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The federal government plans to get rid of two key offices combatting religious discrimination, merging them into a single Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion.

The Offices of the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia and the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism will both be abolished. 

“It’s about folding in those two positions into a new committee on national unity and advisory committee on rights, equity and inclusion,” Identity Minister Marc Miller told journalists on Parliament Hill Wednesday afternoon.

He said both offices played important roles in identifying issues that have sown division in the country.

“Now it’s about taking the next step into a national unity committee,” he said.

WATCH | Minister says move isn’t about cutting costs:

Replacing offices combatting Islamophobia, antisemitism ‘the next step’ to new advisory council: Miller

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government is set to replace special envoy positions on combating Islamophobia and antisemitism, both created by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, with a new Advisory Council on Rights, Equity and Inclusion. ‘This isn’t a cost-saving operation, it is about making sure that we have an advisory council that will report to me and the prime minister,’ said Culture Minister Marc Miller

“This is not about a cost-saving operation,” he said.

The Toronto Star first reported news of the abolitions.

Community groups say they will monitor new council 

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) issued a statement criticizing the government’s shuttering of the Office of the Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia.

“The Canadian Muslim community deserves sustained and dedicated leadership,” the NCCM said in a statement.

It said it will continue the work of fighting Islamophobia and will ensure the new advisory council’s work reflects that.

The NCCM also said it is concerned by the dissolution of the Office on Combatting Antisemitism.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said it will be keeping an eye on the new council. CIJA’s CEO, Noah Shack, said in a statement that antisemitism and extremism continue “to surge across the country.”

Shack said his organization expects to see leadership from the federal government in working with other jurisdictions, adding it is “crucial” for the council to “achieve meaningful outcomes in combatting the unprecedented wave of antisemitism and extremism in Canada.”

B’nai Brith Canada also issued a caution about the new initiative to the government.

“The new advisory council must not dilute Canada’s efforts to combat antisemitism,” CEO Simon Wolle wrote in a statement. The national Jewish advocacy organization is pushing for a commission of inquiry on antisemitism.

The NCCM lobbied for the creation of a special representative on combatting Islamophobia, especially in the wake of the killings of the Afzaal family in London, Ont., in 2021.

Amira Elghawaby was appointed as the first representative to the office in January 2023.

Her tenure started with controversy over an opinion piece she had co-authored in 2019, criticizing the Quebec government for its secularism legislation that bans public sector workers in positions of authority from wearing religious symbols at work. The Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois and Quebec’s National Assembly have called for her to step down over the years. 

The Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism’s office is currently unstaffed after the previous envoy, Deborah Lyons, stepped down in July 2025, four months before the end of her term. At the time, she provided no reason for her departure but said she is leaving “with a heavy heart” and deep disappointment, while also pointing to some achievements on improving understanding of anti-Jewish hate. 

“It was troubling in the last few years to see our lack of patience, lack of tolerance and inability to reach out across the gulf to one another,” she wrote.

In its own statement at the time, the Heritage Department said Lyons was stepping down to spend more time with her family, and that her replacement would be appointed “in due course.”

In a statement Wednesday, the department said “the composition of the advisory council will be announced at a later date.”

In its own statement, the Bloc lauded the abolition of both posts and their replacement by the council, saying a better approach is needed to fight racism.