TORONTO, ON – A bombshell report released Wednesday by a prominent New York-based think tank warns that Canada faces a significant and escalating national security risk due to the pervasive influence of organizations allegedly affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and extensive financial penetration by Qatar. The report, published by the ISGAP, paints a troubling picture of how extremist ideologies are taking root across Canadian society, often with the unwitting assistance of federal funding and under the guise of legitimate charitable and academic pursuits.
The ISGAP, which counts Canada’s former Justice Minister and Attorney General Irwin Cotler on its board of directors, argues that the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization that has declared “jihad against the Jews,” has established a vast network of charities and fundraising across Canada. Its latest report, titled “We Stand on Guard For Thee? The Growing Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on Politics, Academia, and Civil Society in Canada,” contains findings that extend deeply into the Canadian landscape. The Muslim Brotherhood is an Egyptian organization that believes in the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and whose leaders have promoted antisemitic conspiracies. Hamas, the Palestinian terror group behind the brutal October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians, is identified as a Palestinian offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
“This report is a wake-up call for all Canadians,” stated Charles Asher Small, ISGAP’s founding director, in a written statement to the National Post. Small urged the federal government to “designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization” and “immediately freeze public funding to suspect organizations.” He further asserted, “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 Muslim Brotherhood is proscribed as a terrorist organization in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Libya (Tobruk), and Jordan.
The report suggests that the consequences of Canadian inaction, which it attributes “in no small part to a lack of political will,” have “now become a major national security issue that requires serious scrutiny.” It specifically warns that without urgent action, Canada remains vulnerable to a potential terror attack.
Unveiling the Network: Allegations Against Canadian Charities and Institutions
The ISGAP report meticulously highlights several Canadian charities that it claims have extensive ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, alleging they exploit Canadian laws to raise money for Muslim Brotherhood factions in the Middle East. Of particular concern to the think tank is the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), which describes itself as the “largest Muslim grassroots Canadian charitable organization.”
In 2021, an audit conducted by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) found that “the concept of the Muslim Brotherhood appeared” in MAC’s “governing documents.” The CRA, in its original investigation, found enough grounds to revoke MAC’s charitable status, though MAC remains a registered charity according to the federal government’s database. MAC has strongly disputed the CRA’s characterization of its work – though a judge later dismissed MAC’s challenge to the audit – alleging it reflected a “systemic Islamophobia” bias and is appealing.
On Wednesday June 25th, MAC dismissed the ISGAP report, stating, “This report is nothing more than recycled Islamophobic tropes dressed up as ‘research,’ when in reality it’s a biased, unsubstantiated hit piece that relies solely on discredited allegations – allegations that were questioned by the Ontario Superior Court for their apparent bias and ultimately abandoned by the CRA in concluding its audit and reaching a resolution with MAC.”
The federal investigation into MAC also revealed that “most prominent members, directors, and officials” of MAC were involved either with International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN-Canada) “or a network of charities that appear to have been used to propagate and fundraise for Hamas in Canada.” IRFAN-Canada was designated a terror entity in 2014 for transferring nearly $15 million to Hamas, with the Canadian government stating IRFAN-Canada exploited its “status as a charitable organization to fund Hamas.” A decade later, Canada’s public safety ministry secured a deportation order against Majeda Sarassra, a former female employee of IRFAN-Canada, stating her presence in the country was “inadmissible on security grounds.”
A Global Perspective: The Brotherhood’s Divisive Influence
Lorenzo Vidino, a terror finance researcher at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, has dedicated 25 years to studying the Muslim Brotherhood. He co-published a report in January 2025, “The Muslim Brotherhood in the West? Evidence from a Canadian Tax Authority Investigation,” exploring MAC as a window into the Islamist group’s operations in North America and Europe.
Vidino told National Post, “I think all Western countries have come to an understanding that the Brotherhood is a problematic group and I think the findings of all other countries apply also to Canada.” He continued, “There’s a consensus across security services in general of the threats that the Brotherhood poses and the main one is an issue of social cohesion and integration. The Brotherhood has an ability to push within Muslim communities narratives that are highly divisive, that are polarizing. It promotes values that are antithetical to those of Western constitutions when it comes to democracy, when it comes to women’s rights, when it comes to gay rights, when it comes to freedom of religion, when it comes to antisemitism.”
Vidino, author of the 2010 book “The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West,” explained that while the Islamist group itself “might not be directly engaged in terrorist activities, it promotes a narrative – it mainstreams a narrative – that lays the groundwork for jihadists groups to recruit. It creates this narrative of victimization: the narrative that Muslims are constantly under attack by the West with widespread Islamophobia.”
The ISGAP report also noted that the leading Canadian Muslim advocacy group, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), also has alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The organization, originally known as the Council on American-Islamic Relations Canada (CAIR-CAN), was an outgrowth of a similarly-named U.S. group which, the publication alleges, is “a self-described Muslim Brotherhood front organization.” A 2003 affidavit from the former founder of the group, Sheema Khan, also acknowledged the relationship.
The Qatari Connection: Funding and Influence
The report further explores efforts by Qatar, a small country in the Arabian Peninsula, to influence Canadian academia and fund local Islamic centers. Qatar offers safe passage and financing to Hamas leaders and has been a principal mediator between the Palestinian terror group and Israel in ceasefire talks. Concerns over Qatar’s foreign influence have gained momentum in America amid reports suggesting it has been the largest foreign donor to American universities since 1986, contributing over $6 billion, mostly to elite colleges.
The ISGAP paper details how Qatar gave McGill University in Montreal a $1.25 million gift for its Islamic studies program in 2012, and created a collaboration between Qatar Airways and the school’s Institute for Air and Space Law.
Qatar’s financial reach, according to the report, extends beyond academia and into the Canadian charitable realm. The CRA audit of the Muslim Association of Canada found that the organization received over $1 million from Qatar Charity, which ISGAP describes as a “state-owned organization,” in 2012. The foreign group also reportedly gave nearly $2.5 million to help buy land and build the Islamic Community Centre of Ontario, as found by the Canada Revenue Agency during its investigation.
The report contends that the financial power Qatar wields across Canada could influence how university administrators discipline antisemitism on campus and influence the message of religious figures in Muslim communities.
A Call for Action: Addressing a National Security Threat
The ISGAP report issues a stark call to action on national security, concluding that Canadian authorities’ failure to address what it terms the radical Islamist threat has 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.
The report claims that Canadian taxpayer dollars are funding extremism, with millions in public funds allegedly going to organizations with verified ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, despite repeated audits and investigations. It further states that Canada has become a central hub for Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated organizations exerting influence across civil society, academia, politics, and government.
University radicalization is also highlighted, with major Canadian universities, including McGill, Concordia, University of Toronto, and York, identified as focal points for antisemitic and anti-Israel activity, often coordinated by foreign-linked networks. The report describes the historical context that allowed such radical ideologies to manifest across campuses.
Adding another layer of concern, the report touches on issues of money laundering in Canada, stating that Canada has a long-standing history of serving as a logistical and fundraising hub for terrorist organizations. It references reports from 2006 estimating terror financing in Canada at approximately C$180 million per year, yet claims prosecution for crimes like sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, and money laundering are low or non-existent. This, it states, poses a significant and ongoing threat to Canada and other democratic nations like the United States. 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 acknowledgement of Canadian financial system vulnerabilities.
The report also alleges coordinated foreign influence behind what appears to be grassroots student activism, claiming it 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.
Finally, the report points to rebranded extremist groups operating in Canada, citing organizations such as the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC), Islamic Relief Canada, and the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) as examples of Brotherhood-linked entities that have allegedly operated under the guise of community outreach while promoting extremist ideologies and receiving foreign funding. It also reiterates that 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, the report claims, have been used to promote radical Islamist, antisemitic, and anti-Western rhetoric.
The report identifies six key organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood network: the 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). It states that some of these continue to receive Canadian federal support despite documented ties to extremist networks.
As an example, the report highlights that 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). This is the same organization that, according to 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.
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, the report warns, Canada risks deepening its complicity in establishing global hate networks.
