The Islamic lobby groups shaping Ontario’s classrooms

Behind the scenes, major Islamic advocacy groups are collaborating with Ontario school boards to influence and shape “anti-Islamophobia” strategies that are then implemented in classrooms.

Source: Adobe Stock

Behind the scenes, major Islamic advocacy groups are collaborating with Ontario school boards to influence and shape “anti-Islamophobia” strategies that are then implemented in classrooms. This engagement is guided by a province-wide framework designed to instruct directors of education on how to interact with these activist organizations.

In 2017, Ontario formalized plans to “identify and eliminate persistent inequities” by redesigning curriculum to be “culturally responsive” and working with community groups representing “marginalized” students.

That same year, the Quebec City Mosque shooting prompted public institutions across Canada to launch anti-Islamophobia initiatives.

Operating under the new equity focus, Ontario school boards increasingly turned to established Islamic lobby groups to develop anti-Islamophobia strategies that address hostility toward Muslims as anti-racism.

Three organizations stand out.

The Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC), a political lobby group that led the MuslimsVote.ca campaign in the 2025 federal election, announced its participation in the development of the CODE framework, calling it a “meaningful, equity-driven partnership with advocacy groups.” CMPAC’s contributions centred on “advocating for cultural competency, addressing Islamophobia.”

While not involved in the development of the CODE framework, the National Council for Canadian Muslims—a particularly active group that lobbied the federal government 141 times in 2025—has in recent years collaborated with schools on many projects including developing anti-Islamophobia strategies for several boards, including the Peel, Toronto, Thames Valley, and Durham school boards. Their members were also involved in developing Manitoba’s anti-Islamophobia action plan for schools.

The Muslim Association of Canada, a non-profit that retained its charitable status following a concerning CRA audit, contributed to the K-12 space after receiving funding from the Doug Ford government in 2021. Ontario’s ministry of education awarded $300,000 worth of grants, with $225,000 going to the MAC and $75,000 to the NCCM to “raise awareness about Islamophobia” and find ways to “end Islamophobia, racism, and discrimination.”

According to the MAC, the education minister at the time Stephen Lecce praised partnerships with community leaders “to counter racism and better support Ontario’s Muslim students,” appearing to conflate race with religion.

The MAC used the funds to create a digital platform of workshops, videos, and infographics for teachers, students, and parents aimed at introducing Islam to educators and “dismantling Islamophobia in schools.”

Other religious stakeholders were consulted, but True North was unable to find public statements about their involvement.

Ontario schools increasingly rely on intersectional social justice politics as a foundation for governance. Terms like “systemic racism,” “intersectionality,” “culturally responsive,” and identity “anti-oppression” routinely drive board policies and professional learning materials.

Islamic lobby groups have adopted similar ideological vocabulary to align with anti-racism approaches.

For example, the DDSB’s Islamophobia guide claims that “anti-Muslim racism is grounded in White supremacy” and targets Muslims based on “race” and “ethnicity,” blurring the line between religion and race.

Manitoba’s Islamophobia action plan defines Islamophobia as “racism, prejudice, stereotypes, fear, or acts of hostility” toward Muslims “as well as toward Islam as a religion.” It similarly treats Islamophobia and racism interchangeably, once again protecting the religion by adopting the language of race.

Curriculum content relating to Islam has also evolved. Recommended teacher prompts for Ontario’s Grade 11 world religions course describe jihad in terms such as an “individual’s spiritual struggle” or “the quest for meaning,” focusing on personal and faith-based expressions without references to violent interpretations by groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, or Hamas.

A federal guide on combating Islamophobia, released by Canada’s Islamophobia czar Amira Elghawaby, similarly defines jihad as an internal spiritual struggle. It also claims that colonialism and racism are responsible for linking jihad to security threats.

A recurring principle in social justice ideology is that solutions should be created “by and for” identity groups. This often involves consulting the same activist organizations to co-develop strategies, facilitate training, and influence classroom materials, emphasizing lived experiences over data.

The CODE framework, while advisory, supports this “by and for” engagement between directors of education and activists, including political lobby groups.

These collaborations will likely continue to evolve as frameworks like CODE enhance the role of activism in schools. In a system increasingly turning to social justice politics, anti-Islamophobia campaigns and “by and for” expectations will continue to conflate religion and race in Ontario’s public education system.

True North requested comment from CODE, NCCM, and MAC, as well as Ontario and Manitoba’s ministries of education; none of the organizations responded by press time.