August 3, 2025, Oakville, ON – The Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC) expresses deep concern following the release of a new Library of Parliament report confirming that Canada issued 2 new export permits in 2024. In total, 164 export permits were used in 2024. These were valued at more than $18 million in military goods to Israel in 2024—despite repeated government claims that such transfers had been halted. This report clearly contradicts Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s statement Friday Aug 1st that “we will not allow Canadian made weapons to fuel this conflict in any way”. This government report also confirms the main findings of the Arms Embargo Now report, ‘Exposing Canadian Military Exports to Israel’.
This internal parliamentary document – leaked to the public – provides insight into the scale and scope of military exports to Israel during one of the deadliest assaults on Palestinian civilians in recent history, one that international legal experts and human rights organizations, including Israeli organizations, have concluded is a genocide. The report details exports that include ammunition components, missile and rocket systems, surveillance technologies, and aircraft equipment. These are not non-lethal goods. They are the infrastructure of modern warfare—and they are being transferred to a state committing war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
Canada may claim it has paused new export permits. But the reality is that weapons have continued to flow under new and pre-existing authorizations. Worse, there is no evidence of effective safeguards or monitoring mechanisms to ensure how these weapons are being used. The government has offered no evidence to the public—no permits, no end-use verification, no independent oversight. This lack of transparency severely undermines public confidence. More importantly, it obscures the core issue that Canada has no control over how Israel uses Canadian-supplied weapons. Whether deployed in Gaza, the West Bank, or elsewhere, these weapons are being used by Israeli forces that are systematically targeting civilians. And whether under the banner of the military or the police, the impact on Palestinian life is the same—mass displacement, destruction, and death.
At this stage, any continued export—no matter how technically justified—is ethically indefensible and legally untenable. Under both the Arms Trade Treaty and Canada’s Export and Import Permits Act, Canada must prohibit arms transfers when there is a clear risk that they could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.
CMPAC calls on the Government of Canada to:
- Be completely transparent and disclose the scope of arms exports delivered.
- Impose a comprehensive two way arms embargo on Israel, with no exceptions and closing all loopholes and canceling all existing export permits for military or dual-use items;
- And establish clear, enforceable measures to prevent Canadian companies from contributing to human rights abuses in Palestine and prosecute those who violate these measures.
“This is not just a policy failure—it is a moral one. Canadians deserve honesty from their government, and Palestinians deserve the right to live free from violence funded or enabled by Canadian complicity. Complicity must end now”, Dr. Yaser Haddara, Chair of the CMPAC board.
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About Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC)
CMPAC is a non-profit organization that advocates against structural Islamophobia through policy research, mobilizing communities and engaging decision makers, to influence public policy and structural change.
For more information visit www.canadianmuslimpac.ca
