The Somalis of Canada

The Somalis of Canada, numbering approximately 67,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Cushitic ethnic group, known for their nomadic traditions, Sunni Muslim faith, and influential role in the Horn of Africa's socio-political landscape. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Somali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Canada
People Cluster: Somali
Primary Language(s): Somali (som)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 67,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047404
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Somalis 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: Somali
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Somali Speakers

Media Resources in Somali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Somali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
SIM Version✓✓
Society for International Ministries, 2008✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Somali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Somalis:
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 Somalis of Canada

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Somali Across Countries (ROP3 - 109392) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
SomalisSomalisItaly13,500Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisNetherlands41,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited Kingdom143,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisDjibouti626,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisEthiopia8,325,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisKenya3,340,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSaudi Arabia77,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSomalia13,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSudan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited Arab Emirates111,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisYemen1,245,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisTanzania71,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisEritrea53,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited States164,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisCanada67,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSweden81,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni 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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