Shia Islam in Canada is a part of the global

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

. Shia Muslims have been a featuring segment of the Canadian Muslim society whose population has grown from the 1970s and onwards due to factors such as

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

and

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

Community

The Shia Muslim jamaat (community) manifests itself in two main forms in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. One is through the

Twelver Twelver Shi'ism (), also known as Imamism () or Ithna Ashari, is the Islamic schools and branches, largest branch of Shia Islam, Shi'a Islam, comprising about 90% of all Shi'a Muslims. The term ''Twelver'' refers to its adherents' belief in twel ...

rite and the other is through the

Ismaili Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept ...

rite. However, due to the lack of

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

questions that go into specific details in Canada, it remains unknown which community is larger between the two. However, both have established community centres encompassing spiritual congregational halls and attached leisure centres. The Twelver Shia have

Masjids A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were simple p ...

(Mosques) and the Shia Ismailis have

Jama'at Khana Jamatkhana or Jamat Khana (from , literally "congregational place") is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word ''jama‘a'' (gathering) and the Persian word ''khana'' (house, place). It is a term used by some Muslim communities around the w ...

s in the country. The two most prominent Ismaili centre is the

Ismaili Centre, Toronto The Ismaili Centre, Toronto is a Jama'at Khana (place of worship) for the Shia Ismaili Muslim community as well as a space for social, educational and cultural activities and is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 2010, it is the si ...

(ICT) at the Charbagh Gardens and Ismaili Centre, Burnaby (ICV), while the most prominent Ithna Ashari centre is the Jaffari Community Centre (JCC) in Vaughan, Ontario.

Population

The Shiite population in Canada is estimated to be approximately 300,000 people. Migration occurs from countries such as

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and other countries. Most Canadian Shiites live in cities such as

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Adherents

Reza Hosseini Nassab Seyed Reza Hosseini Nassab (Persian: سيد رضا حسيني نسب) (born 1960) is an Iranian Twelver Shi'a Marja, currently residing in Canada. He was the President and Imam of the Islamic Centre in Hamburg, Germany, and since 2003 he has ser ...

is a Canadian Grand Ayatollah of the Twelver rite.

Anisa Mehdi Anisa Marie Mehdi is an Iraqi-Canadian film director and journalist. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1978 and obtained her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She worked as an associate producer at CBS News in New Yor ...

is a film director and journalist, who although a Shia, reports on her faith from a Pan-Islamic viewpoint.

Muhammad Rizvi The Jaffari Community Centre (JCC) is a Shia Islam, Shia Islam, Islamic husayniyya and community centre, located in the Thornhill, Ontario, Thornhill district, in the Greater Toronto area of Ontario, Canada. In addition to the prayer hall, the c ...

is a Canadian Twelver scholar and orator who serves as both the Representative of

Ali al-Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani (; born 4 August 1930) is an Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza of Najaf in Iraq. A Grand Ayatollah, Sistani is considered one of the leading religious leaders of Twelver Shia Muslims. After the invasion of ...

to Canada and the

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the Jaffari Community Centre.Page D3. (1992, Jul 10). ''Toronto Star (1971–2009)''

Notable Canadian Shia Muslims

Amir Attaran Amir Attaran () is a Canadian professor in both the Faculty of Law and the School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Early life and education Attaran was born in California to immigrants from Iran ...

– lawyer, immunologist and law professor *

Maziar Bahari Maziar Bahari (; born May 25, 1967) is an Iranian-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist. He was a reporter for ''Newsweek'' from 1998 to 2011. Bahari was incarcerated by the Iranian government from June 21, 2009 to October 17 ...

– journalist, filmmaker and human rights activist *

Farid Haerinejad Farid Haerinejad (Persian: فرید حائری‌نژاد) is a documentary maker and blogger. He formerly worked with CBC and the Persian-language Radio Zamaneh in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Life and education Farid Haerinejad was born in Tehran. H ...

– documentary maker and blogger *

Salma Lakhani Salmabegum Lakhani (born 1951 or 1952) is the 19th lieutenant governor of Alberta. Her appointment as lieutenant governor became effective upon the swearing of the oath of allegiance and oath of office on August 26, 2020. She is the viceregal ...

–

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the representative in Alberta of the monarch. The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the mona ...

Mobina Jaffer Mobina S. B. Jaffer () (born August 20, 1949) is a former Canadian Senator representing British Columbia. Jaffer was the first Muslim to be appointed to the upper house as well as being the first senator who was born in Africa, and the first of ...

– lawyer, British Columbia senator *

Rahim Jaffer Rahim Nizar Jaffer (; born 15 December 1971) is a former Canadian politician. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2008, representing the Alberta riding of Edmonton—Strathcona as a member of the Conservative Party. He w ...

– former Alberta Member of Parliament *

Amir Khadir Amir Khadir (; born June 12, 1961) is a Canadian politician in the province of Quebec. A member of Québec solidaire (QS), he was one of the party's co-spokespeople from 2006 to 2012, alongside Françoise David. From 2008 to 2018, he was a Memb ...

–

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

member and former

Québec Solidaire Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

co-spokesperson *

Hassan Khosrowshahi Hassan Khosrowshahi (; born 1940) is an Iranian and Canadian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He founded Future Shop, a Canadian consumer electronics chain store that was acquired by Best Buy in 2001 for million. He currently i ...

– founder of electronics retailer

Future Shop Future Shop was a Canadian electronics store chain. It was established in 1982 by Hassan Khosrowshahi. By 1990, the chain had become the country's largest retailer of computer and consumer electronics. In October 2012, the company operated 149 l ...

Rizwan Manji Rizwan Manji (born October 17, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known best for his portrayals of Ray Butani on ''Schitt's Creek'', Tick Pickwick on '' The Magicians'', Rajiv Gidwani in the NBC sitcom '' Outsourced'', and Jamil in the DC Extended ...

– television and film actor *

– Emmy Award-winning film director and journalist *

– Grand Ayatollah *

Naheed Nenshi Naheed Kurban Nenshi (born February 2, 1972) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2024. He previously served as the 36th List of mayors of Calgary, mayor of Calgary for Mayoralty o ...

– non-profit sector consultant, mayor of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Yasmin Ratansi Yasmin Ratansi (born January 4, 1951) is a former Canadian politician who represented the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley East in the House of Commons from 2004 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2021. She was elected as a Liberal in the 2004 f ...

– accountant, MP; first Muslim woman elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

– author, speaker, and chief imam of the Jaffari Community Centre *

Omar Sachedina Omar Sachedina (born August 21, 1982) is a Canadian journalist and news anchor for CTV News. He is currently serving as the chief anchor and senior editor for CTV's national evening newscast ''CTV National News'' since September 5, 2022. Previo ...

– television journalist and newsreader *

Aliza Vellani Aliza Vellani (born October 30, 1991) is a Canadian film and television actress based in British Columbia. Vellani is most recently known for her role as Rani Singh in the Netflix series, ''Sweet Tooth''. Her other credits include Layla Siddiqui ...

– television actress (

Little Mosque on the Prairie ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Zarqa Nawaz and produced by WestWind Pictures, originally broadcast from 2007 to 2012 on CBC. Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, and Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the series was ...

) *

Ali Velshi Ali Velshi (born October 29, 1968, or 1969) is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News, and an anchor for MSNBC. He is also a substitute anchor for ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' on ...

– television journalist now working in the US *

Alykhan Velshi Alykhan Velshi (born 6 February 1984) is a lawyer, policy analyst, and ministerial assistant. He has worked at the predominantly neoconservative American Enterprise Institute and was manager of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democraci ...

– lawyer and former political advisor to

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

Murad Velshi Murad Velshi (born April 4, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990. He represented the riding of Don Mills in Toronto. Politics He ran for a seat in th ...

– former member of the

Ontario Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

, father of Ali Velshi *

Rana Bokhari Rana Bokhari (born October 23, 1977) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada who was the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 2013 until 2016. Background Bokhari was born on a farm near Anola, Manitoba. As a student she attended the University o ...

– Lawyer, Former Leader of Manitoba Liberal Party, Anti-Racism Activist.

Community

Population

Adherents

Notable Canadian Shia Muslims

See also

References

External links