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Scientology in Canada
The Scientology movement has been present in Canada since at least the 1960s. According to the most recent available census data, there were 1,380 individuals in Canada identifying as Scientologists in 2021, down from 1,745 in 2011. Scientology has encountered difficulties in obtaining status as a tax exempt organization, as has happened in other countries.
The Toronto organization's 8-storey building at 696 Yonge Street was vacated in 2012 and boarded up in 2013 for a renovation to an "Ideal Org". The plans would "remove all interior walls on all floors, remove all exterior walls ... and construct new exterior and interior alterations to all floors." In 2015, Scientology owed over $100,000 in property taxes and penalties. As of 2022, the building was still boarded up and vacant.
In 2007, the Montreal organization purchased the historic La Patrie building in downtown Montreal's Latin Quarter with plans to renovate it as an Ideal Org, but the building remained vacant. In 2015, the organization owed $117,000 in taxes, fines and interest. They paid off enough of that bill to avoid a sale of the building, but in 2016 faced another substantial tax bill and risked having the building auctioned off.
In 2013, a new Ideal Org was opened in Cambridge, Ontario at 1305 Bishop St. N.
In 2017, Scientology rented the building at 40 Baker Street for administrative offices. A month later, there were demonstrators out front protesting the presence of Scientology in Guelph.
Religious scholars David G. Bromley and Douglas Cowan, writing in a 2006 publication, state that Scientology has so far failed to gain official recognition as a religion in Canada.
The Church has failed to win status as a federally registered charity for tax purposes. A November 2007 article in The Varsity, a University of Toronto student newspaper, stated that the Church of Scientology is classified as a religious non-profit organization in Canada whose ministers can perform marriages, and that Scientologist public servants are allowed to take time off work for Scientologist holidays. However, since marriage is governed in Canada by provincial law, it is unclear whether Scientology is actually accredited in any Canadian province to perform legal marriages.
In 1966, the provincially appointed Committee on the Healing Arts began investigating medicine and healing in Ontario. The study involved the examination of hypnosis and groups that use it, as well as several sectarian groups including Scientology. The resulting report in 1970, by John A. Lee, entitled Sectarian Healers and Hypnotherapy was dubbed The Lee Report.
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Scientology in Canada
The Scientology movement has been present in Canada since at least the 1960s. According to the most recent available census data, there were 1,380 individuals in Canada identifying as Scientologists in 2021, down from 1,745 in 2011. Scientology has encountered difficulties in obtaining status as a tax exempt organization, as has happened in other countries.
The Toronto organization's 8-storey building at 696 Yonge Street was vacated in 2012 and boarded up in 2013 for a renovation to an "Ideal Org". The plans would "remove all interior walls on all floors, remove all exterior walls ... and construct new exterior and interior alterations to all floors." In 2015, Scientology owed over $100,000 in property taxes and penalties. As of 2022, the building was still boarded up and vacant.
In 2007, the Montreal organization purchased the historic La Patrie building in downtown Montreal's Latin Quarter with plans to renovate it as an Ideal Org, but the building remained vacant. In 2015, the organization owed $117,000 in taxes, fines and interest. They paid off enough of that bill to avoid a sale of the building, but in 2016 faced another substantial tax bill and risked having the building auctioned off.
In 2013, a new Ideal Org was opened in Cambridge, Ontario at 1305 Bishop St. N.
In 2017, Scientology rented the building at 40 Baker Street for administrative offices. A month later, there were demonstrators out front protesting the presence of Scientology in Guelph.
Religious scholars David G. Bromley and Douglas Cowan, writing in a 2006 publication, state that Scientology has so far failed to gain official recognition as a religion in Canada.
The Church has failed to win status as a federally registered charity for tax purposes. A November 2007 article in The Varsity, a University of Toronto student newspaper, stated that the Church of Scientology is classified as a religious non-profit organization in Canada whose ministers can perform marriages, and that Scientologist public servants are allowed to take time off work for Scientologist holidays. However, since marriage is governed in Canada by provincial law, it is unclear whether Scientology is actually accredited in any Canadian province to perform legal marriages.
In 1966, the provincially appointed Committee on the Healing Arts began investigating medicine and healing in Ontario. The study involved the examination of hypnosis and groups that use it, as well as several sectarian groups including Scientology. The resulting report in 1970, by John A. Lee, entitled Sectarian Healers and Hypnotherapy was dubbed The Lee Report.