Ottawa, July 14, 2022 – Human Concern International (HCI) is the oldest and most longstanding Muslim international relief charity in Canada since its establishment in 1980.

HCI has provided humanitarian aid and development support to more than one million individuals and families around the world. With the support of over 75,000 donors, HCI has delivered over $200 million of aid. It has responded to numerous famines and humanitarian crises.

A year ago exactly the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) issued a decision to suspend HCI’s tax receipting privileges for a year. HCI considered the decision to be fundamentally unacceptable, unreasonable, and indifferent to the irreparable harm it had on HCI’s beneficiaries.

The suspension is now lifted and all eligible donations will be tax receipted going forward.

HCI is grateful that many of our donors stood by us during these challenging times while the CRA one year suspension was in effect. The support for our humanitarian programs despite our inability to issue tax receipts is evidence of HCI’s 40-year achievement in continuing our bond with our donors and beneficiaries.

HCI worked tirelessly to minimize the impact of the suspension on our beneficiaries, including supporting tens of thousands of orphans, empowering vulnerable women, providing water aid, rebuilding Gaza, or responding to emergencies in Afghanistan and Yemen.

“The resilience of HCI during the suspension is evidence of our Islamic tradition to serve humanity and safeguard every human life. Today, more than ever before, our charity is more robust, better governed, and better prepared than it has ever been,” said Mahmuda Khan, Executive Director of HCI.

Despite HCI’s ability to survive the suspension period, we continue to appeal the suspension and the findings of the CRA and advocate on behalf of the Muslim charitable sector.

Unfortunately, HCI has been forced to incur significant legal expenses in this process.

In January 2022 HCI launched our extensive and ambitious five year plan (2022-2026). Over the next 5 years HCI aims to emerge as a reimagined and integrated organization with a collaborative culture, and a clear, cohesive and forward-looking mandate to serve its beneficiaries and meet the expectations of the community. With the rise of global challenges facing the world’s most vulnerable, our strategic plan will serve as a roadmap for sustainable growth while providing innovative ways to meet the needs of the communities that HCI has been proudly serving throughout its 40 years of operation.

We are grateful for the support of all of our stakeholders. Together we overcame this suspension and as a result, we are now stronger and even more dedicated to fulfilling our purpose to serve all those in need.

To view HCI’s strategic plan, visit: https://humanconcern.org/reports/

For more information on HCI, visit https://humanconcern.org/