about spirituality. | |
| Strongly / Somewhat agree (NET) | 59.1% | 43.5% | 21.5% | 77.4% | 39.6% | 33.3% |
| Strongly agree | 23.8% | 14.2% | 8.5% | 41.0% | 22.0% | 15.2% |
| Somewhat agree | 35.3% | 29.2% | 12.9% | 36.4% | 17.6% | 18.2% |
| Strongly / Somewhat disagree (NET) | 34.6% | 50.1% | 72.7% | 18.2% | 54.5% | 58.9% |
| Somewhat disagree | 16.0% | 19.4% | 16.5% | 8.2% | 24.5% | 27.7% |
| Strongly disagree | 18.6% | 30.7% | 56.2% | 10.0% | 29.9% | 31.2% |
| Don't know | 6.3% | 6.4% | 5.9% | 4.4% | 6.0% | 7.8% |
Which comes closest to your view about religion and Canada's federal government? Would you say...?
Gone too far in keeping religion and government separate: 13.3%
Gone too far in mixing religion and government: 22.6%
Struck a good balance in terms of the separation of religion and government: 43.1%
Don't know: 21.0%
In February 2013 Premier Christy Clark made a statement to a small audience at the Vancouver Club: "I think we should be doing much, much more to involve faith communities in the work that government does, to serve the people." Do you agree or disagree?
Strongly / Somewhat agree (net): 31.6%
- Strongly agree: 7.3%
- Somewhat agree: 24.3%
Strongly / somewhat disagree (net): 59.0%
- Somewhat disagree: 25.3%
- Strongly disagree: 33.7%
Don't know: 9.5%
Demographics of for British Columbia's non-religious
|
|
Age |
||
|
Religious? |
18-34 |
35-54 |
55+ |
|
Yes |
32.0% |
36.7% |
30.7% |
|
No |
66.3% |
60.0% |
66.1% |
|
Don’t know |
1.7% |
3.2% |
3.2% |
|
|
Region |
||
|
Religious? |
Metro Vancouver |
Vancouver Island |
Interior |
|
Yes |
33.8% |
30.0% |
33.5% |
|
No |
64.2% |
65.4% |
63.4% |
|
Don’t know |
2.0% |
4.6% |
3.1% |
|
|
Detailed Region |
|||||
|
Religious? |
City of Vancouver |
Metro Vancouver |
Capital Region |
Rest of Island |
Northern BC |
Rest of Mainland |
|
Yes |
23.6% |
37.7% |
30.3% |
29.7% |
39.7% |
32.2% |
|
No |
75.5% |
59.9% |
64.4% |
66.4% |
57.9% |
64.6% |
|
Don’t know |
0.9% |
2.4% |
2.4% |
5.3% |
2.4% |
3.2% |
|
|
Voter Intention |
||||
|
Religious? |
BC Liberal |
BC NDP |
BC Con |
BC Green |
Undecided |
|
Yes |
37.8% |
24.9% |
45.1% |
30.8% |
35.3% |
|
No |
59.5% |
73.1% |
49.9% |
67.8% |
60.6% |
|
Don’t know |
2.7% |
1.9% |
5.0% |
1.4% |
4.0% |
|
|
Income |
||
|
Religious? |
Up to $50K |
Up to $100K |
Over $100K |
|
Yes |
31.2% |
34.7% |
29.2% |
|
No |
68.1% |
64.3% |
66.9% |
|
Don’t know |
0.7% |
1.0% |
3.9% |
|
|
People in Household |
|||
|
Religious? |
1 |
2 |
3+ |
Average |
|
Yes |
23.3% |
29.4% |
37.4% |
2.91 |
|
No |
75.4% |
68.5% |
59.1% |
2.54 |
|
Don’t know |
1.2% |
2.1% |
3.5% |
2.87 |
|
|
Ethnicity |
||||
|
Religious? |
East Asia |
South Asia |
South Pacific |
Europe / |
All Others |
|
Yes |
23.9% |
50.3% |
41.4% |
31.8% |
44.1% |
|
No |
75.3% |
49.7% |
58.6% |
65.4% |
54.4% |
|
Don’t know |
0.8% |
0.0% |
0.0% |
2.8% |
1.5% |
|
|
Believe in a Higher Power |
||
|
Religious? |
Yes |
No |
Don't Know |
|
Yes |
45.5% |
3.1% |
4.8% |
|
No |
52.7% |
96.9% |
79.1% |
|
Don’t know |
1.8% |
1.8% |
16.1% |
|
|
Gender |
|
|
Religious? |
Male |
Female |
|
Yes |
29.4% |
36.6% |
|
No |
66.9% |
61.6% |
|
Don’t know |
3.7% |
1.9% |