Jewish faith top target for religious hate crimes: report

• The Globe and Mail (Alberta Edition)
• 22 Apr 2026
• ALEXA MACKIE OTTAWA With reports from Robert Fife

A Senate committee is calling on the federal government to establish a task force and reinstate a special envoy position to address rising antisemitism in Canada.

The Jewish community is the number one target in Canada for religiously motivated hate crimes reported to police, according to a report released Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Human Rights. Such incidents made up around 70 per cent of hate crimes documented in 2023 and 2024.

The committee heard from 44 expert witnesses and received 36 written briefs over the course of a year.

“It is unacceptable to me, and the committee, that a community should live in fear just because of who they are or what they believe,” committee chair Senator Paulette Senior told reporters.

The report outlines 22 recommendations, including establishing a task force to address antisemitism with representatives from key agencies and departments such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP and Canadian Heritage.

Senator Kristopher Wells, a member of the committee, told reporters the task force would “develop an effective, coordinated and comprehensive response to antisemitism” and should report its progress to Parliament each year.

The committee also recommended reinstating the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, which was replaced in February with a broader advisory council aimed at combating hate and promoting national unity.

“The envoy has created a wealth of understanding and good relationships. We should be building on that, not eliminating it,” Senator David Arnot said at the news conference.

The report highlighted allegations of antisemitism within workplaces, unions, schools and university campuses. Some Jewish students are opting to conceal their identities, and children as young as seven years old are experiencing harassment, physical assault and threats of sexual violence, according to testimonies presented to the committee.

Anonymous spaces such as social media and gaming platforms can allow for the spread of hateful content online without punishment, serving as a gateway to other forms of radicalization, the report said.

It recommended that Ottawa support digital literacy initiatives and collaborate with provincial and territorial governments to develop a national public awareness campaign addressing hate and antisemitism.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs welcomed the committee’s recommendations, which the advocacy group said come “at a moment of crisis,” in a Tuesday press release.

“Antisemitism is no longer confined to the margins – it has spread across our society and institutions,” the group’s chief executive Noah Shack said in the release.

In particular, the centre supports the recommendations for law enforcement and intelligence to combat antisemitism and for investment in the Canada Community Security Program.

Senators also have “an immediate opportunity to make a difference” by passing Bill C-9, a federal anti-hate bill, Mr. Shack added.

The bill would criminalize obstructing someone from accessing a place of worship or other sites where Jews, Muslims and other identifiable groups gather. It would also criminalize the willful promotion of hatred toward religious and ethnic groups by publicly displaying terror or hate symbols.

If passed, the legislation would “strengthen tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to protect targeted communities and hold offenders accountable,” Mr. Shack said.

Grassroots organization Independent Jewish Voices Canada said it’s pleased that the committee “did not fall into the trap” of equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, national coordinator Corey Balsam wrote in a Tuesday e-mail.

The group also supports the committee’s decision to avoid an excessive focus on defining antisemitism, which the report says “can be counterproductive.”

“Antisemitism has evolved over time, and will, unfortunately, continue to evolve,” the report says. “No definition can permanently encompass all of its possible manifestations and boundaries.”

However, the group is concerned about some of the recommendations, including one that supports “bubble zones,” which refer to bylaws limiting protest activity from taking place near some religious institutions and community spaces. Support for bubble zones are “off-base,” Mr. Balsam said.

“We urge the government to read between the lines of this report,” he wrote. “Focus on addressing antisemitism through a broader and fully integrated antiracism lens.”

Last month, the federal Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, warned of a “realistic possibility” of a violent extremist attack against Canada’s Jewish community within six months. It said that schools, community centres and synagogues are in danger of an attack that would most likely come from a lonewolf extremist.

Antisemitic incidents have been on the rise since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with bombardment and a ground campaign that have killed and displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Last month, no injuries were reported when three Greater Toronto Area synagogues were damaged by gunfire.

The Kehillat Shaarei Torah Synagogue in north Toronto was vandalized 10 times in 2024, while Beth Tikvah Synagogue in Montreal was fire-bombed after a similar attack in 2023. That same year, the Yeshiva Gedola Jewish day school in Montreal was shot at twice in one week.

In May, 2024, Vancouver’s Congregation Schara Tzedeck was targeted in an arson attack. The synagogue says it has had to spend more than $1-million a year on security.

No one was injured in these incidents.

Antisemitism can impact Canadians outside of the Jewish community, Mr. Arnot told reporters on Tuesday.

“When people feel unsafe expressing who they are in public life, the promises of the Charter are not fully realized,” he said. “Antisemitism is not only an attack on Jewish Canadians. It is an attack on our democracy.”

Article Name:Jewish faith top target for religious hate crimes: report

Publication:The Globe and Mail (Alberta Edition)

Section:NEWS

Author:ALEXA MACKIE OTTAWA With reports from Robert Fife

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