Founded in 1997, Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) is a faith-based charity that runs education and social programs for Canadian Muslims. Its mission is to establish an Islamic presence in Canada that is balanced, constructive, and integrated into the social fabric and culture of Canada. MAC is a national charity with 13 local chapters in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.

Muslim Association of Canada operates community centers that offer recreational, spiritual and leisure activities for the surrounding communities. These programs are available to all Canadians and aim to decrease stress as well as improve family and community bonds among Muslim Canadians. MAC acquired its first community center in Toronto in 1997 and it currently runs 16 centers across Canada. 

Muslim Association of Canada runs nine full-time Islamic Day schools in Ontario and Alberta. 2,083 students were enrolled in 2018. Day schools cover provincial education curriculum as well as Quran, Arabic and Islamic studies. MAC also runs 20 part-time (weekend) schools that teach Arabic and Islamic customs, and two Quran schools that teach Arabic language (reading, writing, grammar) through the Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed. 4,005 students attended weekend schools and 2,108 students attended Quranic programs in 2018. MAC collected $10.9 million in school fees revenue for the year.

MAC Youth, which is a department of Muslim Association of Canada, engages with young Muslim Canadians to encourage them to connect to their community roots and help others in the community. MAC runs youth camps in the summer and winter months as well as sisters’ and brothers’ youth groups that meet weekly for social bonding. MAC also runs multiple projects and campaigns as part of its community building efforts. iRISE is an education program for MAC’s full-time Islamic Days schools where students are educated on Islamic values and life skills to develop a strong relationship with Allah SWT. In its 2018 Community Impact report, MAC states that it trained 30 workshop facilitators, three school coordinators and 60 teachers on iRISE curriculum and developed 20 training videos. 23 classes adopted the program. EnrichIt! is an after-school program to supplement academic curriculum at MAC schools. In 2018, the program offered 7,700 hours of sports activities, 500 hours of arts activities, and 200 hours of STEM activities for children and youth.

Muslim Association of Canada reports that it serves 49,250 people directly each year, with a total reach of 110,000 people. It also states in its 2018 Community Impact report that 18,600 people engaged in social, recreational and education programs in 2018, and it delivered 27,250 program hours and 14,600 participation opportunities during the year.

Muslim Association of Canada is a large charity that received $9.9m in donations in F2018. It also received $10.9m in tax-receipted school fees, which are included in fees for service. Administrative costs are 4% of total revenue (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 20% of donations. Per dollar donated to MAC, 76 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

MAC’s funding reserves are negative due to $8.8m in liquid assets (cash, investments, loans and recoverable HST) and $19.4m in long-term debt (mortgages). MAC holds $23.8m in land and $40.7m in buildings. Gross reserves of $8.8m can cover annual program costs and grants at the current level for five months. MAC’s audited financial statements disclose long-term debt principal repayments to be made of $903k in F2019, $4.7m in F2020, $2.1m in F2021, $752k in F2022, and $5.7m in F2023.

Subsequent to year end in F2018, MAC paid a $25k deposit to Edmonton Catholic School District No. 7 to purchase a school at a purchase price of $2.0m.

This report is a new profile that has been sent to Muslim Association of Canada for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Created on August 27, 2020 by Katie Khodawandi.