A public health crisis that too few recognize: widespread social isolation and loneliness

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

3 March, 2026

OTTAWA — Canadian churches are confronting a growing isolation and loneliness public health crisis among their members and within their broader communities, according to a new report from think tank Cardus.

Social isolation and loneliness have profound consequences for those affected, including higher rates of illness and death. Canadians in marginalized groups are more likely to report experiencing loneliness more intensely and more frequently.

Cardus surveyed church leaders in 2025, exploring these leaders’ concerns with isolation and loneliness, as well as the potential solutions they offer. The survey found 64 percent of respondents agreed that social isolation and loneliness were problems in their congregations. Agreement was highest among French-language respondents at 73 percent compared to 62 percent among English-speaking participants. Of those identifying isolation as a challenge for their congregants, 73 percent said the problem had worsened over the past five years.

“While previous research and polling suggests that faith and spirituality can help protect against social isolation and loneliness, research to date has very little to say about how faith communities contribute to this,” says Dr. Rebecca Vachon (PhD), health program director at Cardus and a report co-author. “This survey provides an important look at both the concerns and challenges of church leaders on this issue, as well as churches’ concrete programs and practices that may play an important role.”

The survey found that congregations are already very active in countering loneliness and isolation through various programs and activities. Pastoral visits topped the list with 89 percent of churches offering them, followed by discussion groups at 84 percent, and greeters at church services at 80 percent. Church socials and coffee receptions after services were also common, offered by 78 percent and 77 percent of congregations respectively.

About half of respondents said their churches offered programs specifically targeting seniors and youth, populations facing higher isolation risks.

Church leaders identified seniors and those living with socioeconomic vulnerabilities, such as poverty or lack of housing, as particularly at risk within their congregations.

Churches also described programs that provided for concrete community needs, including providing meals and support for those in poverty, supporting new Canadians, offering grief support, and also volunteering and supporting local services like food banks or shelters.

Despite their active response, church leaders expressed a desire to do more, but the report identifies barriers preventing expanded efforts, including lack of information, time, and resources for establishing partnerships with other organizations and governments. Survey respondents also expressed concern that loss of charitable tax status would diminish their capacity to offer isolation-fighting programs.

The Cardus report recommends governments maintain churches’ charitable status, simplify volunteering regulations and recognize the role congregations play in addressing this public health challenge.

“Governments and health officials would benefit from a better understanding of how churches and other faith communities address isolation,” says Dr. Vachon. “Religious congregations already have significant infrastructure and experience in connecting isolated individuals to community support. Recognizing and encouraging these existing networks could prove valuable as Canada grapples with what public health officials increasingly describe as an epidemic of loneliness.”

The findings in the survey are considered preliminary and not conclusive because of limitations with the sample, and as such cannot be taken as representing the entire population of Christian churches in Canada. Despite these limits, it provides a significant foray and important insights into an understudied topic and hopefully will spur further research.

Community in Communion: How Canadian Churches Respond to Social Isolation and Loneliness is freely available on the Cardus website.

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Cardus – Imagination toward a thriving society
Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.