The opening of an Islamic center associated with the Canadian chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood front group, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), has been delayed due to a funding shortfall of about $1 million.
In an environment where Canadians are increasingly concerned about rising extremism and homegrown terrorism, more scrutiny of financial management practices must be conducted in the non-profit sector.
Located in Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, the long-awaited Islamic Centre of Yellowknife (ICYK) was expected to open in March 2025, but it is now unlikely to open until later this year.
According to CBC News, the center is about two-thirds complete, but project costs have soared from $2.5 million to $6.5 million since construction began in 2022. ISNA Canada, which has registered charity status and receives taxpayer dollars from various government sources, is helping fund the project. It is unclear whether ISNA Canada, which did not respond to queries from Focus on Western Islamism (FWI), used taxpayer funds to finance the center’s construction.
History of Financial Abuse
ISNA Canada has had multiple run-ins with federal tax authorities over the years for financial mismanagement, including allegedly funding Pakistan-based terrorist groups.
According to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, a 2010 Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit determined that the charity had abused more than $600,000 in donor contributions. The audit noted that “spending for personal expenses out of the charity’s funds is unethical,” and that it was “tantamount to misappropriation of funds.”
In 2013, the CRA revoked ISNA Development Foundation’s charitable status for raising funds that may have benefited South Asian terrorists. The audit found that the charity had funneled over $280,000 to a Pakistan-based non-governmental organization named the Relief Organization for Kashmiri Muslims (ROKM). ROKM is the charitable arm of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), a Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Islamist fundamentalist movement that actively contests India’s claim to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. JeI also engages in acts of violence against India through its armed wing, Hizbul Mujahideen, a designated terror organization by Canada. The audit also uncovered several problems within the ISNA charity, such as missing documentation, inaccurate financial reporting, and the transfer of donations to unauthorized foreign organizations.
Four years later, the Islamist charity returned to the spotlight for the wrong reasons when two of its former affiliates, ISNA Islamic Services of Canada and the Canadian Islamic Trust Foundation, had their charitable licenses revoked for “non-compliance” after a CRA audit discovered financial ties between them and the terror group Hizbul Mujahideen.
Despite being cited for alleged terror financing on two previous occasions, ISNA Canada seemingly did not mend its ways. In 2018, the CRA suspended its charitable status for a year and levied a $550,000 penalty after an audit raised concerns that it had “provided resources” totaling $136,000, which may have been used to support armed militancy. Government auditors alleged that ISNA Canada had acted as a “conduit” for other organizations and that the charity’s “resources may have, directly or indirectly,” been used to support the political efforts of Jamaat-e-Islami and/or its armed wing, Hizbul Mujahideen.
Continued Government Support, Influence
Despite the seriousness of the allegations against it, ISNA Canada remains popular among Canadian politicians of all stripes seeking to curry influential Muslim votes. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, and former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh have all attended their events in the past.
In 2019, Global News reported that the charity was approved to receive $25,787 from Employment and Social Development Canada as part of the Canada Summer Jobs program, while it was still serving its one-year suspension imposed by the CRA for alleged terror financing.
A 2024 FWI report found that ISNA Canada received more than $1.2 million in taxpayer funds from various governments between 2018 and 2022.
Andria Spindel, executive director of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF), a registered Canadian charity, said that a double standard is at play when one group with well-documented terror connections can speak government officials while others are punished.
“We at CAEF are aware that several Jewish charities, despite having no terrorist connections, have had their status revoked,” she said. “In an environment where Canadians are increasingly concerned about rising extremism and homegrown terrorism, more scrutiny of financial management practices must be conducted in the non-profit sector.”
Collin May, a Canadian lawyer, former chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, and free speech advocate, expressed similar outrage.
“It’s concerning that entities repeatedly investigated by the CRA continue to receive government funding while also attracting the support of politicians from all parties,” he said. “This speaks to a lack of seriousness on Canada’s part when it comes to coordinating and enforcing its own measures related to countering terrorism and combating radicalization. Domestically, these failures undermine the rule of law, while internationally they raise doubts about Canada’s commitment to stopping the spread of global terror funding.”
