32 reported incidents of antisemitism in Canada 'this past week,' says Jewish group as it urges Carney to act
A Jewish advocacy group says there have been 32 reported antisemitic incidents in Canada this past week alone and is asking Prime Minister Mark Carney to act urgently.
B’nai Brith Canada cited dozens of incidents across the country, including swastikas being spraypainted on the walls of a synagogue and other hateful graffiti in Winnipeg, a Jewish couple being harassed at a mall on their way to see a film in Toronto, and a man at a rally in Montreal referring to Israelis as “pedophile Nazis.”
The group keeps track of such incidents for its annual audit , which it began in 1982.
B’nai Brith wrote a letter to the prime minister on Thursday, requesting that he establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into antisemitism and called for him to appoint a new special envoy to combat it.
“That is a warning signal, and it demands more than piecemeal reactions,” B’nai Brith wrote in a post on X on Wednesday, about the number of incidents this past week.
Antisemitism in Canada is now accelerating at an increasing rate, spreading across provinces, platforms, and public spaces. This past week alone, there were at least 32 reported antisemitic incidents across five provinces. That is a warning signal, and it demands more than… pic.twitter.com/A4wjvTXqSU
— B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) January 14, 2026
The group pointed to the targeted terror attack on Australia’s Jewish community at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, when 15 people were murdered. “Canada cannot wait for a Bondi of its own before acting,” it said on X.
Last week, the Australian government said it would establish an inquiry to investigate antisemitism in the country, look further into the Bondi Beach attack and make recommendations. In Canada an inquiry is needed now, said B’nai Brith, “with the mandate and independence to assess the threat environment, identify systemic drivers, and deliver actionable recommendations for policymakers.”
Although an inquiry’s findings are not binding, the federal government says online, they are “highly influential.”
“The final reports of Commissions are therefore among the most important publications produced in Canada and have highlighted and documented matters of importance to society since pre-Confederation,” it says.
The group also pushed for a successor to Deborah Lyons as Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. Lyons retired in July. The government is still working to nominate a successor, it says online.
A spokesperson for Carney’s office told National Post in an emailed statement that the letter from B’nai Brith had been received. The spokesperson said that the government is “taking action to combat the scourge of antisemitism and protect Jewish Canadians, who have faced a horrifying rise of hate, particularly since Hamas’s October 7th terrorist attack.”
The spokesperson said they appreciated the work that Lyons has done and are “continuing significant engagement with the community about how to best build on this crucial work for the year ahead.”
“As part of this work, we have introduced the Combatting Hate Act to make it illegal to intimidate or obstruct anyone accessing or attending services at religious or cultural buildings, and to protect against hate more broadly,” the statement said.
In Thursday’s letter to Carney, B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO, Simon Wolle, said the Act, also known as Bill C-9, is “urgent federal legislation” that the organization supports — but “Canada remains afflicted by a worsening crisis of antisemitism.”
The spokesperson for Carney’s office also said the government was looking into strengthening the Canada Community Security Program , which provides funding for communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes and collaborating “with provincial counterparts to ensure that Crown Prosecutors and police officers have the skills and knowledge to properly address hate crime.”
The government is fighting radicalization through initiatives such as the Community Resilience Fund , which funds organizations working to prevent and counter violent extremism, according to Carney’s spokesperson. “We will always protect the inalienable right of Jewish Canadians to live openly in freedom, safety, and dignity,” the statement concluded.
“Antisemitism is accelerating,” B’nai Brith said on X. “Canada cannot afford to keep playing catch-up.”
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