Nine schools operated by the Muslim Association of Canada went on high alert this week after receiving an anonymous email that threatened to “slaughter” Muslims and declared Canada would become “Islam free,” CTV News reported Thursday, citing The Canadian Press.
The threatening message, signed “Citizen Vigilante,” was sent to the schools in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec over a 24 hour period, according to Global News. Police forces in Peel Region, London, Waterloo Region and Ottawa confirmed they are investigating, with several departments assigning hate crime units to the case. Peel Regional Police said they increased patrols near affected mosques and schools overnight Friday and through the weekend.
Nabil Sultan, a spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Canada, said the organization is treating the threat as credible. “These threats are real, and we know that they are real,” Sultan said, according to Global News. “The targeting of children, the targeting of schools, in that kind of way is something that shook us to our core.”
The association has hired paid security for students at the affected schools, and several police services have stepped up their visible presence at the properties while conducting safety planning with school administrators, Global News reported.
Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree condemned the threat in a statement. “Every child deserves to learn in safety, and every family deserves to feel secure sending their child to school,” he said. “These threats are unacceptable and have no place in Canada.”
Sultan connected the email to what he described as a broader rise in Islamophobia in Canada, pointing to the 2021 killing of four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont., a case police and courts later treated as an act of terrorism, and the 2017 shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six worshippers. Statistics Canada data cited by Global News shows police reported hate crimes targeting Muslims rose more than 170 per cent between 2020 and 2024.
No arrests had been announced as of Thursday evening, and investigators had not identified a suspect. CTV News, citing The Canadian Press, reported the nine schools had activated their own security protocols in response to the threat, on top of the measures taken by local police.
The Muslim Association of Canada operates a network of full time Islamic schools, mosques and community centres across the country and has previously worked with police on security planning after past incidents targeting Muslim institutions.
Anyone with information related to the threat is being asked to contact their local police service.
