Faith-filled Canadians are almost three times more likely to be deeply involved in their communities a key finding from a joint study by the Christian think tank Cardus and the Angus Reid Institute shows.

This study surveyed 5,000 Canadians and 5,000 Americans to examine the connection between faith and community engagement post-pandemic. Released earlier this month, it marks the third installment of a collaborative project by Cardus and Angus Reid Institute exploring faith, politics and community life.

According to the data, 24 per cent of the 905 Canadians who self-identified as religiously committed fall into the very high category on the survey’s Community Involvement Index. This dwarfs the nine per cent of privately faithful (963 respondents), five per cent of spiritually uncertain (2,194) and four per cent of non-believers (940) who fit into this grouping.

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Another 66 per cent of the religiously committed Canadians indicated high or medium involvement in societal life, while just 10 per cent answered with low involvement. Comparatively, 41, 35 and 29 per cent of non-believers, spiritually uncertain and privately faithful participants respectively admitted low community participation.

Reacting to the data, Cardus’ executive vice president, Dr. Ray Pennings, said, “I think religious communities and the religious commitment of Canadians are similar to a rainforest that produces a healthy social ecology. I think the data certainly bears that out.”

As for the specific nature of the most faithful Canadians’ societal contributions, a majority said they volunteer (56 per cent), donate (81 per cent) and help those in need (83 per cent).    

The rest of the study took the very high (465 members), high (1,369), medium (1,694) and low involvement groups (1,473) and denoted how these four different segments view various public institutions, perceive quality of life and appraise the current political divisions.

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Per the study, at least a 58-per-cent majority within the very high involvement group indicated they trusted scientists, police, the public education system, traditional news media, the courts and social justice system, the federal government, organized religion/churches and faith leaders.

This marks a striking contrast with the rest of the factions, as only scientists and police garnered that level of support among the high and medium involvement, and only scientists were accorded that amount of confidence from low involvement.

Healthy percentages in each of the four groupings declared they are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with how welcome they feel in their community and with their overall quality of life. Despite the high level of personal contentment, just 46 per cent of the very high community involvement section answered positively with respect to “the way things have been going in this country,” and that sentiment sinks even more among the high (33 per cent), medium (30) and low (24) engagement.

Among all 5,000 survey participants, 63 per cent strongly/moderately disagree, and 33 per cent strongly/moderately agree, with the statement “Canada is so divided that nothing is going to bring the country back together.” The remaining four per cent “don’t know or can’t say.”

Pennings was asked by The Catholic Register if he is more heartened by the 63 per cent who do see a pathway to unification or more unsettled with the 33 per cent who do not. While admitting the latter is “very alarming” and presents challenges, he said small kindnesses from the majority have the potential to alter the equation.  

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“The two-thirds are engaging, not just through institutions, but with their neighbours across the fence,” said Pennings. “They offer in a time of need to give their neighbours a ride to a medical appointment or something of that sort. Those are the ways in which Canadians, right across the board, can make a very positive difference and change those numbers. The concerns are addressable, and we all can do a little bit to make a difference. It's not some government program — it’s the individual behaviours of Canadians that will change things.”

Read the full study at angusreid.org.