- Canada’s National Trust projected about a third of the country’s 27,000 churches could close within 10 years
- One Nova Scotia diocese had already shut 30 per cent of its churches in 12 years
- Toronto’s archdiocese, buoyed by immigrant congregations, expected no closures
- Costly upkeep, rural decline and fewer priests were driving the trend
About a third of Canada’s 27,000 churches, roughly 9,000 buildings, could close within a decade, according to the National Trust for Canada, America magazine reported on March 29, 2019, in a Catholic News Service report by Michael Swan.
The picture varied sharply by region. The Archdiocese of Toronto expected no closures, helped by a large immigrant population engaged in their faith locally and weekly Mass in more than 35 languages. The Diocese of Antigonish in Nova Scotia, by contrast, had already closed 30 per cent of its churches over the previous 12 years.
Several pressures were at work: rural depopulation as people moved for jobs, ageing buildings that need expensive maintenance, shrinking congregations that cannot fund repairs, and a shortage of priests to serve scattered parishes. One diocesan official summed it up by saying the problem was not a shortage of personnel but an overabundance of infrastructure.
The Vatican had issued guidelines encouraging bishops to find new uses for decommissioned churches rather than let them decay. In Quebec, a heritage fund helped with renovations, though bishops often saw heritage designation as an obstacle to reuse or sale.
Canada is home to a large Jamaican diaspora, and its immigrant congregations are the reason some dioceses are holding steady. The wider trend is also relevant to Jamaica, where many rural churches are losing members as young people move to towns or abroad. A building is an asset only while someone can maintain it. Planning early, whether through sharing buildings, finding community uses or selling surplus property on good terms, is better than waiting until a roof fails.
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