A recent study revealed that anti-Islam views are prevalent across Canada at varying rates, with the highest levels in the eastern province of Quebec.

The study, published this month by Canada's Angusreid Institute, pointed to the highest level of "Islamophobia" in the province of Quebec, and this is reflected in Muslims in many ways, so that the Muslim minority faces the risk of not being welcomed in several areas of society.

While 39 per cent of Canadians, excluding Quebec, hold views and sentiments that do not favour Islam, the study found that more than half of Quebecians, or 52 per cent, hold those views towards Muslims.

The study covered Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism and Hinduism, and asked questions related to satisfaction with the religion, acceptance or rejection of adherents or marrying them, or establishing their own places of worship, and the comfort of working in the same place with adherents of each religion.

A comparison between Quebec and the rest of Canada revealed stark differences, the report said. 37% of people had very positive views of Muslims and their religious monuments and rituals, and 27% of people showed positive impressions overall, but not at all levels surveyed.

#WATCH: “I can’t say I’m surprised,” says Stephen Brown, the CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, about a new study done by Angus Reid that shows Islamophobia is more prevalent in Quebec than the rest of Canada. @nccm

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Sixteen per cent of Canadians outside Quebec held "very negative" views of Islam and Muslim religious practices. In Quebec, 16% showed "very negative" views of Islam and Muslims.

Twenty percent had "very positive" views of Islam and 20 percent had "generally positive" views, i.e. not in all the areas presented in the study.

Fifty-seven percent of respondents from Quebec expressed support for a controversial bill banning the "wearing of religious symbols in government workplaces", which Muslim organizations opposed, saying veiled Muslim women were the most affected. Sixty-five per cent of Canadians in other parts of the country opposed the bill, and only 57 per cent expressed support.

Stephen Brown, chief executive of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, told Canadian media: "It's sad, but for someone who lives in Quebec, it's not surprising at all."

"This raises real questions about the root causes why people feel this particular way about Muslims. It's not because people are dealing directly with Muslims, it's because of what they hear about us."

Brown noted that the rise of Islamophobia in Quebec would "backfire for the benefit of society and pose a threat to the lives of Muslim citizens. This is terrible for social cohesion."