Canada, Islam in
The majority of Canadian Muslims are post-1965 immigrants. Numerically, the most dominant are Indo-Pakistanis, followed by West Asians and North African Arabs. The population is generally young, educated, and professional. All major Canadian cities have mosques or other public spaces for religious observances. Important Canadian Muslim institutions include the Council of Muslim Communities of Canada, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, the Ismaili National Council for Canada, the Canadian Muslim Education and Research Institute, and the Muslim Research Foundation. Particular challenges facing Canadian Muslims are prejudice, stereotyping, Muslim unity, the difficulty of practicing Islam in a predominantly Christian environment, gender issues, and preservation of Islamic cultural and spiritual heritage while assimilating into the Canadian secular mainstream.