Whether it’s mutual funds, savings accounts or stock trading, millions of Canadians depend on investments for their financial future.
But for some Muslims, faith took many monetary options off the table because of religious restrictions around concepts like paying — or being paid — interest.
It meant for years Canadians like Ammar Maqsud, who observes those religious tenets, couldn’t even put money in a standard savings account from his bank.
“They didn’t have any halal options available; I kept it all chequing. So basically I was losing money [due to] inflation, because it was not invested for many years,” said Maqsud, who works as an engineer in Calgary’s energy sector. Halal is an Arabic term that translates to “permitted” or “allowed” in English.
Ammar Maqsud is a practising Muslim who could not easily access investment opportunities until he started working with a financial consultant specializing in ‘halal’ products. (Anis Heydari/CBC)
Nearly five per cent of Canada’s population identifies as Muslim, according to Statistics Canada. That could mean up to 1.8 million people faced similar problems if their religious beliefs match practices like Maqsud’s.
While Islam does not typically ban investment, many practising community members cannot invest in companies that produce or sell religiously restricted products, which means it can be difficult to invest in accounts or financial products that may touch various sectors of the economy.
Bank stocks, typically held in many Canadian mutual funds, are off-limits to many Muslim investors. (Michael Wilson/CBC)
For example, any mutual fund that included bank stock would be off-limits to Muslims adhering to this religious practice. Maqsud pointed out this can make locating appropriate investments difficult.
“I think a lot of the Muslim community is shy of investing, period,” he said.
“They’re like, hey I’m not going to invest at all to begin with, and that is holding them back for sure.”
However, Maqsud is one of many Muslims taking advantage of an emerging market in Canadian investments — targeting customers who want “halal” options, or those that match his religious requirements.
No insurance, alcohol or pornography allowed
Calgary’s Hash Assad is a financial consultant with IG Wealth Management who focuses on this community. Maqsud is one of his clients.
“To be brutally honest with you, a lot of Muslims do not have a handle on what they can and cannot do,” Assad told CBC News.
Hash Assad specializes in selecting halal investments for his clients in Calgary. (Justin Pennell/CBC)
Most products that a Canadian investor would purchase from a financial institution are incompatible with the Islamic prohibition on interest, or riba.
“That makes most, if not all, conventional investments off-limits for Muslims. Things as simple as a savings account, not allowed…. Guaranteed investment certificate? Not allowed…. Bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds,” he listed.
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According to Assad, there are many other economic areas to avoid as well, and his job is to carefully select stocks and investments that do not touch any of them.
“The sectors that are not allowed to be invested into includes advertising, media, financial [products] including insurance companies, gambling, alcohol, pornography, weapons of mass destruction,” he said.
Companies must also avoid being too debt heavy so they aren’t seen as profiting or operating based on interest charges, said the financial consultant.
Halal meat, sure. Halal stock? Nope.
Even businesses you might not consider problematic can be off-limits to some Muslims. Take Loblaw Companies Ltd., listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange as TSE:L and running more than 2,400 stores including some of Canada’s largest supermarkets.
Loblaw stores might sell halal meat every day, but the company is not a halal investment, according to Assad, because its financial subsidiary makes money from interest.
Loblaws stores may sell halal meat, but Loblaw stock is not typically regarded as a halal investment according to Hash Assad. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press)
However, companies such Visa and MasterCard are considered halal by advisers like Assad, because while those companies process and facilitate debt and interest charges, they do not charge the interest directly.
Instead, it’s banks that charge and collect the interest. Hence, banks are not halal. Visa? To paraphrase their slogan, it could be everywhere practising Muslims want to be.
WATCH | Canadian Muslims gaining financial options with halal investments:
Creating more halal investment opportunities
16 hours ago
Duration 2:05
Roughly five per cent of Canadians identify as Muslim, and many face major investment hurdles because of religious restrictions. But more financial advisors are specializing in creating halal investment portfolios.
Assad pointed out that many Canadian energy and mining companies are considered halal, as are some technology companies.
Many stocks considered halal are also indexed by financial agency S&P, including a list of Canadian stocks called the S&P/TSX 60 Shariah Index. Muslim investors looking to keep their finances halal are also able to access these options, just as any Canadian could purchase stocks or indexes on their own if they chose to.
Social impact, not just financial
A Toronto economist points out that when financial advisers make it easier to choose halal investments, there is a positive societal impact.
“When a group is sort of excluded from participating in financial markets, they’re held back,” said Walid Hejazi, professor of economic analysis and policy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
Walid Hejazi is an expert in Islamic finance at the University of Toronto, and says making ‘halal’ investments easier to access for Muslims has a positive social impact. (Chris Mulligan/CBC)
According to Hejazi, creating financial vehicles that are easy for Muslims to access helps create better ways to integrate various groups as they immigrate and move to Canada as well.
“It opens [financial] facilities for new arrivals in these communities that are so very important as gateways into broader Canadian society,” said Hejazi.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
