Elghawaby launches Muslim research portal after her federal role was cut

Amira Elghawaby, Canada's former special representative on combating Islamophobia, is launching a global research and policy portal dedicated to research on Muslim communities, the Toronto Star reported Tuesday.

The Carney government ended Elghawaby's role in February. During her time in Ottawa she raised awareness within government about anti-Muslim hate, commissioned research and wrote a guide on Islamophobia. She has spoken publicly about recent reports of hate, including shots fired at a Winnipeg mosque, a fake severed, bloodied hand thrown into a Montreal mosque, and an attack on an imam in Victoria, B.C., that left him with a fractured jaw.

The portal, the Muslim Communities Research Observatory (MCRO), goes live Friday. It will publish available studies on Muslims and turn their recommendations into short policy briefs for community members, journalists and elected officials. The site will also disseminate a new survey of Muslims in Canada by the University of Toronto's Institute of Islamic Studies on social issues, faith and belonging.

The survey found that a majority of Muslims and non-Muslims say Muslims in Canada want to adopt both Canadian and Muslim values. It also found that while first-generation Muslim immigrants would overwhelmingly choose to immigrate to Canada again, 47.5 percent of second- and later-generation Canadian Muslims would choose to live in another country, citing concerns about affordability and inequality. Lead author Anver Emon said the study, reflecting 903 Muslim households and 1,072 non-Muslim households, is the largest sample of Canadian Muslims surveyed to date.

Elghawaby said MCRO, which has a team of three, will be more than a library and will break down data into accessible policy fact sheets. She gave the example of a mosque constituent who could use a brief on Friday parking near mosques when questioning a visiting mayoral candidate, so that such encounters become "less a photo-op and more of a conversation."

Elghawaby said former prime minister Justin Trudeau and the revenue minister had promised the Muslim community action on disproportionate scrutiny of Muslim charities, and that research she commissioned produced a policy solution after nine months. She said that when she met Prime Minister Mark Carney in the summer of 2025, he told her the issue would be addressed by the summer of 2026. "If you're waiting for the government, even if you've got the promise from the highest person in government, the prime minister, himself or herself, it will not trickle down into the bureaucracy," she said. "You have come with the solution essentially written up, with a bow on top."