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Canada
Canada with administrative divisions shown.
Location of Canada

Canada is a country located in the continent of North America, and the second largest country in the world by size, reaching from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic in the East, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to its border with the United States in the south. Canada’s Bahá’í community has played a prominent role in the unfoldment of the Bahá’í Faith: it is one of the "co-inheritors" of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's Divine Plan; its National Spiritual Assembly acted as one of the twelve protagonists of the Ten Year Crusade; and it has been noted for its "distinctive contribution" to the spread of the Faith through pioneering.

The beginnings of the Bahá’í community of Canada date from 1898 when Edith Magee, a youth from London, Ontario, became the first Canadian believer. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Canadian city of Montreal during His journey to North America in 1912, where the country's first Bahá’í group was formed in 1902, and its first Local Spiritual Assembly would later be founded. He stayed in the home of May and William Sutherland Maxwell during his visit, which is now preserved as the only Bahá’í Shrine outside of the Middle East. Their daughter, Mary, would later marry the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi.

The Canadian Bahá’í community lists its current membership at 30,000. Main population centres in Canada include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton.

National Assembly: Canada
Official Website: http://www.ca.bahai.org/
Statistics
Population: 36,289,822
Bahá’í pop.: 30,000
Clusters: 136
Local Assemblies: 255
History
First local Bahá’í: Edith Magee
First Local Assembly: Dec. 10, 1922, Montreal
First National Assembly: 1925, with United States
1948, independently
First National Convention: April, 1948

Regions of Canada

The country of Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories.
Provinces:

• British Columbia – Capital: Victoria
• Alberta – Capital: Edmonton
• Saskatchewan – Capital: Regina
• Manitoba – Capital: Winnipeg
• Ontario – Capital: Toronto
• Québec – Capital: Québec City
• New Brunswick – Capital: Fredericton
• Nova Scotia – Capital: Halifax
• Prince Edward Island – Capital: Charlottetown
• Newfoundland and Labrador – Capital: St. John's

Territories:

• Yukon – Capital: Whitehorse
• Northwest Territories – Capital: Yellowknife
• Nunavut – Capital: Iqaluit

History

Ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The Dominion of Canada in 1912. From Complete World Geography, Macmillan (1912).

In 1912, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the Canadian city of Montreal during his tour of North America. “The future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great,” He later wrote in His Tablets of the Divine Plan, calling the Canadian believers to arise and contribute to fulfilling the goals of the Divine Plan through pioneering:

“ ...in the provinces of Canada, such as Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Ungava, Keewatin, Mackenzie, Yukon, and the Franklin Islands in the Arctic Circle—the believers of God must become self-sacrificing and like unto the candles of guidance become ignited... ” — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of the Divine Plan

Ministry of Shoghi Effendi

Raising Spiritual Assemblies

Vancouver (1927)

Moncton (1938)

St. Lambert (1938)

Montreal (1922)

Toronto (1938)

Hamilton (1940)

Halifax (1942)

Winnipeg (1942)

Edmonton (1943)

Charlottetown (1944)

Regina (1944)

Establishment of Local Spiritual Assemblies in Canada, 1922–1944.

First Seven-Year Plan

Unsettled provinces, 1942.

In its early years, the Canadian Bahá’í community shared a National Spiritual Assembly with the United States while it gained strength, both numerically and in administrative capacity. In the early 1940s, Canada's prairie and maritime provinces still remained as virgin territories for Bahá’í pioneers; these became goals during the earliest parts of the Divine Plan.

In 1948, Canada formed its first independent Assembly, which went on to become one of the twelve major protagonists of the Ten Year Crusade. At the time, Newfoundland and Labrador were still independent British colonies; they would join the Dominion of Canada the following year, in 1949.

Second Seven-Year Plan

The Bahá’í community of Canada in 1954.

Ten Year Crusade

...

Notes and references

General remarks The Bahai.media Atlas of the World is an organized and commented collection of geographical and historical maps. The main page is therefore the portal to maps and cartography. That page contains links to entries by country, continent and by topic as well as general notes and references. Every entry has an introduction section in English. The text of the introduction(s) is based on the content of the Bahaipedia encyclopedia. For sources of the introduction see therefore the Bahaipedia entries linked to. The same goes for the texts in the history sections. Historical maps are included in the continent, country and dependency entries. The status of various entities is disputed. See the content for the entities concerned. Notes References