A demographic analysis of Buddhism in Canada,based on statistical data from the 1981 to 2001 decennial Canadian census. The main features of Buddhism in Canada identified include: the doubling in numbers of Buddhists in Canada every ten years, mainly because of continued immigration; Buddhists’ residence in the largest Canadian cities, and disproportionately in Western Canada; the persistence of a decidedly “Vietnamese” flavour demographically of Buddhism in Canada, although Chinese Buddhists are becoming more and more dominant; the second-generation offspring of Buddhist immigrants generally exhibit high levels of integration into dominant Canadian society; only a minority of these generally still quite young Canada-born children of Buddhist immigrants appear to be retaining their parental Buddhist identity; and so-called “Western” Buddhism is a significant if minority aspect of Canadian Buddhism.
