In 2023, Jews were the most frequently targeted group in police-reported hate crimes across Canada, despite making up less than one percent of the population, according to Statistics Canada. Blacklock's Reporter says the agency reported that anti-Semitism led all other hate crime categories last year.“Hate crimes target the integral and visible parts of a person’s identity and may affect not only the individual but also the wider community,” noted the StatsCan study. The report highlighted a 32% increase in police-reported hate crimes, rising from 3,612 incidents in 2022 to 4,777 in 2023.Jews were identified as the leading target in 900 separate hate crimes, surpassing sexual minority Canadians (860 reported crimes), blacks (784), Arab Canadians (265), indigenous Canadians (262), Muslims (211), and Catholics (49).Statistics Canada analysts estimated that only a fifth of hate crimes are reported to police, based on data from the 2019 General Social Survey On Canadians’ Safety. “Among these victims, approximately one in five incidents was reported to the police,” the study stated.With Jews numbering 335,000 out of Canada’s 40 million people (less than 0.9 percent), the disproportionate targeting is stark. In contrast, Muslims number 1.8 million in Canada.Despite public pledges of support from the federal cabinet, police-reported hate crimes against Jews increased by 71% year over year. Following the October 7 Hamas attack that resulted in the killing and kidnapping of Jews in Israel, including eight Canadians, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc stated, “There will never be any place for the glorification of violence or terror here in Canada. Under no circumstances will it be tolerated. Support Canada’s Jewish community through this extremely difficult time.”MPs have documented various anti-Semitic incidents, including gunfire outside a Jewish home in Winnipeg, street protests targeting Jewish shopkeepers in Toronto, and the attempted firebombing of Jewish kindergartens and synagogues in Montréal.Conservative MP Marty Morantz (Charleswood-St. James, Man.), former director of the Jewish National Fund, described the current climate for Jews in Canada as “a terrible time” since the October 7 atrocities. “The Jewish community is rightfully scared. I never thought in my lifetime I’d see anti-Semitism like this in our streets,” Morantz said on November 9.When asked by a reporter about his personal experience, Morantz replied, “When one Jewish person is attacked because of their religion, all Jewish people are attacked. In a country like Canada, this just should not be happening.”
