Amid the increasing number of Muslims within its borders, Public Safety Canada has awarded a $170K grant to Australian academic Scott Flower, tasked with discovering why Canadians are choosing Islam.
“Canada was a country that had not even one published journal article on converts between its borders. So, I thought, ‘Wow, what a great opportunity,'” Prof. Scott Flower of the University of Melbourne said in interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning, CBC News reported on Saturday, July 25.
Looking into the reasons, Public Safety Canada is funding a project by an Australian academic to study why Canadians convert to Islam.
Being the first study of its kind in Canada, it follows in the footsteps of a number of other studies funded by Public Safety Canada through its Kanishka Project, which funds research into terrorism and counterterrorism.
In order to facilitate his study, Prof. Flower will spend a few months in Canada interviewing reverts to Islam, exploring the reasoning behind their decisions to become Muslim.
Canadians converting to Islam: A rocky, complex road, new study finds
Muslim Population of Canada in 2011
| Province | Muslim 2001 | % 2001 | Muslims 2011 | % 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ontario |
352,525 | 3.1% | 581,950 | 4.6% |
 Quebec |
108,620 | 1.5% | 243,430 | 3.1% |
 Alberta |
49,045 | 1.7% | 113,445 | 3.2% |
 British Columbia |
56,220 | 1.4% | 79,310 | 1.8% |
 Manitoba |
5,095 | 0.5% | 12,405 | 1.0% |
 Saskatchewan |
2,230 | 0.2% | 10,040 | 1.0% |
 Nova Scotia |
3,545 | 0.4% | 8,505 | 0.9% |
 New Brunswick |
1,270 | 0.2% | 2,640 | 0.3% |
 Newfoundland and Labrador |
625 | 0.1% | 1,200 | 0.2% |
 Prince Edward Island |
195 | 0.1% | 660 | 0.5% |
 Northwest Territories |
175 | 0.5% | 275 | 0.7% |
 Nunavut |
25 | 0.1% | 50 | 0.2% |
 Yukon |
55 | 0.1% | 40 | 0.1% |
 Canada |
579,640 | 2.0% | 1,053,945 | 3.2% |