AIRDRIE – After many years of praying at a local church and traveling to mosques in northeast Calgary, the Muslim community in Airdrie, Alberta, have finally opened their first Islamic center, CBC reported.

“Now we have a proper place to say our prayers,” said Mona Shehzad, who has lived in Airdrie for the past 11 years.

The first prayers, at Airdrie Mosque which is funded by the Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC), were held on September 27.

“The church here, it was fabulous, really generous that they gave us that place to worship and it really stands for the Canadian culture that we can say our prayers even in a church and we really appreciate that,” said Shehzad.

Beside daily prayers and Fridays’ weekly sermons, the new center will hold Islamic school classes for kids on Sundays, operated by the North West Islamic School of Calgary.

“And I’m so happy to see the kids here, that they are going to take lessons and get to know their own religion,” said Yasmin Khan, another Muslim community member.

The city of Airdrie in Alberta, central Canada, is estimated to have at least 60 Muslim families living there. On the other hand, the MCC represents about 80,000 Muslims in Calgary.

The Islamic center will also provide a gathering spot for the Muslim community to host different cultural and social activities.

“It feels really good that now finally we have our own place and everyone’s welcome here. If people have questions, we’ll be happy to answer them,” expressed Muhammad Huraira, a community member.

Ghazanfar Zafar, secretary of the MCC, explained that “this center is phase one, and in the future, we may even build a permanent center.”

According to Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, there were 1,053,945 Muslims in Canada, or about 3.2% of the total population, making Islam the second largest religion in the country after Christianity.

In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), 7.7% of the population is Muslim, and in Greater Montreal, 6% of the population is Muslim.