Antisemitism on the rise, becoming normalized, B’nai Brith warns

Canada is in the throes of a national antisemitism crisis, says B’nai Brith Canada.

The organization’s annual audit of antisemitic incidents reports 6,800 in 2025, 6,248 of which involved online hate.

That is a 9.3 per cent increase over 2024, when the total was 6,219, and it represents the highest total since 1995, said B’nai Brith, the country’s oldest human rights organization dedicated to eradicating racism, antisemitism and hatred.

The biggest spike in antisemitism occurred in 2023, when the number of incidents rose from 2,769 in 2022 to 5,791 following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The number of incidents rose the Manitoba-Saskatchewan, which increased from 447 in 2024 to 841 last year.

B’nai Brith lists incidents as in-person harassment, vandalism, violence and online hate, with the largest increase being in the latter category since 2022.

For the Jewish community in Canada, the data provides a sobering reminder that more must be done to address the proliferation of hate and bigotry in our society, said Simon Wolle, B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO.

“Our review of the past year’s antisemitic incidents must be understood as a wakeup call,” he said. “Hate and extremism are a threat to Canadian democracy and civil society, not only to the Jewish community.”

Ruth Ashrafi, the organization’s director in this region, said the audit reveals the seriousness of the situation.

“I’m from The Netherlands, and Jews in Europe have always had antisemitism in the back of our minds,” she said, noting that was not always the case for many Canadian Jews.

Since Oct. 7, 2023 things have changed in this country. Ashrafi pointed to the surge in online hate, with messages about Jews controlling the world and what she called the “demonization of Israel.”

The online messages can spark in-person actions, such as the painting of swastikas on Shaarey Zedek synagogue and at nearby Kelvin High School in January, she said, adding there was also an incident at the Health Sciences Centre in December, when an individual interrupted a menorah lighting ceremony.

The result is that Jews in Manitoba are feeling wary and anxious, Ashrafi said, noting that she doesn’t wear a Star of David pin when she goes out in public.

“I’m proudly Jewish,” she said. “But I want to avoid confrontations.”

Jeff Lieberman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, said most people in the community have noticed the rise in antisemitism, something that seems to be becoming normalized.

“What’s happening online is horrible,” Lieberman said. “It really affects our youth to see so much antisemitism in their social media feeds.”

The antisemitism audit can be found at https://leagueforhumanrights.ca

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