National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) Succeeds in Making Sure Masajid are Better Protected

One of the questions I am asked most often, as I travel around the country, is how we can ensure that masajid are kept safe from those who might wish to do worshippers harm.

I wish we didn’t have to have to ask this question. It feels like a bitter indictment to be talking about masjid security - shouldn’t we be talking about the ways in which we can make sure that nobody thinks about masjid attacks in the first place?

But unfortunately, since the Quebec City Mosque attack, we unfortunately have seen so many serious attacks on worshippers at masajid. Whether in looking at the Mississauga Dar Al Tawheed mosque attack, where an individual came to the mosque armed with hand-axes, or the attempted vehicle ramming in Markham this Ramadan, we have had to deal with horrific attack after horrific attack.

That’s why - even though we shouldn’t have to - we’ve continued to push for more funding to securitize masajid spaces, provide funding for security guards, and ensure that systemic funding where masajid could build relationships with their neighbours. In the short-term, these are needed changes to keep folks safe.

This was one of our major recommendations in the aftermath of the National Islamophobia Summit.

Alhamdullilah, within three weeks of the spike of attacks in Ramadan, our community came together and we were able to get the Ontario government to change their provincial security infrastructure program to ensure that security guards will now be a covered cost under the program.

This week, alhamdullilah, after an enormous amount of advocacy, we, in partnership with so many others, we were finally able to see movement at the federal level.

On Eid day, the federal government announced that they had heard our calls to make the funding more accessible to masajid. For a masjid that is at imminent or heightened risk, we have been successful in ensuring that there will now be a new stream for fast-tracked applications.

This isn't a full win yet. There’s still much more that needs to be done - most importantly, ensuring that no one has to look over their shoulder coming to pray. But this change will inshallah help remove months and months of delays and onerous applications for masjid that need it desperately to get funding and support.

That means you have three things to do:

1. If you need help applying for support for your masjid to get SIP funding, shoot us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for help to walk you through;

2. If you want to make sure that we invest more to make sure we get systemic solutions to keep our institutions safe, donate today; and

3. Please call your local MP and thank them for this change, while urging them to continue to work with Canadian Muslims ensure that there is long-term change.

Stephen Brown, CEO of NCCM