Research note on building a more complex and robust categorization of religiosity and spirituality in Canada

Religiosity measures are in short supply in most Canadian general population surveys, which often limits our understanding of some of the empirical complexities and patterns of individuals’ religiosity, spirituality, and secularity across the country. So, when a research project has the funds and know-how to run a high-quality survey with a large number of religiosity and spirituality measures included, like the Nonreligion in a Complex Future project did in 2023, it is worth taking a closer look. This research note uses latent class analysis with these survey data to establish a more data-driven, complex, and robust categorization of Canadian respondents based on their religious and spiritual beliefs, practices, and identities. Five latent groups emerge from the analysis and are examined in detail: (1) the religious; (2) the spiritual and occasionally religious; (3) cultural believers; (4) those uncertain in beliefs; and (5) the nonreligious and nonspiritual.