The Urdu of Canada

The Urdu of Canada, numbering approximately 221,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a diaspora community of Urdu-speaking Indo-Iranians in Canada They are an Diaspora people, with Urdu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Urdu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Urdu.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Urdu

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Canada
People Cluster: Urdu
Primary Language(s): Urdu (urd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 221,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043498
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Urdu of Canada

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Urdu
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Urdu Speakers

Media Resources in Urdu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Urdu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy-to-Read Version
Geo Version
Geo Version
Geo Version
Pakistan Bible Society
Revised

6 entries

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Urdu are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Urdu:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Urdu of Canada

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot... indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
readPsalm 16:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face hardship, they will remember that God is their portion and cup and that He has a beautiful inheritance for them.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Urdu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

22 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
UrduUrduPakistan17,500,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduSaudi Arabia2,140,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Kingdom1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniUnited States668,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduUnited Arab Emirates253,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduCanada221,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduQatar181,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduOman136,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduFrance110,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduGermany96,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniSpain92,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBahrain78,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduTurkiye27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduDenmark26,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduAfghanistan20,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduMalaysia17,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduBelgium9,900Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIreland9,400Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPakistaniThailand5,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduIraq4,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduKuwait4,200Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduUrduGuyana4,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

*Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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