Facts and Statistics

The first missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to preach in Prince Edward Island arrived in 1845. Branches (small congregations) were organized in Bedeque and Charlottetown, but were disbanded in 1850 when all Church members living in the province emigrated to Utah.

The first modern presence of the Church in Prince Edward Island came in 1964 when a converted couple from New York contacted another Church member living in the area and began holding Sunday School. Full-time missionaries were transferred to the island in 1966.

Church membership continued to grow on the island, and construction of the first meetinghouse was completed in the summer of 1983. A second chapel was completed the following year, and a third in 1988.

Joseph Smith, Sr. and his son, Don Carlos (the father and brother of Joseph Smith Jr.) preached in several Canadian towns and hamlets north of the St. Lawrence River in September 1830. The Canadian settlements were only a day or two’s journey from Palmyra, New York, and Kirtland, Ohio, and several converts were eager to share their new religion with relatives north of the border.

Between 1830 and 1850, some 2,500 Canadians joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, mostly in Upper Canada but also in the southern English-speaking townships of Lower Canada (Quebec), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

The first known Latter-day Saints to enter what is now Alberta were Simeon F. Allen and his son Heber S. Allen of Hyrum, Utah, who contracted work in 1883 on the Canadian Pacific Railroad between Medicine Hat and Calgary. They were joined by other saints from Utah working on the contract.
 
A few years later in 1886, Cache Stake President Charles O. Card received permission from Church President John Taylor to investigate colonizing opportunities in southwestern Canada.
Today, more than 182,000 Latter-day Saints are spread throughout 480 congregations in Canada.