Seven in ten British Columbians are not religious and over a quarter are atheists. Yet very few people openly identify as Humanists. The core mission of the BC Humanist Association is to promote the ideas and philosophy of Humanism by all available means of education and communication. We do this through our public meetings, advertising campaigns, social media, letters to the editor, engaging with politicians, and research into the state of non-religion in British Columbia.
Statistics Canada's 2011 National Household Survey (formerly the long-form census) found that 44% of the people in BC say they have no religion. However, the data quality of the National Household Survey has been questioned since it was made voluntary in 2011 and it has historically over-inflated the number of religious respondents because it asks what religion a person is “even if they are not currently a practicing member of that group.” Read our press release from the release the 2011 National Household Survey.
Our 2013 poll found that 64% of British Columbians do not practice a religion or faith and 20% do not believe in a higher power (9% don't know). See the full results from our 2013 BC Religious and Secular Values poll.
By 2016, 69% of British Columbians said they do not practice a religion or faith and 26% said they do not believe in a higher power. See the full results from our 2016 BC Religious and Secular Values poll.
Latest news
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Blog by Ian Bushfield
· March 26, 2025
Over recent years, we've watch the evolving landscape of religious belief and affiliation in Canada with keen interest. New data from Pew Research Center's international religious switching report offers compelling insights into these changes. For Humanists, there's much to be optimistic about, particularly the significant increase in the number of...
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Blog by Ian Bushfield
· July 18, 2024
British Columbians go to the polls on October 19, 2024, to elect our next provincial government. As an organization that seeks to promote secular and progressive values, we're gearing up to ensure the candidates vying for your votes hear the voices and concerns of Humanists. While we have several core...
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Blog by Ian Bushfield
· December 19, 2023
Looking back on this past year, we're seeing the dividends paid out for the investments the members of the Humanist community have been making for the past few years.
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· October 30, 2023
The BC Humanist Association is celebrating the release of its latest eBook, End of Life: A Guide for Humanists and Non-Religious People in British Columbia. This comprehensive resource offers guidance and support to individuals and families in British Columbia who seek a humanistic and non-religious approach to end-of-life decisions and...
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· October 26, 2022
The BC Humanist Association is celebrating the latest data from the Census shows that 52.1% of British Columbians are non-religious. This is a reflection of the growing trend of people in BC and across Canada who are choosing to live their lives without religion. In the 2011 National Household Survey...
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· November 02, 2020
The BC Humanist Association has created two guides to discuss issues that humanists and other non-religious people may encounter around the ends of their lives. This guide, on Memorials & Grief, is for anyone non-religious (humanist, atheist, agnostic) and living with the death of a loved one, or simply interested...
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Blog by Ian Bushfield
· July 28, 2020
Statistics Canada calls the census "the country's storyteller" but the accuracy of that story depends deeply on the quality of the questions being asked of Canadians. For years, Humanists, atheists and other nonreligious Canadians have been concerned by the wording of the question that Statistics Canada includes in the census....
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News
· April 18, 2019
A new poll from ResearchCo has found that only 3% of British Columbians say they attend religious services "at least once a week." Only 2% said they had "confessed or sought advice from a religious figure" in the past 12 months. The poll also found that 29% of people in...
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Blog by Ian Bushfield
· August 02, 2016
Pride Week has just ended in Vancouver and for the sixth straight year members of the BC Humanist Association joined the annual Vancouver Pride Parade to show our solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. This year, we built on our strengths. It was the first year that many of our supporters...
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· June 13, 2016
Update (Aug 22, 2016): You can download the full results here. Seven in ten British Columbians are non-religious and over a quarter don’t believe in a higher power according to a new poll by Insights West commissioned by the BC Humanist Association. This is an increase from the 64% of people...
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