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People group profile · PG043486

The Telugu of Canada

The Telugu of Canada, numbering about 17,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indo-Iranian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the India states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Puducherry.

They are a diaspora people in the Telugu people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Hinduism, and they primarily speak Telugu.

Pray for the TeluguPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Telugu people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Telugu

Fast facts

Country
Canada
Population
17,500
Affinity group
South Asian Peoples
People cluster
Telugu
Primary language
Telugu (tel)
Primary religion
Hinduism
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Pioneer Unreached People Group
Region
Northern America, Americas
Location
Scattered

Where they live

Gospel status

The Telugu are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, 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.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Telugu

  • Continue prayer and fasting for this group
  • Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
  • Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Primary religion

Hinduism

70% adherents

Primary language

Telugu · Dravidian family

100% speak Telugu

Gospel resources in Telugu

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories available

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Telugu

  1. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  2. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  3. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
  4. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.

Download a prayer guide

Telugu in other countries

The same people is also reported in 9 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
TeluguUnited Arab Emirates518,000Engaged yet Unreached
TeluguUnited States428,000Engaged yet Unreached
TeluguMyanmar271,000Engaged yet Unreached
TeluguMalaysia138,000No Longer Unreached
TeluguBahrain34,500Engaged yet Unreached
TeluguSri Lanka13,000No Longer Unreached
TeluguBangladesh12,000Engaged yet Unreached
TeluguSingapore850No Longer Unreached
TeluguKuwait850Engaged yet Unreached

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