This is one topic pulled out of our full Canadian sex statistics hub, kept on its own page so it's easier to find and cite directly. National adult surveys mostly don't publish a simple "Catholic vs. Protestant vs. Muslim vs. no religion" sex-behaviour table, and we're not filling that gap with numbers that don't hold up.
What does exist: sample composition and condom use
Source: Fetner, Sex in Canada (adults 18–90, 2018). The survey did collect religious affiliation and religious-service attendance. Among the penile-vaginal-sex analytical sample:
That's sample composition, not a behaviour difference — it tells you who answered the survey, not how religion did or didn't shape their sex lives. On the one behaviour the published analysis of this data actually tested, religious affiliation itself did not produce a strong, simple pattern in condom-use frequency; religious-service attendance was associated with whether someone reported zero condom use after controlling for other factors, but relationship status (married/common-law vs. single) was a considerably stronger predictor — see our full condom use data.
Contraception by religious affiliation (1995 data)
Source: Statistics Canada, 1995 — dated, but real national data, and the closest thing we could find to a Canadian religion-and-contraception table. Method used by couples practicing contraception, by religious affiliation:
| Religious affiliation | Natural/barrier | Pill/IUD | Male sterilization | Female sterilization |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No religion | 21.0% | 31.6% | 23.1% | 24.3% |
| Catholic | 17.2% | 25.4% | 32.4% | 25.0% |
| Protestant | 19.6% | 24.2% | 32.3% | 23.9% |
| Other religions | 32.6% | 30.5% | 13.2% | 23.7% |
Worth noting: despite Catholic teaching on contraception, Catholic couples in this 1995 dataset weren't limited to natural family planning — sterilization made up a substantial share of their contraceptive methods. That's a finding about reported behaviour, not doctrine, and it's three decades old, so treat it as historical context rather than a current picture.
Sources
- Tina Fetner, Sex in Canada (UBC Press, 2024), based on the 2018 Sex in Canada survey.
- Religious affiliation of the Sex in Canada penile-vaginal-sex analytical sample, and its relationship to condom use: Fetner et al., PLOS ONE / PMC.
- Statistics Canada, "Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada" (1995 data).
- Not used on this page: the Toronto Teen Survey's religion-by-sexual-behaviour breakdown (1,185 respondents, mostly teenagers) — excluded under our 18+ policy — and a national 1,479-adult Canadian study whose published abstract doesn't include by-denomination percentages.
Get one practical guide a week
Positions, honest toy reviews, and advice that treats you like an adult. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.