Toronto, 22 April 2022 (TDI): The Pakistani Consul-General in Toronto, Abdul Hameed, attended an annual iftar hosted by a welfare organization, Sacred Hand.
At the event, the Consul-General addressed a gathering of the Muslim community. Toronto is one of Canada’s most important cities for the Muslim community, which has a sizeable population throughout Canada.
Sacred Hand is a welfare and charity organization based in Canada. The charity is based on Islamic principles of charity (Zakat), benevolence (Sadaqa), and love.
Muslims of Canada donate to the organization and participate in its activities.
The organization holds an annual iftar dinner for fundraising and publicizing its work. Moreover, its primary projects include providing food and emergency provisions for the poor and needy and providing shelter for the homeless.
Islam in Canada
Islam is the second-largest religion in Canada after Christianity. Presently, Muslims make up 3.7% of the total national population.
Furthermore, 7.7% of the population of the Greater Toronto Area is Muslim. Likewise, in Greater Montreal, 6% of the population is Muslim.
The Muslim population of the country comes from a variety of backgrounds. It consists of people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian, Iranian, Arab (Egyptian, Lebanese), Balkan (Albanian, Bosnian), and African descent.
Meanwhile, Muslim communities in the country have established various social organizations.
Canada-Pakistan Relations
Relations between Canada and Pakistan and cooperative and cordial. Canada maintains a High Commission in Islamabad and Consulates in Karachi and Lahore.
Whereas, Pakistan maintains a high commission in Ottawa and consulates in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. In 2020, Canada-Pakistan bilateral trade totaled about $1.11 billion.
Of this, Canadian exports to Pakistan totaled $669 million and imports from Pakistan totaled $438 million.
Meanwhile, both nations have good economic, cultural, education, development, and people-to-people ties. Pakistani diaspora in Canada numbers around 215,000.
In addition, Canada considers Pakistan an important political partner in War against Terrorism, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, and other regional and international issues.
