Information for churches and denominations

The Canadian Institute for Empirical Church Research (CIECR) is an institute based out of Wycliffe College at University of Toronto. We are committed to supporting those who serve and research the Canadian Church through data-informed research, tools, encounters, and insights.

Customized Research for Churches

We work directly with individual churches and denominations

Do you have questions about what is going on in your church, neighbourhood, community, or congregation? Book a meeting with us and we can help explore your questions. Whether you are a strategic planner, pastor, or board member, our team will help design a customized research plan to get you the data you need to achieve your mission and vision. We love supporting churches in this way.

What data do we use?

We have one of the largest datasets on the Canadian Church spanning over 30 years of public and denominational data. This includes Canadian Census and T3010 datasets with over 900 million individual points of data. We also collect data through many of our research projects and collaborations, such as REACH and Divine Pulse.

Some of our past and ongoing customized research projects include:
  • Denominational dashboards for church planting
  • Volunteer engagement and impact surveys
  • Congregational surveys
  • Customized socioeconomic profiles and reports

Workshop Series

The CIECR also runs a series of themed workshops for denominational leaders, church leaders, and congregations:

Please contact us if you are interested in running one of these workshops with your church or team.

Networking and Research Events

Connect, discuss, and learn alongside a wide variety of researchers, church leaders, strategic planners, and members of the public at our networking and research events!

In the past, we have hosted conferences, symposiums, and collaborative meetings to discuss some of the newest groundbreaking findings within the sociology of religion, religious studies, and congregational studies. Our events are open to anyone who is interested in research on the Canadian Church.

Check out our upcoming events here. We look forward to welcoming you to our beautiful spaces at Wycliffe College soon.

Contact

Interested in customized research, our workshops, or our events? Contact us today to get involved: wycliffe.ciecr@utoronto.ca.

Our program administrator or director will be in touch with you shortly.