Canada Officially Designates Houthis as a Terrorist Entity

Photo Credit: الإعلام الحربي اليمني / Wikimedia / CC4.0

The Galaxy Leader, hijacked by the Houthis in December 2023.

Canada has formally designated Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, as a terrorist organization under its criminal code, Public Safety Canada announced on December 2. This designation criminalizes any financial interactions with the group and adds Ansarallah to Canada’s list of 79 recognized terrorist entities.

“This addition of Ansarallah as a listed terrorist entity contributes to our efforts in fighting terrorism globally and aligning Canada with our allies,” said Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions, and Intergovernmental Affairs.

The Houthis, an armed militant group, have been involved in an insurgency in Yemen since the early 2000s, seeking to topple the internationally recognized Yemeni government. They currently control significant portions of northwestern Yemen, including the capital, Sana’a.

The group has been linked to growing instability in the Middle East following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. This includes their role in targeting civilian and naval vessels in the Red Sea and other strategic waterways. The Canadian government emphasized the Houthis’ close ties to designated terrorist groups such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and Hezbollah.

“Acts of violent extremism and terrorism have no place in the world,” LeBlanc said. “We will continue to take action to curtail the spread of these activities internationally and to counter threats to Canada, its citizens, and its interests around the world.”

The move aligns Canada with its allies, including the United States, which listed the Houthis as a global terror group earlier in 2024. It also follows Canada and the United States’ recent designation of Samidoun, a “charity” group associated with the PFLP terrorist group.

The government clarified that the designation targets the armed political movement Ansarallah, not the Houthi ethnic group in Yemen.

B’nai Brith Canada welcomed the announcement, with Richard Robertson, the organization’s director of research and advocacy, calling it an important step toward upholding international law. However, he stressed the need for domestic action to complement the designation.

“Our government should not continue to tolerate mass rallies in support of listed terrorist entities such as the Houthis or Hamas,” Robertson said. “These gatherings, which glorify acts of terror and incite hate against the Jewish community, make a mockery of Canadian values.”

Robertson added that the government’s efforts must extend beyond symbolic measures, calling for policies that actively counter the spread of extremism at home.

Based on a report by a JNS.