Policy

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Research, made useful for the decisions that shape Muslim communities.

Research briefs

Succinct and ready for action

Short briefs for the person with a meeting in an hour, an article due today, or who just wants a quick snapshot without wading through pages of research.

Policy brief

Working Together: A Guide to Ending Islamophobia at Work

Prepared by MCRO from the Survey of Muslims in Canada (SMiC, 2026) and Working While Muslim (WWM, 2026), a survey of 423 Muslims in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Key message

Muslims in Canada face more discrimination at work than other Canadians. Few report it, and fewer still see it fixed.

  • About 1 in 10cases of workplace discrimination in the GTHA is fully resolved
  • 12%of Muslims who faced discrimination at work or school reported it to the authorities
  • 43%of those who reported say nothing was done
Download brief: Working Together (PDF, 157 KB)PDF · 4 pages · 157 KB

Research brief · Restoring Belonging (2026) · Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism in Canada

Restoring Belonging: Ending Islamophobia, Anti-Arab and Anti-Palestinian Racism

Prepared by MCRO from Combatting Hate (Senate Human Rights Committee, 2023); Islamophobia on the Rise (House of Commons Justice Committee, 2024); Documenting the “Palestine Exception” (Islamophobia Research Hub, York University, 2025); and The Survey of Muslims in Canada (Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto, 2026).

Key message

Muslims in Canada are deeply invested in the country, yet their sense of belonging is eroding under hate, systemic bias and the silencing of their voices.

  • 84%of first-generation Muslim immigrants would choose Canada again
  • 48%say their sense of belonging weakened since October 7, 2023, compared with 24% of non-Muslims
  • 44%say it has become harder to be Muslim in Canada in recent years
Download brief: Restoring Belonging (PDF, 125 KB)PDF · 3 pages · 125 KB

Policy brief

Safe to Learn, Free to Belong: Protecting Muslim Students in Schools and on Campus

Prepared by MCRO from five reports and surveys published 2023–2026.

Key message

“This place may tolerate you, but it is not organized with your dignity and safety in mind.”

Muslim Student Voices

  • 44%of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism cases reported to the National Council of Canadian Muslims since October 2023 happened in education
  • Age 10the youngest age at which students said online harassment began
  • 42%of Muslims often hold back what they say, for fear of how people will react
Download brief: Safe to Learn, Free to Belong (PDF, 155 KB)PDF · 5 pages · 155 KB

Policy brief

Fair Access: Ending the Exclusion of Muslim Charities from Banking

Prepared by MCRO from two 2026 reports, by the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG) and by Anver M. Emon (University of Toronto).

Key message

Banks and payment companies are closing the accounts of Muslim-led and humanitarian charities to avoid possible risk, without reasons and without appeal, even though Canada says its terrorist-financing threat is limited.

  • 0independent bodies can check whether a closure was reasonable, free of discrimination and based on evidence
  • About halfof terrorist-property reports in a 2009 audit rested on a “possible” name match
  • $20Mnew maximum fine for breaking anti-money-laundering rules in 2026, up from $500,000
Download brief: Fair Access (PDF, 146 KB)PDF · 4 pages · 146 KB

Research brief · Muslim Artists Live Here · Muslims in Canada’s cultural industries

Muslim Artists Live Here: Who Gets Funded, Seen and Paid

Based on research by Radiyah Chowdhury for the Inspirit Foundation’s Narrative Change Lab, with 2021 Census data compiled by Kelly Hill of Hill Strategies Research.

Key message

Muslim artists are younger, more often racialized and more often immigrants than other Canadian artists, yet they are underrepresented, underpaid and largely invisible to the funders who could support them.

  • 89%are racialized, compared with 19% of all Canadian artists
  • 19% lessis what Muslim artists earn, compared with other artists
  • 2%of Canada’s 202,900 artists are Muslim, though Muslims are about 4% of its workers
Download brief: Muslim Artists Live Here (PDF, 125 KB)PDF · 3 pages · 125 KB