Paranormal Beliefs in Canada

There has been no nationally representative examination of paranormal beliefs in Canada for over two decades, even though Canada has undergone major social shifts in that time, such as greater secularization, which could affect the prevalence of paranormal beliefs. This research note analyzes a nationally representative sample of Canadians to determine the prevalence of paranormal beliefs, identifies which sociodemographic factors are related to these beliefs, and determines which variables are most substantively important for explaining variance in paranormal beliefs. Overall, a little under half of Canadians, 44.8 percent, believe in at least one paranormal phenomenon, and another 31.3 percent do not believe in any but report neutrality about at least one. Only a little under a quarter, 23.8 percent, firmly do not believe in any paranormal phenomena. Respondents were most likely to believe in ghostly hauntings and least likely to believe in several Canadian cryptids, or undiscovered creatures. Gender, education, sexual identity, age, and religion-related variables were all associated with paranormal beliefs. Follow-up analyses showed that religious identity and how religious a participant considered themselves to be explained the most variance in the models. Overall, paranormal beliefs are common in Canada, and religion remains important for understanding phenomena such as non-scientific beliefs.