The Afghans of Canada

The Afghans of Canada, numbering approximately 90,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a multiethnic community united primarily by shared national origin and collective ties to Afghanistan. The community includes people from numerous ethnolinguistic backgrounds, including Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, and others. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Dari is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Afghan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Canada
People Cluster: Pashtun
Primary Language(s): Dari (prs)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 90,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047400
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Afghans 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

65%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dari
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Dari Speakers

Media Resources in Dari:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Dari:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Good News for a New Age✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Dari bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Afghans 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 Afghans:
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 Afghans of Canada

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:5-6

Pray that the lost among them will be delivered from the confusion of false beliefs and come to know the one true God who alone brings light and purpose to their lives.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

But you said, "I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."
readGenesis 32:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience God's presence and protection even in difficult circumstances, knowing that He will make them fruitful.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Afghan, general Across Countries (ROP3 - 115238) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

12 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AfghansAfghansIran2,575,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansTurkiye260,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariShia Islam
AfghansAfghansGermany253,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansUnited States168,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansCanada90,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansUnited Kingdom51,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansFrance40,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansGreece36,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansNetherlands34,500Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansBelgium25,500Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansTajikistan6,000Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni Islam
AfghansAfghansItaly2,200Engaged yet UnreachedDariSunni 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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