The Great Canadian churches thread

[Architype]

St. Peter's, Twillingate 1842

my photo

[Binour]

Saint-Pierre-les-Bécquets. A village on the south shore of the Saint-Laurent river, near Trois-Rivières.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq2u3_yGlWk

[megadude]

Started a new job a month ago that requires me to go visit many of the properties that we lend on. On my team of six, two are in the Vancouver office and cover all of Western Canada, one in Montreal that does QC and East Coast and three of us do the GTA mostly and cover the rest of Ontario as well. But my portfolio only goes as far as KWC, Niagara, Orillia and Peterborough. Looking forward to seeing more of the towns and cities I haven't really explored as much as I would have like to but would have been nice to reach some farther locales. Anyhoo, I covered Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham yesterday. Observed most of these places on the way to see some boring retail, industrial, office and apartments. I plan out my routes ahead of time to take me up streets I either haven't driven before or haven't in many years. I've added other temples on here from these cities in the past as I drove by them so just adding to the collection here.


The Christian Community, Vaughan. Never seen anything like this before for a church.





Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wiless/3223214762


St. Mary's Anglican Church Richmond Hill

https://canada247.info/explore/ontar...an_church.html


Rivers of Life in Vaughan. Not sure what it's about. I'm just surprised how big it is.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1...56035237329638


Hindu Temple Society of Canada - Richmond Hill

https://www.simplyhindu.com/richmond...hht-june-2020/


Our Lady of Grace Shrine at Marylake - King City

https://www.marylake.com/facilities/shrine

https://www.marylake.com/facilities/our-800-acres


Imam Mahdi Islamic Centre, Markham

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4upHN12Vr-I


Wong Dai Sin Temple, Markham

https://www.archdaily.com/878269/won...ffe-architects

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...vism-hume.html


Cham Shan Temple, Markham

https://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-...ple-in-toronto


Vishnu Mandir Richmond Hill

https://vishnumandir.com/contact-us/

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/12...nd-hill-canada


https://twitter.com/relworld/status/1081781692162101248


King City United Church



Christ Church Anglican, King Township

https://www.anglicanparishoflloydtown.com/about/give/


Jaffari Community Centre, Richmond Hill

https://canada247.info/explore/ontar...ty_centre.html

[esquire]

Nice collection. This one is very interesting, curious as to what it looks like inside:

Originally Posted by megadude

Wong Dai Sin Temple, Markham

https://www.archdaily.com/878269/won...ffe-architects

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...vism-hume.html

[megadude]

Any idea why they'd choose Shediac?

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

A little off topic perhaps, but the main Sikh temple for all of Atlantic Canada is currently under construction just outside of Shediac NB (of all places). In any event, they held a religious parade down Main Street in Shediac on the weekend.

[xinplaylist]

This St. Lucas United looks super cool! I would like to visit it next time I’m in Toronto. I have not seen it before.
But the last time I was in Toronto was seven years ago, to be honest. I was a member of a Baptist protestant community back then, and we had a conference where people from all the northern America were present. It was a huge conference with thousands of people present. The people who organized it did a great job because there were no crowds and no squashing and everyone was well fed.
I am no longer a member, but I would really like to see Toronto City again.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by megadude

Any idea why they'd choose Shediac?

Mostly central location in the Maritimes.

The land out in Shediac is a bit cheaper than in Moncton, and Shediac Cape is a pleasant community.

[JustForTheHalibut]

^ Ok, so I had to wonder what the Sikh population in New Brunswick would be if there's only a couple dozen people in a parade in a Sikh hot bed of that province.

And to my surprise the Sikh population in the Atlantic provinces is measured in not the tens of thousands, or even thousands...or even hundreds, but indeed in the dozens only.
There's more Sikhs in Manitoba than in Canada east of Ontario in fact.

Which is surprising to me especially since the largest religion in BC outside of Christianity is Sikhism.




Islamic faith representation isn't much better in the east coast, but the demographic seems to be slowly growing there at least.



Although, now that I think about it, I did read in Winnipeg Free Press a couple weeks ago that there's a lot of hate speech, vandalism and crime against Muslims in Newfoundland but it's not taken very seriously by police there sadly.
I'll see if I can find it...

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...ld-sister.html

Newfoundland Muslims make up a tenth of a single percent of the Canadian Muslim population but seem to take a disproportionally large portion of Islam directed abuse in the country.

[megadude]

I was wondering how many Sikhs there could be to justify new construction of a temple. I was expecting there to be a few thousand out East as well. If that table is true I have to wonder how a temple or parade is viable. I wonder how some of the huge and ornate temples here are viable in places like Brampton, Malton, Etobicoke and I assume BC.

Though, it's not just Sikhism. Every time I pass by any impressive new place of worship built in the last 30 years, regardless of religion, I wonder how they could possibly have funded it given the decrease in religious participation and the cost of land.

On the flip side, I always find it amusing when I see a church/temple located in a small unit of some rundown industrial building or a plaza. Rent is cheap, but not exactly an inspiring place to attract young members. I noticed today in the area of Weston and Finch in North York a bunch of these, along with some big churches, including a super church, which I will probably post in the future. But here's an example:

[esquire]

^ Interesting observations. It's an interesting dynamic with new places of worship. I suspect that in general, most of the new ones are built on the strength of a few very deep pocketed donors who are kind of driving the bus. I think in situations like Sikh temples there is a strong community identity factor at play as well that prompts people to dig deep.

I know there is a newer suburban Catholic church that was built in Winnipeg about a decade or so ago, it was a totally new parish. I have heard that they've been struggling mightily financially and leaning on their members to pony up.

I've also wondered about those tiny, modest strip mall churches. I've noticed (in Winnipeg at least) that those are quite often associated with a demographic that is very small, or in poorer areas are often operated as a mission of larger, more prosperous churches. A lot of the evangelical churches run "inner city mission" type operations.

[MolsonExport]

Living hope family church. Sounds desperate.

[JustForTheHalibut]

Originally Posted by megadude

I was wondering how many Sikhs there could be to justify new construction of a temple. I was expecting there to be a few thousand out East as well. If that table is true I have to wonder how a temple or parade is viable. I wonder how some of the huge and ornate temples here are viable in places like Brampton, Malton, Etobicoke and I assume BC.

Though, it's not just Sikhism. Every time I pass by any impressive new place of worship built in the last 30 years, regardless of religion, I wonder how they could possibly have funded it given the decrease in religious participation and the cost of land.

On the flip side, I always find it amusing when I see a church/temple located in a small unit of some rundown industrial building or a plaza. Rent is cheap, but not exactly an inspiring place to attract young members. I noticed today in the area of Weston and Finch in North York a bunch of these, along with some big churches, including a super church, which I will probably post in the future. But here's an example:

Some of the newest places of worship in Canada are large Mosques, Temples, and Synagogues. My guess is that those religions congregations spend more than what evangelical religions do these days.

The Ling Yen Mountain Temple in Richmond is a good example.

The congregation is planning an expansion of the main hall and monastery and has over 10,000 members.
https://www.richmond-news.com/local-...ouncil-3033898

Major temple expansion gets green light by council
The decade-long saga that is the Lingyen Mountain Temple expansion is nearing an end after Richmond city council unanimously approved
www.richmond-news.com




But also Sikh Temples in Edmonton


or Hindu Temples in Winnipeg


or Mosques in Saskatchewan
Saskatoon already has one of the largest Mosques in Canada but they're planning to build an extra one.




Anecdotally from their Islamic Association site, the first Muslim organization in Canada formed in Saskatchewan.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by JustForTheHalibut

And to my surprise the Sikh population in the Atlantic provinces is measured in not the tens of thousands, or even thousands...or even hundreds, but indeed in the dozens only.

I wouldn’t put much stock in those stats; they’re more than a decade old now, and immigration to the Maritimes has increased greatly since then. I believe StatsCan will be releasing updated religion information by province in October. I would expect the Maritimes still won’t be hotspots for Sikhism or Islam in a national context, but both will likely have much greater numbers now, especially Islam.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I wouldn’t put much stock in those stats; they’re more than a decade old now, and immigration to the Maritimes has increased greatly since then. I believe StatsCan will be releasing updated religion information by province in October. I would expect the Maritimes still won’t be hotspots for Sikhism or Islam in a national context, but both will likely have much greater numbers now, especially Islam.

Yes, all numbers will be creeping upwards as numbers are updated from 2016. I think at this point Arabic is the third most spoken language in NB - between 2011 and 2016 it was Korean, IIRC, although I haven't looked at numbers in a while.

Originally Posted by megadude

I was wondering how many Sikhs there could be to justify new construction of a temple. I was expecting there to be a few thousand out East as well. If that table is true I have to wonder how a temple or parade is viable. I wonder how some of the huge and ornate temples here are viable in places like Brampton, Malton, Etobicoke and I assume BC.

Does it really matter? Surely people should be able to practice whatever faith they like without people poking around asking if their presence in a parade is 'viable'. Good grief.

I was recently working with a Muslim and the vast majority of his stories from living in Canada for the past 30 years were of him road-tripping across Canada with his family, and occasionally visiting temples across Canada to complete daily prayers, in particular Fajr and Isha. These temples provide meeting points not just for residents but for those travelling from all over.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by JustForTheHalibut

^ Ok, so I had to wonder what the Sikh population in New Brunswick would be if there's only a couple dozen people in a parade in a Sikh hot bed of that province.

Sorry. Just responding to your comment now. I haven't been looking in on this thread.

That photo may have been misleading. There were more than a couple of dozen Sikhs marching down Main Street in Shediac that day. There were several hundred, complete with floats and banners. It was an honest to goodness parade.

The Sikh population in NB (and Atlantic Canada) is far larger than what is listed in the table you supplied. Several thousands at least. It is not uncommon to see turbans around Moncton.

The temple they are building will be sort of the mother temple for the Atlantic region. This is why it will be relatively large.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Does it really matter? Surely people should be able to practice whatever faith they like without people poking around asking if their presence in a parade is 'viable'. Good grief.

Lol. Good grief? You’re reading way too much into how I used the word “viable”. Didn’t mean it in a literal sense. You really think I’m questioning if they should be able to practice their faith? Good grief…

[JHikka]

I'm not sure how else i'm supposed to interpret this lol

Originally Posted by megadude

I was wondering how many Sikhs there could be to justify new construction of a temple. I was expecting there to be a few thousand out East as well. If that table is true I have to wonder how a temple or parade is viable.

Why build a temple if there's so few of them?

Originally Posted by megadude

Though, it's not just Sikhism. Every time I pass by any impressive new place of worship built in the last 30 years, regardless of religion, I wonder how they could possibly have funded it given the decrease in religious participation and the cost of land.

How can they afford it?



I dunno, maybe i'm being lame but it didn't read very well.

[megadude]

I’m basically questioning how any religion can build a new temple (with a small congregation) or impressive new temple given decreasing religious participation, from what I understand. Esquire mentioned rich donors, which is an obvious answer but I don’t imagine is always the case. I brought that up a couple of years ago when asking why there are no super impressive new churches from traditional Canadian religions. Thought there would be some rich donors at some point funding one or a few. The finances of religion are a mystery to me but not fascinating enough for me to study it. Just wonder about it.

I also wonder how like a fifth of businesses I see remain viable because they seem so niche. Whether just driving by or during my inspections when on the road or analyzing the rent roll the landlord sends me, which is a regular part of my job. It’s not like I’m questioning their right to remain open. There’s obviously enough patrons to keep those businesses afloat but I still wonder how there’s that many or wonder how much they’re paying, or in this case, how much they’re donating. I personally off the top of my head can’t think of anyone I’m close with that goes to church or temple on a regular basis or at all except for my 93 year old grandmother.

[esquire]

^ There are really only two ways to make it work financially. A handful of deep pocketed donors, or more commonly, a huge push to get donations from all congregants. The latter scenario would be much more common I'd imagine.

"Traditional" Canadian faiths like Catholicism, mainline Protestant Christians, even Judaism don't build a lot of new facilities because they aren't seeing large growth in their numbers. I know in Winnipeg the only time you really see new structures for those religions is to follow the movement of their members, i.e. typically from the inner city into suburban areas. The big growth in terms of new buildings, new churches, etc. would be happening in the religions associated with immigrants (Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.), and Evangelical Christianity.

Also, once you get the church built and paid for it doesn't cost a ton to keep it open. Operating costs are pretty low. A lot of these United Churches with buildings dating back to the 50s or 60s with like 50 regular attendees on a Sunday can stay open for a long, long time... basically until the roof needs replacing or the foundation starts crumbling, and then the hard questions have to be asked.

[JustForTheHalibut]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Yes, all numbers will be creeping upwards as numbers are updated from 2016. I think at this point Arabic is the third most spoken language in NB - between 2011 and 2016 it was Korean, IIRC, although I haven't looked at numbers in a while.

Third most common first language spoken in New Brunswick at a quarter of a single percent for Korean and even less for Arabic doesn't really bode well for diversity in the maritimes but time will tell if the numbers increase some day.

BC Demographics


New Brunswick Demographics