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The Urdu of Canada

The Urdu of Canada, numbering approximately 221,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a South Asian diaspora people of Urdu-speaking heritage, largely descended from migrants from Pakistan and northern India who maintain a shared identity rooted in the Urdu language and its broader cultural tradition. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Urdu is their primary language.

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
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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.

Pray Now!
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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

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Urdu:

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

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Urdu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
readPsalm 100:3-4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of the Lord God, their Creator, and will give Him thanksgiving and praise.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
UrduPG006413UrduPakistan17,590,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011938UrduSaudi Arabia2,150,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000693UrduUnited Kingdom1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG043672PakistaniUnited States668,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG012261UrduUnited Arab Emirates253,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG043498UrduCanada221,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011911UrduQatar180,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011895UrduOman137,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG042482UrduFrance110,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000277UrduGermany96,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG042350PakistaniSpain92,500Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011308UrduBahrain78,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000100UrduDenmark27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG024601UrduTurkiye27,000Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG024025UrduAfghanistan20,500Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG019330UrduMalaysia17,000Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG042368UrduBelgium9,900Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG000304UrduIreland9,400Unengaged and UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
PakistaniPG010932PakistaniThailand5,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011725UrduIraq4,600Engaged yet UnreachedUrduSunni Islam
UrduPG011809UrduKuwait4,200Engaged 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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