page_title: Indo-Canadians in British Columbia
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Indo-Canadians in British Columbia / Demographics / Religion
caption_attribution_description: English: The Khalsa Diwan Society of Sikhs in front of the Sikh Temple at 2nd Avenue in Vancouver.
context_page_description: The South Asian community in British Columbia was first established in 1897. The first immigrants originated from Punjab, British India, a northern region and state in modern-day India and Pakistan. Punjabis originally settled in rural British Columbia at the turn of the twentieth century, working in the forestry and agricultural industries.
  As their numbers grew, anti-"Hindu" sentiment increased among the Europeans living in the province thus preventing them from voting in 1908. Originally, Indian settlement was predominately male; large numbers of women and children began arriving in the mid 20th century. In 1947, South Asians were given the right to vote, therefore permitting their entry into British Columbian political life.
  In the late 20th Century many South Asians transitioned from living in rural areas of the province into living in urban areas as the economic vitality of the forestry industry declined.
context_section_description: In 1971, the Canadian government introduced a policy of multiculturalism, and this resulted in the South Asian community establishing urban places of worship using traditional architecture styles. As of the 2001 Statistics Canada there were 135,305 Sikhs and 31,500 Hindus in British Columbia. 99,005 Sikhs and 27,405 Hindus were in Metro Vancouver.
  As of April 1, 2013 the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches had Indo-Canadian outreach missions at the South Abbotsford (B.C.) MB Church and in the Fraserview area.
caption: First Gurdwara in Vancouver, 1910
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