subject: Muslims In Canada A Fast Growing Community [print this page] Most of the Muslims in Canada today are the people born and raised as Muslim here. There are several reasons why Muslims have attracted to this region for immigration. Some of the most important reasons behind Muslims immigration to Canada are said to be higher education, better employment, family re-union and security concerns. Many of the Muslim immigrants had come to this land in pursuit of political and religious freedom, and to give their children a brighter future; away from the world full of persecution and ethnic strife. By the year 1980, Canada had been acknowledged as a safer refuge for those fleeing from the civil wars in their own countries. More or less, they have come from almost all the Muslim countries in the world. You can find here Muslims from Lebanon, Somali, Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Albania, Yemen and Bangladesh.
Muslims here have been growing in numbers faster than any other community and they contribute more than 2.11 percent to the total population of Canada. The birth rate of Muslims, are higher than that of other women of other communities. Majority of these Muslims reside in and around Ontario. Therefore the largest part of Muslim population in Canada is spread around Greater Toronto area. In the year 2001 Muslims were counted to be above 250,000 in this area alone. Other areas where Muslims form a considerable proportion in population are British Columbia, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Some other areas with scanty Muslim population are Halifax, Windsor, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.
Regarding history of Muslim community in Canada, it dates back to the inception of the country itself. There were 13 European Muslims found in Canada census in the year of 1871, which was just 4 years since its inception in 1867. The first mosque was established in the year 1938 in Edmonton. By this time the number of European Muslims in the area had grown above 700. Today there are several Muslim organizations representing their respective Muslim communities in Canada. Some of them include Muslim Association of Canada, Canadian Islamic Congress, Muslim Canadian Congress, Islamic Society of North America, and Islamic Circle of North America. However, the city specific organizations are more active and widely known in Canada such as Muslim Council of Montreal, Toronto"s Council, etc. There are more than 60 ethno-cultural groups representing community in the state. Besides, the growing population is giving way to many new organizations and associations which being formed for the various aspects of the society and wellbeing of the community members.
There are some community specific commercial websites too offering several benefits to the Muslim communities in Canada. These online portals provide crucial information regarding community members, their occupations, their business needs, job vacancies, promotional offers and also circulate important information of several of these organizations. These websites about Canadian Muslims are emerging as community centres enabling people to publish their requirements online and communicate others with similar interests. These websites are proving very useful for young Muslims as they contain good information about local religious and cultural activities too.
