The Muslim Association of Canada says nine schools it operates across Canada are on high alert after the schools each received an email this week threatening violence against Muslims.
Spokesperson Nabil Sultan says the same anonymous email was sent to schools in Ontario, B.C. and Quebec over a 24-hour period, and local police forces have been notified.
The email, shared with The Canadian Press and signed by a “Citizen Vigilante,” threatens the “slaughter” of Muslims and vows Canada will be “Islam free.”
Sultan, whose own child attends a MAC school, says he was devastated to read the letter, and that MAC has hired paid security to keep students safe.
He says the organization is used to receiving threatening and Islamophobic emails, but this is the first time the non-profit’s schools have been targeted in such a direct way.
Police in Ontario’s Peel region say they’re aware of a letter “containing hate-motivated threats” against Islamic institutions and increased police patrols overnight near mosques and schools, which will continue into the weekend.
The force says its hate crime unit is investigating.
Sultan says the threats against MAC’s schools come amid a backdrop of rising Islamophobia in Canada.
He pointed to recent atrocities against Muslim communities, including the 2021 killings of five members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont., which was ruled an act of terrorism, as well as a 2017 shooting at a Quebec City mosque that left six worshippers dead.
“These threats are real, and we know that they are real,” Sultan said. “The targeting of children, the targeting of schools, in that kind of way is something that shook us to our core.”
The latest data from Statistics Canada shows the number of police-reported hate crimes against Muslims rose by over 170 per cent between 2020 and 2024.
Sultan says students are feeling “scared and vulnerable” as they walk past security and police officers on their way to class, and that the threats have raised tough questions about who gets to be considered Canadian and who are labelled outsiders.
“All of the things that we try to teach our children in these schools is that they are equal to any other Canadian, that they have equal rights and responsibilities,” Sultan said. “Threats like this really make them question if they belong because of the way they pray and because of their faith.”
He argues Canada needs to address an “environment of Islamophobia and xenophobia” that breeds threats against Muslims and other visible minorities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2026.
By Kathryn Mannie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.