Concern rises for Canadian Jews due to sharp increase in antisemitism before election

Antisemitism in Canada has exploded in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, reaching record numbers last year and becoming a central issue for the country’s Jewish community ahead of an April 28 federal election.

Last week, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, the main challenger to Prime Minister Mark Carney accused pro-Hamas protesters of staging “hate marches” and vowing to deport antisemitic foreigners from Canada.

“The rampaging chaos that we see in our streets, the targeting of synagogues and Jewish schools with hate, vandalism, violence, fire bombings … these things were unheard of 10 years ago,” Poilievre said. 

He also had a warning for foreign agitators. “Anyone who is here on a visitor visa who carries out lawbreaking will be deported from this country,” Poilievre said.

A police surveillance sign outside the Montreal Torah Center in Hampstead, Quebec, Canada, Nov. 14, 2023.  (Alexis Aubin/AFP via Getty Images)

The antisemitism survey highlighted numerous incidents, ranging from Quebec daily La Presse publishing a cartoon depicting Netanyahu as Nosferatu, a vampire associated with Jews in Nazi-era propaganda and a pro-Hamas protester at the University of Toronto shouting at a Jewish student that Hitler should have “murdered all of you.”

In May, an arsonist ignited a fire at the entrance to the Schara Tzedeck Synagogue in Vancouver as prayers concluded. The same month, shots were fired at the Bais Chaya Mushka girls’ school in Toronto, and the school has since been targeted twice more by gunfire. In August, a bomb threat affected Jewish institutions across the country. In December, a firebomb struck Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal, the second such attack since Oct. 7, 2023.

Thereafter, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the Canadian government to take action to “stamp out” antisemitism. 

“The world must wake up. Words are not enough. Synagogues burned. Jews attacked. Never again is now,” he said, employing the adage stressing a commitment to preventing another Holocaust.

Anthony Housefather is the MP in the House of Commons for Mount Royal, an area with a large Jewish population held by the Liberals since 1940 being viewed as a bellwether for where the community stands.

Anti-Israel protesters holding an antisemitic sign in Alberta, Canada, April 13, 2025. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via AP)

“The alarming numbers [of antisemitic incidents] make it clear as to why every level of government in the country needs to work together to implement all the recommendations set out in the justice committee report of last December and the commitments made at the national summit on antisemitism in March,” Housefather told Fox News Digital.

Trudeau, who was widely panned for failing to adequately address the groundswell of antisemitism, had announced the summit within hours of Herzog’s condemnation.

Neil Oberman, the Conservative Party candidate running against Housefather, told Fox News Digital that in Mount Royal “personal safety and security have become serious issues.

“It’s a stark reminder of the urgent need for a federal government consisting of adults implementing actions instead of putting together summits and position papers and blaming everybody else to combat hate and protect vulnerable communities,” Oberman said.

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