How do I make an Islamic will in Toronto?
The same way as anywhere in Ontario — and that is the point worth understanding. There is no Toronto will law. Wills are provincial, so the rules that decide whether your will is valid are Ontario’s. What is genuinely local is everything around the will: which mosques here can perform a janazah, where they bury, and what it costs.
- Work out the shares. The faraid calculator gives every heir’s fraction under the school you follow, with a written report you can hand to a drafter.
- Meet Ontario’s formalities. This is the part that decides whether the document works at all — valid (the Ontario formalities in full).
- Check your beneficiary designations. An RRSP, a TFSA or a life policy with a named beneficiary may pass outside the estate under Canadian law — whether it also sits outside the tarikah is disputed among contemporary scholars, so do not assume it escapes the shares.
- Have it drafted. The Registry does not draft wills. Treadstone Law, an independent Ontario firm, handles the drafting side.
- Record where it is kept — free, and it is what lets your executor find it.
Municipalities have no jurisdiction over wills or estates. Under s. 92(13) of the Constitution Act, 1867 that is provincial. Any page promising a “Toronto Islamic will” is selling you a Ontario will.
The Ontario rules that decide whether it works
| Governing statute | Succession Law Reform Act |
| Court | Superior Court of Justice |
| Handwritten (holograph) wills | Valid |
| Probate cost | Estate Administration Tax: nil on the first $50,000, then about $15 per $1,000 of value above that (roughly 1.5%). A Small Estate Certificate is available for estates of $150,000 or less. |
| Spouse’s share if there is no will | $350,000 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021 ($200,000 before that date). |
| Challenges to the will | Dependant support claims under Part V of the Succession Law Reform Act. Ontario does not have a BC-style wills variation regime for independent adult children. |
Deeper: making a valid will · dying without one · probate · challenges.
Mosques in Toronto with janazah services
An Islamic will usually records burial wishes — ghusl, kafan, burial without delay. A janazah needs physical facilities: a mortuary, cold storage, a washing room. Not every mosque has them.
These are the 3 Toronto mosques with a confirmed service, from each organisation’s own published information.
Danforth Islamic Centre
Madinah Masjid
The other 12 Toronto mosques we list have not published a funeral service. A blank is not a no — it means we could not confirm it.
Where Toronto’s mosques bury
Toronto’s mosques name 9 burial grounds on their own funeral pages. That is confirmation from the masjid, not from the cemetery.
- Beechwood Cemetery (Concord) — Ottawa
- Brampton Funeral Home & Cemetery — Brampton
- Duffin Meadows Cemetery (Pickering) — Pickering
- Glen Oaks Cemetery (Oakville)
- Glenview Memorial Gardens (Woodbridge) — Vaughan
- MGCC (Scarborough) — Richmond Hill
- Pine Ridge Memorial Gardens (Ajax) — Ajax
- Thornton Cemetery (Oshawa) — Oshawa
- Toronto Muslim Cemetery (Richmond Hill) — Richmond Hill
What a burial costs here
The order of payment matters for a will: funeral expenses come out first, then debts, then any bequest — capped at one third — and only then are the fixed shares calculated. A large funeral bill shrinks every heir’s share. See the itemised costs for this region, with the plot, the grave opening and the mosque’s own fee separated.
Islamic schools, for the guardianship clause
A will names a guardian for children under 18, and families often want that person to keep the children in Islamic education. We list 2 schools in Toronto: Al Haadi Academy. All Toronto listings ›
The organisations in Toronto
Each account below is drawn from the organisation’s own published information, checked on the date shown in its directory entry. We record what they say about themselves; we do not assess it.
Canadian Turkish Islamic Centre (Pape Cami)
Canadian Turkish Islamic Centre (Pape Cami), at 336 Pape Avenue in Toronto, describes its mission in Turkish as "Toplumumuza manevi gelişim, kültürel bağ ve hayatın her evresinde destek sunarak hizmet veriyoruz" (serving the community with spiritual development, cultural connection, and support throughout life). It explicitly lists funeral services (cenaze hizmetleri), marriage ceremonies, Quran classes, and Ramadan iftar meals among its offerings.
Listed services: nikah (marriage ceremonies), janazah/funeral services, Quran classes, Ramadan iftar meals.
Danforth Islamic Centre
Danforth Islamic Centre says it "has been serving the Muslim community in East York since 2005," though its CRA charitable registration is effective only from July 2013 — an 8-year gap between the claimed founding and formal registration. It offers a wide range of services including nikah, marriage and family counselling, wali (guardian) support for new Muslim women, ruqya, newcomer settlement support, and funeral/janazah support with ghusl coordination.
Listed services: nikah (wedding officiation), marriage counselling, youth and family counselling, wali support for revert sisters, ruqya, janazah/funeral support with ghusl coordination and 1 more.
Islamic Society of Toronto (Masjid Darussalam)
Islamic Society of Toronto (Masjid Darus Salaam) says it "has been a cornerstone for Toronto's Muslim community since 1995," a date that matches its CRA charitable registration almost exactly (effective September 4, 1995). It offers three Friday jumu'ah services, nikah ceremonies (without hall booking), youth programs, and has an on-site gymnasium (not currently available for outside rental).
Listed services: nikah (ceremony only, no hall booking), youth programs.
Madinah Masjid
Madinah Masjid states it was 'Established in early 1974' and 'What started out in a small rented prayer hall of a basement on Gerrard Street, the ‘Jamiatul Muslemin of Toronto’ was formed by a group of young determined Sunni Muslims from Gujarat India' who had migrated to Canada in the early 1970s. In 1983 the organisation bought 1015 Danforth Avenue - then the Second Church of Christ, Scientist - for $700,000, 'funded entirely by the Muslim community'. In 1990 it negotiated an exclusive burial-plot contract with Memorial Gardens at Pine Ridge Cemetery in Pickering with seven-day cemetery access; in 1991 it built complete burial-preparation facilities including ghusl in the basement; it expanded in 1995 and again from October 2007 into 'more than 30,000 sq ft building space for over 3500 congregators', adding a balcony, sisters' prayer facilities, an elevator, a minaret and a dome. CRA registered THE JAMIATUL MUSLEMIN OF TORONTO (107524548RR0001) effective 1976-03-24 at 1015 Danforth Avenue, two years after the congregation formed.
Listed services: five times daily prayers, Jumu'ah and Eid prayers, enhanced funeral services 'which includes preparation of the deceased for burial at our exclusive burial site at the ‘Muslim Garden Cemetery’', with a published price list effective 1 November 2025, full-time Hifz program, evening Islamic school 'which caters up to 400 boys and girls (ages 4 to 16 years old)', home of the Hilal Committee of Metropolitan Toronto and vicinity, youth activities and youth counselling and 9 more.
Masjid Toronto (Adelaide)
Masjid Toronto Adelaide is the second downtown location run by the Muslim Association of Canada, a short walk from the original Masjid Toronto at 168 Dundas St West, and shares its website, email (info@masjidtoronto.com) and imams with it. Neither the mosque's own site nor MAC's national site publishes an opening date for the Adelaide location, so no founding year is recorded here. Its parent charity, MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (BN 880495163RR0001, Mississauga ON), is recorded by CRA as Registered with an effective date of status of 1999-01-01; the Adelaide mosque has no separate charity registration.
Listed services: Ask the Imam, lectures and classes (short talks after Dhuhr, Monday to Thursday), new Muslim / convert support (shared with the Dundas location), summer camp, volunteer program, community events.
Masjid Toronto (Dundas)
The mosque's own about page states that 'MAC Masjid Toronto, became a mosque in January 2002. Prior to that date, the building was a commercial bank – a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada.' It records that RBC had operated a branch at 168 Dundas Street West since the 1940s, leased the adjacent lot at 160 Dundas Street West in February 1987 to expand, and rebuilt across both lots — the building that stands today. 'For many years, Muslims working in downtown Toronto have rented various spaces to perform the congregational Friday prayer,' the page continues; by the late 1990s efforts began to buy a permanent prayer space. 'In early 2000 the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) started negotiations to acquire the bank building on 168 Dundas St West. By January 2002, MAC was able to finalize a lease agreement with RBC and open the building to the public as a mosque'; payments for the building were completed in 2008. The mosque is operated by the Muslim Association of Canada, whose CRA charity registration (BN 880495163RR0001, MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF CANADA, Mississauga ON) has an effective date of status of 1999-01-01 — three years before this mosque opened. The mosque has no separate charity registration of its own.
Listed services: Ask the Imam, new Muslim / convert support (Convert Connect group, 'After the Shahada' introductory class), Islamic education in sign language, lectures and classes (short talks after Dhuhr Mon-Thu; Aqeedah and Fiqh after Fajr on Saturdays), Al-Otrojah Qur'an classes, weekend children's school (MAC Al-Furqan School) and 4 more.
Masjid-ut-Taqwa
Masjid-ut-Taqwa was founded in 1996 by pioneers from the Sri Lankan community and is a CRA-registered charity effective April 1999. It describes itself as "a center for all Muslims of Sunni devotion, regardless of their culture or nationality," and offers nikah, counselling referrals, Dars classes, Sunday school, and a full-time hifz program.
Listed services: nikah (marriage), counselling referrals, Islamic classes (Dars) in English, Sunday school, full-time hifz program.
Omar Bin Khattab Mosque
Masjid Omar Bin Khattab serves the Regent Park and downtown Toronto community from 232 Parliament Street, describing its mission as providing a welcoming and inclusive space for Muslims and non-Muslims alike, open 8am to 11pm. Its operating charity, the Muslim Community of Downtown Toronto, was a registered charity in the category Islam and filed T3010 returns through the 2023 fiscal year, but the CRA revoked its registration for failure to file with effect from 11 May 2024. The mosque itself remains in operation: its own website publishes current prayer and Jumu'ah times, contact details and programmes.
Listed services: five daily prayers in congregation, two Jumu'ah congregations with khutbah, religious counselling for individuals and families, nikah / matrimonial services, support for new Muslims, assistance for those in need locally and 3 more.
Where to go next
Citations & sources
Every factual claim on this page traces to a source below. Details change — check the original source before relying on any figure, fee or legal position.
- Surah an-Nisa 4:11–12, 4:176 — Quran.com
- Book of Wills (Wasaya) — Sahih al-Bukhari, Sunnah.com
- Succession Law Reform Act, RSO 1990, c S.26 — Government of Ontario
- Estate Administration Tax — Government of Ontario
- Locating wills and documents — Law Society of Ontario