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The Swahili of Canada

The Swahili of Canada, numbering approximately 9,300 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Swahili (Waungwana) in Canada. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Swahili (individual language) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Canada
People Cluster: Bantu, Swahili
Primary Language(s): Swahili (individual language) (swh)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 9,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043480

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Pray for the Swahili 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: Swahili (individual language)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Swahili Speakers

Media Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film
The Savior View Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Habari Njema (Interconfessional) ✓ ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Swahili (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Swahili:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Swahili of Canada

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember God's mercy and grace and experience joy as they walk in new life with Christ.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Swahili Across Countries (ROP3 - 109644) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

17 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Coastal Swahili PG015047 Coastal Swahili Tanzania 1,095,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Arabized Africans PG011916 Arabized Africans Saudi Arabia 555,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG047306 Swahili United States 82,000 No Longer Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Central Swahili PG014535 Central Swahili Congo, Democratic Republic of the 64,500 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Coastal Swahili PG033493 Coastal Swahili Kenya 60,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Bantu Swahili PG011942 Bantu Swahili Somalia 55,500 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015634 Swahili Zambia 39,500 No Longer Unreached Swahili (individual language) Ethnoreligion
Swahili PG012145 Swahili Sudan 34,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Black Africans PG012226 Black Africans United Arab Emirates 31,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG014886 Swahili Rwanda 21,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015420 Swahili Mozambique 18,500 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Folk Islam
Swahili PG014471 Swahili Burundi 15,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015372 Swahili Mayotte 10,500 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG043480 Swahili Canada 9,300 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015141 Swahili Uganda 5,600 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015279 Swahili Comoros 1,200 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015482 Swahili Seychelles 600 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni 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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