FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

ISGAP Urges Canadian Government to Designate Muslim Brotherhood a Terrorist Organization

 

NEW YORK – June 26, 2025 – An alarming report released today by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), uncovers the deep-rooted presence and growing influence of Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations across Canada’s civil, academic, political, and financial spheres. This has escalated into a significant national security concern that demands urgent and decisive attention – including formally designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. Without urgent action, Canada remains vulnerable to a potential terror attack.

The report, We Stand on Guard for Thee? The Growing Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on Politics, Academia, and Civil Society in Canada, paints a troubling picture of how extremist ideologies have taken hold through rebranded and well-funded organizations—many with documented ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

The findings provide greater insight into how the Muslim Brotherhood network has infiltrated institutions in Canada. These Canada-based organizations have been allowed to grow and spread radical Islamist ideology, often benefiting from federal funding while doing so. As such, these organizations and their operations have become a threat to Canadian democracy.

“This report is a wake-up call for all Canadians,” said Dr. Charles Asher Small, Executive Director of ISGAP. “The Canadian government’s direct funding of organizations with documented links to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is a betrayal of public trust and a threat to Canada’s national security. Our report exposes how federal agencies have become complicit in sustaining and legitimizing networks that promote antisemitic and anti-Israel ideologies under the guise of charity and social welfare. These entities are exploiting the very values of tolerance and pluralism that Canada holds dear, weaponizing public institutions against Jewish communities and undermining Canadian democracy itself.”

The influence of the Muslim Brotherhood became increasingly evident across Canada following the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, which were followed by an unprecedented surge in antisemitism. In 2024, reports documented a 670% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to previous years.

One of the most evident ways we saw this was on Canadian university campuses which were hotbeds for antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiments. The report not only describes the historical context that allowed such radical ideologies and actions to manifest across campuses – like McGill and Concordia – but also provides an in-depth analysis of the organizations – on and off campus – that enabled and supported them.

Beyond that, the report investigates the troubling extent of Qatar’s penetration into Canada. Through academic partnerships, religious funding, and energy investments, Qatar has significantly expanded its influence in Canada—often in support of groups under terrorism-related scrutiny. These distributions often originate with entities such as Qatar Charity and Eid Charity, both of which have been connected to US Treasury-designated terrorist fundraising networks such as the ‘Union of Good’ and have provided millions to Canadian Islamic organizations.

It is important to note that Canada is becoming a hub for international money laundering. It is also becoming a place of entryism of foreign terror-linked entities who use Canada as a logical and ideological hub into the United States. The extensive financial integration between Canadian and U.S. banking systems creates pathways for money laundering that originate in Canada. An October 2024 U.S. Treasury criminal indictment of TD Bank, for example, determined that Canada’s financial system had been “actively enabling extremist violence,” highlighting the cross-border nature of financial crimes. This determination by U.S. authorities represents an unprecedented acknowledgment of Canadian financial system vulnerabilities.

Despite documented links to extremist and terrorist entities, many of these groups continue to maintain their legitimate status in Canada. By way of example, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered remarks at an Eid al-Adha celebration in Ottawa on June 6, 2025 hosted by the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC). The same organization that, as outlined in the report, has received millions of dollars in funding from Qatar Charity, which has been tied to Hamas and al-Qaeda. MAC has also provided funding to IFRAN-Canada, which has been listed as a terrorist organization in Canada since 2014 for sending C$14.6 million to Hamas.

The report identifies six key organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood network, some of which continue to receive Canadian federal support according to the Canada Revenue Agency, despite documented ties to extremist networks: Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), Islamic Relief Canada (IRC), Arab Medical Union, Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)-Canada, National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), and the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN-Canada).

Key Highlights from the report:

  • Call to Action on National Security: The report concludes that the failure of Canadian authorities to address the radical Islamist threat has now become a pressing national security issue. It urges a full government investigation, tighter regulation of foreign
    donations, and increased scrutiny of nonprofit and academic institutions linked to extremist ideologies.
  • Canadian Taxpayer Dollars Are Funding Extremism: The Canadian government has provided millions of dollars in public funding to organizations with verified ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, despite repeated audits and investigations confirming these links.
  • Canada as a Hub for Extremist-Linked Influence: Canada has become a central hub for Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations exerting influence across civil society, academia, politics, and government.
  • University Radicalization: Major Canadian universities, including McGill, Concordia, University of Toronto, and York, have become focal points for antisemitic and anti-Israel activity, often coordinated by foreign-linked networks.
  • Issues of Money Laundering in Canada: Canada has a long-standing history of serving as a logistical and fundraising hub for terrorist organizations with reports from back in 2006 already estimating that terror financing in Canada amounted to approximately C$180 million per year. Yet, prosecution for crimes such as sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, and money laundering are low or non-existent. This poses a significant and ongoing threat to Canada and other democratic nations like our neighbour to the south.
  • Coordinated Foreign Influence: What appears to be grassroots student activism is, in many cases, orchestrated by a well-organized network with ties to Russia, China, and Iran. Organizations like Samidoun Canada and Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) are named as key players in this campaign.
  • Rebranded Extremist Groups Operating in Canada: Organizations such as the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), Islamic Relief Canada, and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) are cited as examples of Brotherhood-linked entities that have operated under the guise of community outreach while promoting extremist ideologies and receiving foreign funding.
  • Foreign Charitable Donations from Qatar: Islamic centers across Canada have received millions in donations from Qatari state-owned organizations such as Qatar Charity and Eid Charity—groups internationally recognized for their ties to terrorism. These funds have been used to promote radical Islamist, antisemitic, and anti-Western rhetoric.

ISGAP calls on the Canadian government to formally designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, immediately freeze public funding to suspect organizations, conduct transparent investigations, and establish a rigorous oversight mechanism to prevent extremist-linked groups from receiving further taxpayer dollars. Without urgent action, Canada risks deepening its complicity in establishing global hate networks.

The full report is available here.

For more information on ISGAP, visit https://isgap.org/

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About The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) initiated the “Follow the Money” research project in 2012, focusing on the illicit funding of United States universities by foreign entities promoting anti-democratic, antisemitic ideologies, often linked to terrorism. This ongoing investigation unearthed substantial Middle Eastern funding, primarily from Qatar, to U.S. universities, previously unreported to the Department of Education (DoED) as required by law, revealing billions of dollars in unreported funds. This groundbreaking work led to a federal government investigation in 2019. Despite its close ties to the United States and other Western nations, Qatar has cultivated an extensive network of Islamist partners, hosting, supporting, and representing entities such as the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), maintaining ties with Iran, hosting the Taliban, supporting Hamas, and backing militias in Syria and Libya. ISGAP remains at the forefront of exposing and addressing these intricate issues concerning foreign funding and ideological influences within U.S. academia.


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