23% of Canadians believe God created humans in the past 10,000 years

Nearly 40 per cent of Canadians want creationism taught in schools, a poll released Tuesday by Research Co. suggests.

The poll, which was conducted online in November, asked 1,000 Canadians about creationism and how they believe humans came to be.

Researchers found that 38 per cent of those surveyed either probably or definitely wanted creationism included in the school curriculum.

A nearly identical 39 per cent probably or definitely did not want it taught in schools, while 23 per cent were unsure. Men were slightly more likely to want creationism in the classroom.

Poll results show that people aged 35 to 54 were the most likely to want the belief taught in schools, while those aged 18 to 34 years old just behind them at 19 per cent.

The poll suggest one in four Canadians believe that God created humans within the past 10,000 years,

Researchers found 23 per cent of Canadians either definitely or probably thought humans were created by God during the past 10,000 years.

Another 61 per cent believed that humans evolved from less advanced beings over millions of years, while 17 per cent said they weren’t sure.

The study found that of Christian denominations, protestants were nearly twice as likely to strongly believe in creationism, compared to Catholics who believed at similar rates as the general population.

Women were slightly more likely than men to believe in creationism, and Conservative voters were likelier to hold the belief compared to NDP and Liberal voters.

Across the provinces, British Columbians were least likely to believe in creationism at 10 per cent, with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba the most likely at 21 per cent each.

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katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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