Acceptance of evolution in Canada, again.

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As an update to the previous post about the acceptance of evolution in Canada vs. the USA, here are some highlights from a recently published (July 3) poll by Canadian Press-Decima Research. This is useful because it breaks the issue down into young earth creationism, theistic evolution, and naturalistic evolution in the way that American polls have in some cases.

  • Less than one in three Canadians (29%) believe that God had no part in the creation or development of human beings.
  • Fewer still (26%) believe “that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so”.
  • A plurality, but still only 34%, say that “human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process”.
  • Belief in creationism is lowest in Quebec (21%), Alberta (22%), and B.C. (22%). In Alberta, the plurality view is that God guided human development (39%), while in Quebec the plurality feels God played no part (40%).
  • Rural residents are 12 points more likely than urban dwellers to believe that God created humans in their present form. Differences by generation are not all that large. The plurality of women (37%) believes that God guided the process, while the plurality of men (35%) believes that God played no part.
  • In polls using the same question (Gallup) put to US residents, findings are different: 45% said God created humans in more or less their present form (compared to 26% in Canada), 40% said that God guided the evolutionary process (compared to 34% in Canada). Only 15% say God played no part (compared to 29% in Canada).
  • According to Decima CEO Bruce Anderson “These results reflect an essential Canadian tendency: we are pretty secular, but pretty hesitant to embrace atheism. Our views on the role of science and spirituality lack consensus but these are not polarizing issues for the most part. It’s more as though for many, these feelings are unresolved, we believe in a higher being, we know what we don’t know, are comfortable not knowing, and choose not to press our views upon one another.”