Amira Elghawaby
Former Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, Journalist and Human Rights Advocate
Amira Elghawaby, journalist and human rights advocate, served as Canada’s first ever Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia between 2023 to 2026. During her historic tenure, Elghawaby provided strategic advice to the Government of Canada on legislation, policies, and programs impacting Canadian Muslim communities. She also worked closely with federal departments to address issues related to online hate, anti-racism, discrimination and community safety. Additionally, Elghawaby worked to raise public awareness on the challenges Islamophobia poses to Canada’s shared values, championing human rights, freedom of religion and inclusion on national and global platforms, including at the United Nations. In spring 2025, her Office published The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia, the first of its kind to be launched by a national government. Prior to Elghawaby’s role, she was a contributing columnist at the Toronto Star and held roles in strategic communications and human rights at various national organizations, including at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, at the National Council of Canadian Muslims, and in Canada’s labour movement. Elghawaby is a founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and has served two terms as a Commissioner on the Public Policy Forum’s Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression. In 2025, Elghawaby was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal for her leadership.
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Amira Elghawaby, journalist and human rights advocate, served as Canada’s first ever Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia between 2023 to 2026. During her historic tenure, Elghawaby provided strategic advice to the Government of Canada on legislation, policies, and programs impacting Canadian Muslim communities. She also worked closely with federal departments to address issues related to online hate, anti-racism, discrimination and community safety. Additionally, Elghawaby worked to raise public awareness on the challenges Islamophobia poses to Canada’s shared values, championing human rights, freedom of religion and inclusion on national and global platforms, including at the United Nations. In spring 2025, her Office published The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia, the first of its kind to be launched by a national government. Prior to Elghawaby’s role, she was a contributing columnist at the Toronto Star and held roles in strategic communications and human rights at various national organizations, including at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, at the National Council of Canadian Muslims, and in Canada’s labour movement. Elghawaby is a founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and has served two terms as a Commissioner on the Public Policy Forum’s Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression. In 2025, Elghawaby was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal for her leadership.
ADDITIONAL TITLES AND AFFILIATIONS
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
- Muslim Link
- New Canadian Media
- Rabble
- The Toronto Star
- Canadian Anti-Hate Network
- Silk Road Institute
- Muslim Youth Fellowship
National Post
The Globe and Mail
The first time I encountered Canadian-Iranian anthropologist Homa Hoodfar was during a small, intimate talk she gave to students at Carleton University. It was the late 1990s, and she was there to discuss her then-recent book, Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo.
The Ottawa Citizen
Who pays the price for a highly-secretive security regime intended to protect North Americans who travel by air? As the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in the Latif v. Bombardier case last week illustrates, sometimes it is innocent bystanders who take the hit: paying with their reputations, livelihoods, and freedoms. Their crime is that they have the wrong name, and often the wrong ethnic, religious, or racial profile.
The Toronto Star
Public safety is paramount to living in a functioning democracy. It’s why governments around the world are committed to ensuring their citizens are protected from those who would do them harm. However, in the frightening days following 9/11 and in the years since then western governments have struggled, and at times failed, at both safeguarding public safety and protecting the freedoms they are ostensibly fighting for. With Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale currently embarking on a sweeping review of national security policy in Canada, and promising to consult with communities and civil society, now is an opportune moment to raise critical issues that have been neglected or bungled for too long.
The Globe and Mail
Sharing vacation stories makes returning to the humdrum of life more bearable, especially for school-age children who eagerly retell their family’s holiday adventures...
The Montreal Gazette
My dad recently retired from the federal public service after spending over three decades serving this country. His job was to make sure that Canadian-made airplanes were as safe as possible. He was celebrated for his dedicated service by his colleagues and staff upon his retirement. Accolades came in from international safety agencies and aerospace corporations from around the world.
iPolitics
Social media was buzzing this week over a new Environics poll of Canadian Muslims. It should have served to dismiss a lot of poisonous misperceptions out there about matters of loyalty and belonging in Muslim communities. Instead, the initial media coverage ended up angering many. CBC’s original headline acknowledged some of the good news — but somehow still managed to frame the results in a negative light: “Muslim Canadians love Canada, but faith more important to their identity: survey”.
National Council of Canadian Muslims
OTTAWA—Is it time for a blanket condemnation of all future terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam, occurring anywhere in the world, to be featured on the front page of every Muslim organization’s website? Or perhaps, every Muslim should permanently pin an expression of horror and an accompanying plea of solidarity on their social media accounts. Don’t misunderstand: the horror, the pain, the solidarity—all of it is real and authentic. But so is the frustration at the expectation that when criminals commit despicable acts of terrorism under the pretext of religion, Muslims everywhere should say something to assure everyone that they don’t support those views.
The Globe and Mail
Women in headscarves are smiling everywhere. They are in the subway station in Montreal with brightly coloured headgear and cell phones to match. They are at a rally in Ottawa, up close with the prime-minister-designate as they snap selfies that will trend on Twitter. They are walking with their heads held just a little higher, returning smiles offered by random passersby.
THIS Magazine
“WHY DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR THAT THING HERE?” “Why don’t you just go back to where you came from?” That these kinds of remarks are ever voiced might seem far-fetched, almost cartoonishly so, but they are actually common enough that many Muslim women in Canada who wear the hijab hear them at some point in their lives—some even routinely. In this case, it was at a long-term care facility in Ottawa in the mid-2000s. A older man and his ailing sister followed Amira Elghawaby down the hallway, hurling xenophobic comments at her for wearing a headscarf. Elghawaby was visiting her mother, who had multiple sclerosis, something she had done for years without incident. “My mother lived at that hospital. That was like my home … I had so many happy memories in that space,” she says. “I can’t emphasize enough how hurtful it is when it is addressed to you. It really does hurt—a lot.”
Appearances
Crime Prevention Ottawa: Speaker Series
Ottawa City Hall
Books
By Edited by the Book Project Collective
Published by Second Story Press
By Unknown
Published by Mawenzi House Publishers Ltd.
Research
B.A.
in Journalism, LawCarleton University
served as Canada’s first ever Special Representative on
Combatting Islamophobia between 2023 to 2026.
During her historic tenure, Elghawaby provided strategic
advice to the Government of Canada on legislation, policies,
and programs impacting Canadian Muslim communities. She
also worked closely with federal departments to address issues related to online hate, anti-racism, discrimination and
community safety.
Additionally, Elghawaby worked to raise public awareness
on the challenges Islamophobia poses to Canada’s shared
values, championing human rights, freedom of religion and inclusion on national and global platforms, including at the United Nations.
In spring 2025, her Office published The Canadian Guide to Understanding and Combatting Islamophobia, the first of its kind to be launched by a national government.
Prior to Elghawaby’s role, she was a contributing columnist at the Toronto Star and held roles in strategic communications and human rights at various national organizations, including
at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, at the National Council of Canadian Muslims, and in Canada’s labour movement.
Elghawaby is a founding board member of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and has served two terms as a Commissioner on the Public Policy Forum’s Canadian Commission on
Democratic Expression. In 2025, Elghawaby was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal for her leadership.
National Post
The Globe and Mail
The first time I encountered Canadian-Iranian anthropologist Homa Hoodfar was during a small, intimate talk she gave to students at Carleton University. It was the late 1990s, and she was there to discuss her then-recent book, Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo.
The Ottawa Citizen
Who pays the price for a highly-secretive security regime intended to protect North Americans who travel by air? As the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling in the Latif v. Bombardier case last week illustrates, sometimes it is innocent bystanders who take the hit: paying with their reputations, livelihoods, and freedoms. Their crime is that they have the wrong name, and often the wrong ethnic, religious, or racial profile.
The Toronto Star
Public safety is paramount to living in a functioning democracy. It’s why governments around the world are committed to ensuring their citizens are protected from those who would do them harm. However, in the frightening days following 9/11 and in the years since then western governments have struggled, and at times failed, at both safeguarding public safety and protecting the freedoms they are ostensibly fighting for. With Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale currently embarking on a sweeping review of national security policy in Canada, and promising to consult with communities and civil society, now is an opportune moment to raise critical issues that have been neglected or bungled for too long.
The Globe and Mail
Sharing vacation stories makes returning to the humdrum of life more bearable, especially for school-age children who eagerly retell their family’s holiday adventures...
The Montreal Gazette
My dad recently retired from the federal public service after spending over three decades serving this country. His job was to make sure that Canadian-made airplanes were as safe as possible. He was celebrated for his dedicated service by his colleagues and staff upon his retirement. Accolades came in from international safety agencies and aerospace corporations from around the world.
iPolitics
Social media was buzzing this week over a new Environics poll of Canadian Muslims. It should have served to dismiss a lot of poisonous misperceptions out there about matters of loyalty and belonging in Muslim communities. Instead, the initial media coverage ended up angering many. CBC’s original headline acknowledged some of the good news — but somehow still managed to frame the results in a negative light: “Muslim Canadians love Canada, but faith more important to their identity: survey”.
National Council of Canadian Muslims
OTTAWA—Is it time for a blanket condemnation of all future terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam, occurring anywhere in the world, to be featured on the front page of every Muslim organization’s website? Or perhaps, every Muslim should permanently pin an expression of horror and an accompanying plea of solidarity on their social media accounts. Don’t misunderstand: the horror, the pain, the solidarity—all of it is real and authentic. But so is the frustration at the expectation that when criminals commit despicable acts of terrorism under the pretext of religion, Muslims everywhere should say something to assure everyone that they don’t support those views.
The Globe and Mail
Women in headscarves are smiling everywhere. They are in the subway station in Montreal with brightly coloured headgear and cell phones to match. They are at a rally in Ottawa, up close with the prime-minister-designate as they snap selfies that will trend on Twitter. They are walking with their heads held just a little higher, returning smiles offered by random passersby.
THIS Magazine
“WHY DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR THAT THING HERE?” “Why don’t you just go back to where you came from?” That these kinds of remarks are ever voiced might seem far-fetched, almost cartoonishly so, but they are actually common enough that many Muslim women in Canada who wear the hijab hear them at some point in their lives—some even routinely. In this case, it was at a long-term care facility in Ottawa in the mid-2000s. A older man and his ailing sister followed Amira Elghawaby down the hallway, hurling xenophobic comments at her for wearing a headscarf. Elghawaby was visiting her mother, who had multiple sclerosis, something she had done for years without incident. “My mother lived at that hospital. That was like my home … I had so many happy memories in that space,” she says. “I can’t emphasize enough how hurtful it is when it is addressed to you. It really does hurt—a lot.”
Books
Research
B.A.
in Journalism, LawCarleton University
LOCATION
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
SPECIALIZED BEATS
EXPERTISE
RECOGNITION
King Charles Coronation Medal
In 2025, Amira Elghawaby was awarded the King Charles Coronation Medal for her leadership.
Marisa Ann Golini Award for Investigative Journalism
Awarded by Carleton University