80% of the world’s evangelical Christians live in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Over the last 50 years, God’s church has grown exponentially in these areas.

These regions have tremendous mission sending potential to help bring the gospel to unreached peoples, but they currently send only 20% of the world’s cross-cultural missionaries!

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Total Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges to UPGs

Regional Access to UPGs

Religious Freedom

Prosperity

Current Sending Abroad

Mobilization Potential

Custom Mobilization Potential

Number of Evangelicals

Cultural Bridges

Strategic Access

Religious Freedoms

Current Sending

This infographic provides a visual score for seven data points ranked on a 0 to 100 scale. Faded icons show scores for other countries on the mobilization index. See below for actual scores and country-specific insights.

ADDITION

FINANCIAL DEPENDENCY

INACCESSIBLE

LIMITED MISSION FORCE

DISTANT AND FOREIGN MISSION FIELD

THE WORLD IS THE MISSION FIELD

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Poised to Send, No Matter the Distance

An Increase of Aboriginal Religious Traditions

Even though only 5% of the Canadian church is evangelical, Canada is home to 2.5 million evangelicals!
Around 40% of the Christian population identifies as Roman Catholic and 27% as protestant. In 1971 only 5% of Canadians did not follow any religion. That number had risen to 24% by 2011. [[3]]
Prior to European settlement, many indigenous peoples practiced a variety of religions. Many of those groups were converted to Christianity with the arrival of French missionaries; however, in recent years, there has been an increase in Christians turning back to their aboriginal roots and traditions. [[3]] Pray that the Lord would turn the hearts of Canada toward His truth and His heart for the unreached and send workers into the harvest that is plentiful!

Cultural Distance as a Barrier, not an Inhibitor

Canada has a moderate degree of cultural separation from the different UPG nations on the Index, with a median score of 26.9. This could mean that Canadian missionaries will have to invest more effort and time in learning how to cross cultural barriers when sharing the gospel with the unreached.&nbsp;The closest cultural neighbors to Canada are Senegal, Malaysia, and Syria.&nbsp;
According to Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Canadian culture is driven by an individualistic mindset. [[4]] Typically, Canadians view themselves as individuals and base their decisions and actions on their personal goals and preferences rather than for the benefit of the whole group. This could function as a cultural barrier as many of the UPG nations operate out of a collectivist mindset. Unreached people often belong to cultures that view themselves primarily as part of the whole group or community and are willing to put aside their own goals, beliefs, and preferences in favor of the group's benefit or goals. Canadian missionaries will often have to learn to recognize and operate within a host culture's collectivist mindset.

Small but Impactful Access through International Students

Canadian evangelicals have access to 1,630,000 unreached peoples within their borders and 12,386,000 regionally. As 97% of the world&rsquo;s unreached live within the 10/40 Window [[5]] which encompasses parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Canada has low access to these UPGs in comparison to countries that physically neighbor them and to other countries on the Mobilization Index.&nbsp;
On the other hand, as of 2019, Canada was the fourth most popular country for international student enrollment, behind the U.S., the United Kingdom and China. There were nearly 650,000 international students that came to Canada for education in 2019. [[6]] What a fantastic opportunity for the Canadian church to love on the young generation of students! This is a unique opportunity, as the typical age of someone enrolled in a university is an extremely mobile age, often seeking opportunities and not having many ties to any location. University students are a great field to mobilize to the unreached, and the Canadian church has hundreds of thousands of opportunities to meet and mobilize students from other nations.

Religious Freedom yet Increasing Social and Legal Pressures

According to Pew Research, Canada has a high level of religious freedom.&nbsp; With a score of 2.3 in social hostilities and 1.2 in governmental restrictions, Canadian evangelicals are more likely to experience social pressure, guilt, or communal rejection for their religious choices rather than governmental and legal persecution. [[7]] Freedom of religion is a constitutionally protected right in Canada, as are all worship services and forms of religious expression.&nbsp;
In recent years there has been an increase of secular pressures on many different fields of employment, such as medicine. Many Canadian Christian doctors are facing legal pressure to perform procedures that they are religiously and morally uncomfortable with, due to recently made laws. Examples such as this, among many others, have made Canadian evangelicals nervous of what other religious practices will no longer be protected by law as the nation seems to progress towards secularism. [[8]]
Even still, Canada offers a safe haven for those of all religions. Worship, Bible reading and prayer can be freely displayed and church can be publically attended. This creates an excellent field for evangelism, discipleship, missions, and mobilization.

A High Rank and a Position to Send 

With a ranking of 14 on the Legatum Prosperity Index, Canada is one of the highest-scoring countries on the Mobilization Index, behind Germany (8) and the United Kingdom (13). [[9]]
Canada performs highest in Education and Personal Freedom and lowest in Health; however, their health ranking is still higher than a majority of Mob Index countries. While Canada saw big improvements in Safety and Security over the past decade, the overall prosperity of Canada has dropped 3 spots in the ranks over the same ten-year period.&nbsp;
With such an impressive and prosperous economy, Canada is well prepared to physically and financially support a wave of missionaries and mobilizers! Pray that the Lord would open the eyes of the Canadian church to use their economic privilege for the glory of His name and the reaching of UPGs all around the globe! Imagine the potential of the global church if financial resources are directed toward the unreached.

A Surpassed Sending Goal, and Room for More

According to Operation World, Canada has sent 3,000 missionaries abroad, with another 3,000 serving within the country. [[10]] One prayer goal of the Mobilization Index is to see 0.1%, or 1 in every 1,000, of a nation's evangelical church mobilized to the unreached. As Canada sends 3,000 abroad, it already surpasses the 0.1% goal with its 0.24% sending rate; however, it is unknown how many of these missionaries are serving among the unreached.
Imagine what the world would see if the Canadian evangelical church were to double or even triple those numbers and send them to the people and places with the least access to the gospel! Pray that the Lord would put the weight of the unreached on the hearts of Canadian evangelicals and send out thousands more workers into the plentiful harvest!

Moderate Mobilization Potential but Great Sending Resources

When considering Canada's number of evangelicals, religious freedoms, and overall prosperity, we rank its mobilization potential as Moderate.&nbsp; Canada's generosity score is ranked high at 64%! [[11]] This is great news when considering how a nation will be able to raise up, support, and send a wave of missionaries and mobilizers. With such a generous nation, evangelicals should have a much easier time finding support for missions.&nbsp;
16% of the Canadian population is under the age of 15, meaning that the upcoming generation is comparatively small when considering that of other countries on the Index.
If Canada can raise up a wave of evangelicals ready to go to the unreached, there will be great support in sending through their economic health and strength, their religiously free government, and their high generosity score.

Obstacles:
<ul>
<li>Canada's cultural distance from UPGs puts it at a slight disadvantage when it comes to easily joining the cultures of UPGs.</li>
<li>Canada's physical distance from UPGs means that going to the unreached will almost always mean buying a plane ticket and uprooting your life, which could be a deterrent for many evangelicals.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Opportunities:
<ul>
<li>Thousands of international students come to Canada every year! This is an incredible and easy opportunity to make His name known in hundreds of nations.</li>
<li>With a high generosity score, the Canadian church has the means to support many more missionaries! The church is not limited by funds or a willingness to give.</li>
</ul>

Pray:
<ul>
<li>For evangelicals in Canada to see that God has blessed them to be a blessing to the nations.</li>
<li>For the Canadian church to not see the cultural and physical distance from UPGs as a hindrance, but rather grow in excitement for fully relying on the Lord and His plan to make His name known to all the nations.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
 Praises:
<ul>
<li>Praise God that Canada is such a welcoming place to thousands of international students, immigrants and refugees every year!&nbsp;</li>
<li>For the blessing of a generous church and economically stable nation, that has the power to send its goers to the unreached!</li>
</ul>

The 10/40 window represents the highest population of the world with least access to the gospel. 97% of the world’s unreached (people with little to no access to the gospel) is housed within the 10/40 window, an imaginary area called such because of its position between 10° N Latitude and 40° N Latitude. This area stretches from North Africa to East Asia, creating a rectangle, or a “window.” In a sentence: “97% of the world’s unreached population is housed within the 10/40 Window.” Image to include (colorful map with religions listed, halfway down page):

PEW religious restriction numbers Myanmar

Official Country Name:Dominion of Canada

Population:37,411,000

Region:North and Caribbean America

Government:Federal Republic

Official Languages:English

Religious Demographics:Christian ±72% (Evangelical ± 8%), Muslim ± 4%, Unevangelized ±4%

Canada