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 Canadian human rights and civil liberties, challenge discrimination and Islamophobia, build mutual understanding, and advocate for the public concerns of Canadian Muslims."^[2] NCCM is active across the country in Canada. The organization has offices in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

NCCM takes on cases of hate and discrimination such as Islamophobic assaults,^[3][4][5] vandalism,^[6] harrassment,^[7] employment discrimination, discrimination in the provision of social services, racial profiling^[8] and more. NCCM also takes on major cases to challenge discriminatory laws and policies such as Quebec's Bill 21^[9], the No Fly List,^[10] the Safe Third Country Act, Bill 62^[11] and more. NCCM frequently collaborates with partners such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to combat encroachments on civil liberties. NCCM lawyers have appeared in multiple courts including human rights tribunals and the Supreme Court of Canada.

NCCM engages in lobbying all levels of government to strengthen or enact laws and policies that address Islamophobia in all its forms. 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.^[12] NCCM has been named as a top lobbying organization in the Hill Times on multiple occassions.^[13]

NCCM has been active on several public policy files including systemic Islamophobia in national security agencies, the CRA,^[14][15] policing, education and more. NCCM also advocates of Canadian foreign policy, including on Canadian positions on multiple issues related to Palestine^[16], Afghanistan^[17], the treatment of Uyghurs in China^[18] and the treatment of Muslims and other minorities in India^[19].

NCCM provides pathways for civic engagement for the broader Muslim community through informational communications on social media as well as action alerts such as letter writing campaigns.^[20]

NCCM also provides anti-Islamophobia educational supports to public schools, educators, corporations, unions and others. In addition, NCCM provides advocacy services to students who face Islamophobic discrimination or hate at school.^[21][22] NCCM offers a range of anti-Islamophobia trainings catered to a diversity of audiences.

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^[23] as well as a province-wide strategy in British Columbia.^[24]

Members of the organization are frequent media commentators on issues related to Islamophobia and racism. The organization also hosts press conferences and writes op-eds addressing many different issues such as the rise in Islamophobia in Canada in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks,^[25] impact of Islamophobia on Muslim children,^[26] systemic Islamophobia in Canadian banking systems, ^[27] hate crimes,^[28][29] and more.

NCCM was formerly known as the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) and was independent of the US organization of a similar name, CAIR. NCCM was accused of connections with terrorist organizations because of similar accusations directed at CAIR, however, these accusations were settled in court when NCCM sued Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office and won after Harper wrongly accused NCCM of being a terrorist organization.^[30] While the matter was settled in court, NCCM continues to face similar accusations from far-right, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi groups.

After the eruption of the events of October 7, 2023 in Israel and Palestine where Hamas attacked and killed Israelis and took hostages and the Israeli state escalated attacks on Palestinian civilians in retaliation, the NCCM was accused by Israeli lobby groups in Canada such as CIJA of failing to condemn Hamas.^[31] While the NCCM condemned Hamas and its actions, it has continued to harshly criticize Israel, claiming that Israel is committing genocide against Gazans.

• Canadian Islamic Congress
• Council on American-Islamic Relations
• Islam in Canada
• Islamic Society of North America
• Islamic Supreme Council of Canada