The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) is a non-profit Canadian Muslim civil liberties and human rights advocacy organization. [1] The organization was established in 2000 to focus on combatting Islamophobia, hate and racism through legal action, public advocacy, education, and media representation. NCCM's mission is "to protect human rights & civil liberties and dismantle Islamophobia through advocacy." [2]
NCCM takes on cases of hate and discrimination such as Islamophobic assaults, [3] [4] [5] vandalism, [6] harassment, [7] employment discrimination, [8] and racial profiling. [9] NCCM also takes on major cases to challenge discriminatory laws and policies such as Quebec's Bill 21, [10] the No Fly List, [11] the Safe Third Country Act, and Bill 62. [12] NCCM frequently collaborates with partners such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to combat encroachments on civil liberties. [13] NCCM lawyers have appeared in multiple courts including human rights tribunals and the Supreme Court of Canada. [14]
NCCM engages in lobbying all levels of government to strengthen or enact laws and policies that address Islamophobia in all its forms. [15] After the London Terror Attack in Ontario in 2021 when 4 members of a Muslim family perished in an Islamophobic attack, NCCM submitted 61 recommendations directed at municipal, provincial and federal governments to tackle Islamophobia in their jurisdictions. [16] [17] NCCM has been named as a top lobbying organization in Canada by The Hill Times on multiple occasions. [18] [19] [20] [21]
NCCM has been active on several public policy files including systemic Islamophobia in national security agencies, [22] the CRA, [23] [24] policing, [25] and education. [26] NCCM also advocates on Canadian foreign policy in relation to Islamophobia, including on Canadian positions on multiple issues related to Palestine, [27] Afghanistan, [28] the treatment of Uyghurs in China [29] and the treatment of Muslims and other minorities in India. [30]
NCCM engages in anti-Islamophobia educational work with public schools, [31] educators, [32] corporations, [33] unions [34] and others. In addition, NCCM provides advocacy services to students who face Islamophobic discrimination or hate at school. [35] [36]
NCCM has been involved in advocating for anti-Islamophobia strategies at multiple school boards, with the first being passed in the Peel District School Board in Ontario [37] as well as a province-wide strategy in British Columbia. [38]
NCCM frequently comments in the media on issues related to Islamophobia and racism, and the organization publishes op-eds in Canadian newspapers on various policy issues. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]
NCCM was formerly known as the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) prior to 2013 and was independent of the U.S. organization of a similar name, CAIR. [44] In 2014, the NCCM sued former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his spokesman Jason MacDonald for defamation [45] for alleging that the organization had connections with a terrorist organization because of similar accusations directed at CAIR; however, these accusations were settled in court when Harper's spokesperson admitted that his statements regarding NCCM were wrong. [46] The Government of Canada also issued a statement disavowing MacDonald's inaccurate statement about NCCM. [46]
Previous CEO of NCCM, Mustafa Farooq, made statements in 2012 on social media critical of alliances with LGTBQ that were later removed, in which he compared such relationships to those with "adulterers, .... those who take insane amounts of interest, and... Muslims with the alcohol industry." In response to the possibility of such alliance, he also quoted Dr. Sherman Jackson: "we do not condemn homosexuals (just as we do not condemn those who have feelings of attractions towards the opposite sex) but condemn the act of homosexuality (just as we condemn adultery). May Allah guide us to the truth, and forgive us for when we mispeak." [47]
On April 15, 2025, filing of a defamation lawsuit was commenced on behalf of Collin May against NCCM, Progress Alberta, and affiliated individuals. Collin May, the former Chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, alleges that individuals from these groups knowingly, and with organizational approval, conducted a defamatory campaign against him resulting in personal and professional damage. [48]