How Canada’s foremost Islamic lobby group shaped Toronto’s “Islamophobia” curriculum

The powerful Islamic lobbying group, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, has successfully influenced the Toronto District School Board for years.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The powerful Islamic lobbying group, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, has successfully influenced the Toronto District School Board for years, embedding its ideas about Islamophobia education into school policy, teacher training, and even student activities, all while receiving millions in taxpayer dollars.

Since 2018, the non-profit has been awarded more than $2 million in government funding, including over $750,000 from Ontario’s Ministry of Education.

NCCM’s expansion into Ontario’s education system followed key changes in federal politics. In spring 2017, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid passed Bill M-103, which urged the government to condemn “Islamophobia”—a term left undefined—as a form of systemic racism.

The motion was controversial at the time. Many argued the term’s vagueness could chill legitimate debate, satire, or criticism of religious beliefs by blurring the line between protecting people and protecting ideas.

NCCM also took the opportunity to lobby for studies on “systemic discrimination and including religious discrimination and Islamophobia in Canada.”

While NCCM pushed for the inclusion of Islamophobia in federal policy, it simultaneously worked to embed it at the school board level through the development of Islamic Heritage Month. The TDSB facilitated NCCM-led “Islamophobia: A Teachable Moment” workshops for parents, staff and students at schools.

By the fall of 2017, the TDSB’s Islamic Heritage Month planning committee, which included NCCM advisors, launched workshops and events to address Islamophobia through equity and inclusion pathways. Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combating Islamophobia, was involved in developing the initiative. She and other “dignitaries” attended the launch, with Elghawaby praising “the sheer momentum” of parents behind the effort. She later joined a York University webinar panel, alongside TDSB human rights and equity staff, to discuss “disrupting and dismantling” discourses on “Islamophobia and Intersecting Oppressions including anti-Black racism in K-12 Schooling.”

Student-facing programming expanded as well. In 2022, more than 30 TDSB schools and 5,000 students attended NCCM learning sessions following the release of the board’s Combatting Hate and Racism – Student Learning Strategy. The TDSB later announced a partnership with the NCCM to offer “50 student centred workshops to challenge Islamophobia and affirm Muslim student identities” across the district.

Building on this momentum, TDSB trustees moved to institutionalize the work. Trustee Neethan Shan—a former executive director of an anti-racism non-profit—emerged as a lead proponent of a dedicated anti-Islamophobia strategy. Along with trustee Liban Hassan, Shan put forward a motion in early 2023 to develop a system-wide strategy. In April 2023, the TDSB board unanimously voted for the dedicated anti-Islamophobia strategy.

At the school level, NCCM has appeared in parent council meetings and community learning events, according to meeting minutes and trustee updates. For example, Zion Heights school council minutes referenced a session on Islamophobia attended by all classes, delivered in collaboration with NCCM through the board’s equity department.

That same year, trustee updates described NCCM as a partner in student learning and staff development initiatives on “anti-Black Islamophobia,” which blurs the lines between race and religion.

In 2024, the TDSB’s professional learning menu again featured “A Teachable Moment on Islamophobia,” delivered in collaboration with NCCM. The group provided staff, parents and community members with training on NCCM’s vision of Islamophobia.