Highlights from the Survey of Canadian Buddhist Organizations

Abstract

There are currently 483 Buddhist organizations operating in Canada in 2012. This article presents highlights from data gathered in the first-ever survey of community development in these organizations, with some preliminary observations. The survey was created by John Negru, publisher of Canada's largest online database of Canadian Buddhist organizations, www.canadianbuddhism.info in association with the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, in 2011. The survey contained twenty-six multi-part questions in two sections. The first section comprised directory information associated with specific organizations. The second section comprised sociological questions, the answers to which were supplied on condition of anonymity. Of 483 potential responses, 102 were received (21.1%). While not exhaustive, these responses are broadly spread over different locations, traditions, and institutional frameworks. Their distribution mirrors the geographical and lineage distribution of the full set. As such, they present a relatively accurate snapshot of current community development across Buddhist communities in Canada.