The changing face of antisemitism in Canada

By Regan Lipes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(AJNews) – The face of antisemitism is changing. Some threats are blatant and obvious – such as the shooting incident outside a synagogue in Belleville Ontario on Yom Kippur evening. But countless others are more difficult to immediately detect. Less than a decade ago Neo-Nazi skinheads marched through Charlottesville full of rage and hatred. This was an easy danger to identify. For all its frivolity and silly memes, the internet is a brewing caldron of antisemitic tropes disguised as free speech and pseudo legitimate discourse. On quasi academic social media platforms, antisemitism is being rebranded and given a whole new look – one that blends much more easily into mainstream society. Celebrated Indigenous jurist Harry LaForme wrote recently in The National Post: “Anti-Zionism is a libel-driven hate movement that incites violence and targets Jews with the goal of wiping Israel off the face of Mother Earth and the death of all beings within it.”

People may hide sheepishly behind the argument that they are ani-Zionist but have no problem with Jews, however what they fail to consider is that every anti-Israel venom infused post they put online, and every masked campus taker-over they stage is an act of antisemitism, newly made over for a Gen-Z audience. Canadians are all too aware of the destructive legacy of colonialism, but LaForme had this to say: “As an Anishinaabe man, a member of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and someone who spent almost 25 years as a judge interpreting the laws of this country, let me be clear – Canada is a colonial country. Israel is not.”

B’nai Brith Canada’s mission is simple and direct, but monumental in scope. “We are dedicated to eradicating racism, antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, championing the rights of the marginalized, while providing basic human needs for members of our community.” In a piece on their website The Demonization of Zionism B’nai Brith reported: “Problematic framing around Zionism has had dire consequences for the Jewish community. In June, a former City of Ottawa lawyer vandalized the National Holocaust Monument. This was a gut-wrenching crime that deeply impacted Jewish Canadians. The perpetrator justified his grotesque, antisemitic actions as an expression of his anti-Zionist beliefs.”  The piece concludes stating: “B’nai Brith Canada has heard from many Jewish Canadians across the country who no longer feel comfortable expressing their support for Israel in public. This inability of Jewish Canadians to express what is for many a core tenet of their faith is, in part, due to the external pressure from those demonizing Zionism. This, in turn, has caused many Canadian Jews to suppress a central feature of their Jewish identity.”

Recently the Alberta Jewish News was able to interview Austin Parcels, the Manager of Research and Advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada about a recently published report: “A National Crisis of Antisemitism: Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2025.”

“We are observing a shift in the types of incidents that are reported,” explained Parcels. “We unfortunately, still have antisemitic vandalism and violence that takes place in our communities, but there’s a lot that has moved online. People feel safer hiding behind a computer screen, so some of the incidents we investigate are rather disturbing.”  He added with gravity: “This is the worst year we’ve seen for reported incidents of antisemitism since we began doing these audits in 1982.”

In 2025, 6,800 incidents were reported to B’nai Brith and investigated. Of these, 6,248 were reports of online hate. “This is where our investigations can become trickier, because we need to geolocate the offender,” elaborated Parcels.  “We consider it an incident within Canada if the material is posted online here, or if the intended target who receives it is here.”

These numbers equate overall to 18.6 individual antisemitic actions per day and a 9.3% jump from the previous year. “Our data comes from things reported to us, which we investigate to confirm, and from data we’ve collected from open-source, so it’s both reported and gathered incidents,” added Parcels. Interestingly, numbers decreased in Quebec, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Alberta. When asked about this decrease in Alberta, Parcels theorized: “We may be seeing decreases in areas where we have consistent and reliable support from law enforcement.”

Parcels expanded on B’nai Brith’s cooperation with local law enforcement stating: “We are exceedingly appreciative of law enforcement and their tireless efforts.” He noted that combatting antisemitism is an effort shared by communities, law enforcement, and decision makers.  “For compiling our statistics, we diligently monitor information provided to us by our partners in law enforcement. We’ve had input from 68 police forces nationally.”  He added that before a reported antisemitic incident is included in the annual audit, it is investigated thoroughgoingly and exhaustively.

The world has changed significantly even in one year.  The parasitic encampments that terrorized students and faculty on postsecondary campuses throughout North America have been thankfully dismantled, but that is only one contemporary forum for hate-speech. “Antisemitism morphs over time.  If things aren’t going well economically, the Jews get blamed and we see a rise in the number of reported incidents of hate. The numbers we’ve collected up to this may of 2026 have already surpassed what we saw last year.” Perhaps there are no longer encampments, but the hate is still rampant, and finding new and creative ways of spreading malignance.

Parcels would like communities to stay vigilant and know that there is never a reason to tolerate hate-speech or intimidation of any kind. “People should report to both their local law enforcement and B’nai Brith. We have a dedicated hotline that anybody can call.” The hotline is for reports of antisemitism and racism, and those who experience or witness such regrettable incidents are asked to call 1-800-892-2624 (1-800-892-BNAI).