AML/ATF Update
February 2021 Charity & NFP Law Update
Published on February 25, 2021

By Terrance S. Carter, Nancy E. Claridge and Sean S. Carter

Public Safety Canada Updates List of Suspected Terrorist Groups

Further to an announcement released by Public Safety Canada on February 3, 2021, the Government of Canada has added 13 new groups to the list of terrorist entities under the Criminal Code. The list, maintained by the Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness pursuant to section 83.05 of the Criminal Code, sets out entities that the Government of Canada has reasonable grounds to believe have either knowingly participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity, or have knowingly acted on behalf of, at the direction of, or in association with such an entity.

The 13 new listed entities are: Atomwaffen Division, the Base, the Proud Boys, Russian Imperial Movement; three Al Qaida affiliates including Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam Wal-Muslimin, Front de Libération du Macina, and Ansar Dine; and five Daesh affiliates, including Islamic State West Africa Province, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, Islamic State in Libya, Islamic State East Asia, and Islamic State – Bangladesh; and Hizbul Mujahideen. These additions bring the total listed terrorist entities up to 73.

The Government of Canada is also required to review each listed entity every five years to determine whether they should remain on the list. In this regard, the following seven entities were reviewed, and will remain on the list: Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Al Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, Al Shabaab, Islamic State – Khorasan Province, Al-Ashtar Brigades, and Fatemiyoun Division.

The CRA uses listings to support the denial or revocation of charitable status for organizations that maintain connections to listed entities. Charities involved in activities both inside and outside of Canada should therefore have adequate due diligence procedures in place to reduce the risk of unknowingly providing any kind of support to the listed entities.

Read the February 2021 Charity & NFP Law Update