The Canadian government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing renewed criticism that it is not doing enough to curb anti-Semitism, as a new report shows record numbers of hate crimes against the country’s Jewish population.
On Monday, human rights group B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights released a report showing that 6,800 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the country in 2025, a 9.4% increase from 2024. On average, this represented 18.6 incidents per day, and was the “highest number” the group has recorded since it began tracking incidents.
Just last week, Canada’s Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights said released a report on the rise of anti-Semitism in Canada following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. The committee made 22 recommendations to the Canadian government to address the wave of anti-Jewish hatred.
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The Montreal Torah Center is displayed in Hampstead, Quebec, on November 14, 2023, amid concerns about a rise in anti-Semitic acts, including attacks on Jewish schools and a synagogue in Montreal. (Alexis Aubin/AFP via Getty Images)
The recommendations run the gamut from expanding research on hate crime data, improving security funding, addressing the display of hate symbols, expanding social media and digital literacy, and increasing educational resources for professional educators and students.
While some welcomed the report, several Jewish Canadians expressed concern about whether it would accurately identify the drivers of anti-Semitism.
The report makes no mention of Islamic extremism, and only occasionally mentions anti-Zionist fervor, often describing this using the words of other institutions and respondents.
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Masked pro-Palestinian protesters stormed a pro-Israel event in Toronto on November 5, 2025, breaking glass and allegedly attacking attendees. (Jonathan Karten)
“The unwillingness to identify the radicals is in itself evidence of ignorance and bias,” he said. “By their silence, politicians imply that they believe the broader Muslim community supports the radicals and are therefore afraid of alienating that community by denouncing the radicals. The truth is that it is often the case that moderate Muslims are the first to suffer at the hands of radical elements.”
Poupko added that it is “notoriously difficult to quantify with any degree of certainty what percentage of Canadian Muslims support the radicals,” but said that “it is certainly far from a majority.”
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Anti-Israel protesters gather outside the Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue in Toronto on March 7, 2024. The synagogue was one of three targets of shootings in the first week of March 2024. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu)
The Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council itself has raised concerns about the Senate’s recommendations. Although it “reaffirms[ed] that combating anti-Semitism is essential to protecting all communities in Canada,” the group said on X that “certain recommendations… raise serious concerns about potential impacts on Charter-protected freedoms, including protest and expression” and suggested that “efforts to address hate” should not inadvertently restrict civil rights, limit lawful advocacy, or disproportionately marginalize communities.
There are concerns about whether the Senate recommendations are enough to address the current climate of anti-Jewish hatred. Poupko said: “Anti-Semitism is too general a term to describe what the problem is now,” adding that the “old” solutions such as education, police training and Holocaust awareness are clearly insufficient to meet the challenge.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is facing criticism over the increase in anti-Semitic attacks following shootings at synagogues in the Toronto area earlier this year. (Renaud Philippe/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Klompas says she “appreciates it[s] that a plan is being drawn up’, but is concerned ‘that it does not meet the urgency of the moment. Jewish schools have been shelled, synagogues have been repeatedly attacked and Jewish businesses have been vandalized.”
She wondered if anyone “would bet on a new task force or educational training programs to keep your family and friends safe at a time when they are under active attack?”
On March 3, 2026, Temple Emanu-El in Toronto was shot at. There were no injuries. (Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
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One of the initiatives already underway, according to McLeod, is the Canadian Action Plan to Combat Hate (CAPCH), launched in September 2024, “which brings together new and existing initiatives to promote greater coordination and collaboration between federal organizations to prevent and address hate.”
The same year, McLeod said the Canadian government had announced “more than $273 million to support community safety, improve responses to hate crimes, support victims and counter radicalization.”
