The Muslim community in Canada is both old and new. The first Muslim born in Canada was James Love Jr. who was born in 1854. With the passage of time, the population of Muslims grew from 13 people in 1871 to 645 in 1931 and 33,370 people by 1971. With the liberalization of the immigration policies, many more Muslims immigrated to Canada which led to a rapid growth of Muslims reaching over 250,000 people in 1991.
As the Muslim community grew and its needs took shape in the 1980s, the pioneers of the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) were at the forefront working tirelessly to build the institutions necessary to meet those needs. By the late 1990s, there was a shared sense among those individual community builders working across Canada that something was still missing. There was a need to define something more specific to the Canadian Muslim reality and experience, a way to bridge the gap and help Canadian Muslims foster an identity unique to them that allowed for contribution to their communities and put faith into action. After an intensive and open debate, the idea of MAC was born as a dynamic national grassroots organization entrusted with the mission to establish an Islamic presence in Canada that would be balanced, constructive, and integrated, though distinct, in the social fabric and culture of Canada.