Muslim population in Metro Vancouver will triple by 2031

Expect to see more minarets punctuating our West Coast skyline in decades to come.

The elegant spires towering above mosques likely will become more common in Metro Vancouver as Islam strengthens its status as the second-largest religion across Canada after Christianity.

Statistics Canada projected Tuesday that Muslims are on target to make up half of the country’s expanding non-Christian religious population by 2031. That means roughly one out of 10 Canadians might be Muslim in two decades.

Although the proportion of Muslims will vary from region to region across the country, the Statistics Canada forecasting suggests Metro Vancouver will be home to more than 230,000 Muslims within two decades, compared to 72,000 now.

Many of those new Muslims will have origins in Arabian countries, Pakistan and India, which are a rich source of new immigrants to Canada.

The projected rapid growth of Islam in Canada might paint a controversial scenario for some people. There have been outcries in certain quarters, for instance, when some people have projected -- incorrectly -- that Europe will be almost dominated by Muslims by 2040, with some fear-mongers claiming the continent should be renamed “Eurabia.”

Such worries -- that European Christianity is on the defensive and that waves of Muslim immigrants to the continent have higher birthrates -- contributed last year to Swiss voters deciding to ban the construction of new minarets on mosques.

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