Jason Chen

RELIGION Map
Location
-

Country: Canada
City: Vancouver

For my individual map project on religious problems, I want to look at the city I had
once lived in: Vancouver, Canada. Vancouver is known to be a very culturally
diverse place. Vancouvers mayor stated that Diversity is [the] citys ticket to
future prosperity (The Globe and the Mail: Diversity). Around half of Vancouvers
population are Chinese, Pakistani, and South Indian immigrant. According to the
religion that appears to be most dominate from the country these minorities are
originally from, it should be able to bring a strong number of religion diversity.
Problems:
The diversity in religion in Vancouver has created unwanted segregation amongst
the people.
REGIONAL SCALE MAP RELIGION

At the regional level, the Southern part of Canada is dominated by Protestants,

however the northern part remains indigenous. This is because during the European
colonization, French settlers, whom were largely Roman Catholic followers,
conquered these lands for fur trading (Jordan 5). With the on-going conflict during
the colonization period with the British colonies, the two countries sought war and
the British, who were Protestants, defeated the French and had managed to spread
their own religion in these territories that belong to Canada today. However, due to
the cold nature of Northern Canada, the area remains untouched and belongs to the
indigenous.

Jason Chen
According to the Canadian Government statistics, the province of British Columbia
(That Vancouver city resides in) has 1,930,415 (44.64%) Christians, 79,310 (1.83%)
Muslins, 23,130 (0.53%) Jews, 90,620 (2.10%) Buddhists, 45,795 (1.06%) Hindus,
and 201,110 (4.65%) Sikhs.

LOCAL SCALE MAP RELIGION

Vancouver is commonly considered as Canadas gateway to Asia. Many immigrants

from Asia move to Canada to seek better opportunities. Immigrants not only
improve the economy by purchasing and investing in real estate in Vancouver, but
they also bring part of their religion and culture with them as well. For instance,
after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China,
many Cantonese did not know what the future meant for their citizenship. Many
thought that they would become Chinese citizens and so much of the wealthier
elites in Hong Kong applied for Canadian citizenship. The process of obtaining
permanent residential status in Canada is much easier than obtaining one in the
U.S.

Solution:
One of the ways to solve religious segregation is for the government to promote
events or advertisements that shun light on the different religions in Vancouver.
Already, the city of Vancouver has built indigenous totems to show their respects to
the indigenous around the city, and I think it would be a good idea for them to do so
for the other minorities (Muslins, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs). Perhaps a
festival per year dedicated to the spread of these religions to promote their
acceptance in White communities. This would not only make people familiarize
themselves with these religions but also for them to become more understanding of
it.

Jason Chen

References

NatGeo Mapmaker Interactive." NatGeo Mapmaker Interactive. N.p., n.d. Web. 29

Sept. 2015.

Native North American Religious Traditions: Dancing for Life - Page 5, Jordan D.
Paper 2007

"Population by religion, by province and territory (2011 Census NHS results)".

0.statcan.gc.ca. Jan 25, 2005. Retrieved2010-12-10.

Tjaden, Tracey. "Vancouver Mayor Says Diversity Is City's Ticket to Future

Prosperity." The Globe and
Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.