Immigrant Religiosity in Canada: Multiple Trajectories

Although much research focuses on the economic and linguistic adaptation of immigrants to their new societies, it is rare to find research that studies the religious adaptation of immigrants at a national level. Using longitudinal data among immigrants to Canada in 2001, hypothesized trajectories of immigrant religiosity during initial settlement controlling for a number of individual and contextual level factors are explored. Religious group membership increases a few years after migration and then falls back to earlier levels within 4 years after migration. However, religious participation declines throughout the adaptation process, while the likelihood of religious volunteerism dramatically increases. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of potential explanations for these seemingly contradictory trajectories.