Question Period Note: Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia

The Government of Canada strongly condemns the rise in hate crimes and hate speech targeting Muslims in Canada since the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israel-Hamas conflict.

From 2022 to 2023, hate crimes targeting Muslim individuals rose by 94% to 211 and hate crimes targeting Jewish individuals rose 71% to 900. And this only reflects incidents reported to the police that are subsequently classified as hate-motivated crimes. We know it is only the tip of the iceberg.

As defined in Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, Islamophobia includes “racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia can lead to viewing and treating Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level”.

The same definition guides the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia’s work, who serves as a champion of human rights and an expert advisor to the Government for the inclusion of Muslims in Canada, to ensure a safer and more equitable Canada for all.

Data 

According to 2021 Census, after Christianity, Islam was the second-most reported religion in Canada, with nearly 1.8 million, or 1 in 20, people. Between 2001 and 2021, the number of those who reported being Muslim rose from 2.0% to 4.9% of Canada’s population. 

Recent years have seen a marked rise in anti-Muslim sentiment, hate crimes against Muslims and Islamophobia in Canada including attacks on mosques, overt discrimination against people wearing Islamic symbols and dress. Muslims continue to be among the most frequent targets of hate crimes against a religion, continuing trends from previous years.

The deadly hate-motivated attack in a mosque in Quebec City on January 29, 2017, followed by the June 6, 2021, killing of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, demonstrated the need for urgent action to combat Islamophobia.

One-third of Muslims surveyed in Canada in 2016 (35%) have reported experiencing discrimination or unfair treatment in the past five years due to their religion, ethnicity, culture, language, or sex (Source: Environics, Survey of Muslims in Canada 2016).

According to the most recent Statistics Canada’s release on Police Reported Crime Statistics in Canada, 2023, the number of police-reported hate crimes increased by 32%, from 3,612 incidents in 2022 to 4,777 incidents in 2023. Hate crimes targeting a religion (67%) or a sexual orientation (69%) accounted for most of the increase in 2023.

Of the 688 hate crimes motivated by religion that were reported from 2018 to 2022, 335 or nearly half targeted Muslims. The crimes motivated by hatred of Muslims were the most frequently violent (18%). In the same period, women accounted for more than half the victims of hate crimes targeting Muslims (53%). Compared to all other types of hate crimes (both violent and non-violent), those targeting Muslims were the only ones where more victims were female than male.

It is important to note that under a third (29%) of criminal incidents came to the attention of police, according to the 2019 General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety by Statistics Canada. Respondents to the survey were asked if they believed their violent victimization had been motivated by hate. Of the 223,000 criminal incidents were perceived to be motivated by hate, 22% of victims reported the incident(s) to the police.

Legal Framework 

Countering racism and discrimination is consistent with international obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ratified by Canada in 1970, and Canada’s vision of a multicultural society that is embodied in the Canadian Bill of Rights (1960), entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), and affirmed in the Canadian Multiculturalism Act (1988).  

Giving effect to the principle that everyone has the right to equal opportunity and to live free from discrimination in Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) establishes prohibited grounds of discrimination, including race, colour, national or ethnic origin, and religion. Provincial and territorial human rights laws engage similar principles and objectives found in the CHRA, protecting people from discrimination in matters within provincial and territorial jurisdiction. 

As defined in Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, Islamophobia includes racism, stereotypes, prejudice, fear or acts of hostility directed towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general.

Recognizing the impact of online communication, the Government is also taking steps to legislate against severe forms of harmful content and hate speech on the internet. This initiative aims to prevent individuals from using online platforms as a shield for engaging in harmful activities. 

Investments 

Since 2019, our government has committed over $200 million through Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy. 

As part of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022, $5.8 million was directed towards strengthening research and evidence to build understanding of the disparities and challenges faced by racialized and religious minority communities.  

This included $900,000 to the Department of Public Safety to augment Canada’s hate crimes and hate speech research and identify strategies to prevent, counter, and address these. 

$4.2 million was allocated to Statistics Canada for the following research: 

Hate crime data linkage project. 

Four socio-economic analytical papers addressing key areas of the Anti-Racism Strategy intervention. 

Between 2020-2024, $4.7M in program funding was dispersed to various community groups across Canada supporting 47 unique projects designed to counter Islamophobia. 

Budget 2022 provided $5.6 million over five years, with $1.2 million ongoing to support the work of the new Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. 

Budget 2023 provided $49.5 million over five years, starting in 2023-24, to Public Safety Canada to enhance and expand the Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program. 

This program with an initial investment of $5 million, was initially launched on November 9, 2023, and provides time-limited funding and support for communities at risk of hate-motivated incidents and hate-motivated crimes to enhance physical security at their gathering spaces; such as community centres, places of worship and other institutions;

In December 2023, an additional $5 million investment was made to support a program expansion This new temporary measure will cover new sites, such as office spaces and daycares associated to communities at-risk of hate-motivated incidents and hate-motivated crimes; as well as cover costs associated with time-limited security guards, until March 31, 2024. 

On June 8, 2024, the Government of Canada launched Changing Systems, Transforming Lives: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028. Building on the work of the Government’s first anti-racism strategy, this Strategy is a $110.4 million investment aimed at driving action in employment, justice and law enforcement, housing, healthcare, and immigration systems:

$85 million over four years starting in 2022-23 from Budget 2022 for the development of the new Anti-Racism Strategy, which includes $70 million over three years, starting in 2023-24, to extend the grants and contributions of the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program; and

$25.4 million over five years starting in 2023-24 from Budget 2023, and $0.6 million ongoing, to support the renewed Anti-Racism Strategy.

Budget 2024 provides $273.6 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $29.3 million ongoing, for Canada’s Action Plan on Combatting Hate to support community outreach and law enforcement reform, tackle the rise in hate crimes, enhance community security, counter radicalization, and increase support for victims. These investments include:

$10 million over three years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Changing Narratives Fund. This builds on previous funding of $5 million provided in Budget 2022;

$25 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support Anti-Hate programming and promoting intercultural ties and community-based activities;

$7.3 million over six years, starting in 2024-25, with $1.1 million ongoing, to the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia.

Government actions on Islamophobia 

On July 22, 2021, our government hosted a National Summit on Islamophobia, which identified ways the federal government could work with Muslim communities to implement federal anti-racism initiatives that specifically address Islamophobia and hate-fueled violence.

In 2021, our government established January 29 as a National Day of Remembrance of the Québec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia.

In January 2022, our government announced its intention to appoint a Special Representative on combatting Islamophobia.

In February 2023, Amira Elghawaby was appointed as Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. The Special Representative’s mandate includes:  

Serving as a champion, advisor, expert, and representative to the Canadian government, for the purpose of enhancing efforts to combat Islamophobia and promote awareness of the diverse and intersectional identities of Muslims in Canada; and 

Collaborating with domestic partners, institutions, and stakeholders to support Canada’s efforts to combat Islamophobia, anti-Muslim hatred, systemic racism, racial discrimination, and religious intolerance. 

On November 2, 2023, the Senate Committee on Human Rights released a report, Combatting Hate: Islamophobia and its impact on Muslims in Canada, which outlines the committee’s findings from its year-long study into the sources of Islamophobia in Canada, incidents of discrimination, physical violence and online hate against Muslims, and the effects of these events on individuals and communities. The committee makes 13 recommendations to address the disturbing rise of Islamophobia in recent years. The government is currently studying the Report and its recommendations.   

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