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Muslim Brotherhood Builds Expanding Influence Network Across Canada, New Report Finds

Ailin Vilches Arguello

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A pro-Palestinian demonstrator playing drums in front of an Israel flag drenched in fake blood amid an anti-Israel protest, Montreal, Canada, May 16, 2026. Photo: Giordanno Brumas / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

The Muslim Brotherhood has built an extensive network of organizations, financial structures, and influence operations across Canada while maintaining a carefully managed public image, a new report warns, raising concerns over the transnational Islamist organization’s growing reach into politics, civil society, and academia.

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), a US-based research organization focused on antisemitism, extremism, and ideological movements, released a new report on Monday examining Muslim Brotherhood-aligned networks and their growing influence across Canadian politics, civil society, and higher education.

Founded in Egypt in 1928 by schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood seeks to implement Islamic law around the world by any means necessary, embracing both violent terrorism and lawful political activity. 

The most prominent and, arguably, influential Brotherhood-created group today is Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that perpetrated the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

The report argues that Muslim Brotherhood-aligned activity in Canada reflects a coordinated transnational strategy aimed at embedding its ideology within institutions, shaping public narratives, mobilizing political support, and building legal and reputational safeguards against scrutiny.

For example, ISGAP’s research shows that organizations including the Canadian Muslim Vote and the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council have targeted dozens of competitive federal constituencies, with a coordinated “Vote Palestine” campaign during the 2025 election securing endorsements from 344 candidates across four political parties.

“Canada’s challenge is not simply the presence of individual extremist voices or isolated institutional weakness. The report maps how interconnected ideological networks acquire legitimacy, institutional access, public funding, political influence, and protection from scrutiny,” Dr Charles Asher Small, ISGAP’s Executive Director, said in a statement.

“Canadian democracy is built on openness, robust notions of citizenship, pluralism, civil liberties, and public trust,” Small continued. “These principles must not be exploited to shield foreign influence, ideological entryism, antisemitism, or efforts to weaken democratic accountability. Canada requires a coordinated response based on transparency, institutional due diligence, and national security awareness and enforcement.”

According to ISGAP’s newly released report, oversight of foreign organizations and networks across the country remains fragmented and inconsistent, with regulatory scrutiny often limited to isolated interventions rather than sustained monitoring and frequently followed by coordinated efforts that weaken its practical impact.

In more specific cases, the report points to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) Canada, where regulatory findings involving financial irregularities and alleged links to extremist networks resulted in compliance agreements or financial penalties rather than the loss of charitable status.

The report further identifies Qatar as a major source of funding, institutional backing, and influence, citing Qatari-linked involvement in research spanning energy infrastructure, secure communications, smart-grid technology, carbon systems, and other areas with potential dual-use applications.

ISGAP’s study also examines Canadian universities as potential points of convergence for foreign funding, academic legitimacy, student mobilization, faculty activism, and institutional decision-making, highlighting Qatari-linked research and academic relationships at institutions including the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University, and the University of Waterloo.

Based on the report’s estimates, more than $2.8 million in Qatari state-linked research funding has been provided to the University of Waterloo alone, with total associated investment exceeding $7.7 million when scholarships and sponsored students are included.

With experts pointing to an apparent double standard, the report notes that Canadian universities have maintained these relationships despite concerns over foreign influence, even as some have moved to terminate or reconsider academic partnerships with Israeli institutions following sustained activist pressure linked to the war in Gaza and broader efforts to boycott and isolate the Jewish state internationally.

Within this broader environment, ISGAP argues that a major weakness is the absence of a comprehensive Canadian system requiring universities to disclose foreign funding, unlike the United States, leaving the financial terms of partnerships, intellectual property arrangements, research-access provisions, and agreements involving institutional or student data frequently outside public scrutiny.

Amid growing concerns over Muslim Brotherhood-linked networks and foreign influence in Canada, ISGAP is calling for tighter oversight of foreign-linked organizations, charities, and nonprofits, along with greater support for independent research into foreign influence, antisemitism, and extremism. The report also urges a closer regulatory review of the Canadian Islamic College, including its funding, governance, curriculum, and external relationships.

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