‘A Tipping Point’: Canada’s Jewish Community Faces Unprecedented Threat as Three Synagogues Attacked in Five Days

Two Toronto-area synagogues were sprayed with gunfire overnight during Shabbat this weekend, just 20-30 minutes apart, further rattling Canada’s Jewish community of roughly 400,000 as it continues to grapple with record-high levels of antisemitic incidents.

The attacks on Friday, March 7, 2026, came just five days after another synagogue in the Toronto area also suffered a shooting incident, with no reported injuries, as people were still inside the building following Purim celebrations on the evening of March 2.

These shooting attacks demonstrate a disturbing trend of rising violence and heightened threats against Canadian Jewish communities, mirroring similar threat environments worldwide.

A Pattern of Escalation

Synagogues across Canada have been firebombed, shot at, vandalized, and otherwise damaged in over a dozen separate incidents since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, with some properties targeted on multiple occasions. For comparative analysis, the previous major incident at a Canadian synagogue was in late 2017, when at least 14 synagogues across the country were targeted in an antisemitic letter campaign calling for the death of Jewish people.

The current wave of physical violence represents a significant escalation from that baseline. Whereas earlier patterns were dominated by harassment and vandalism, more recent incidents of live bullets and firebombings show a growing willingness by offenders to use potentially lethal means against Jewish communal institutions.

According to the government of Canada, 920 anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported by police in 2024, nearly double the number of incidents recorded in years prior to the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023. 

B'nai Brith Canada's Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents reported 6,219 cases of hatred targeting Jews in 2024 — the highest number documented since the inception of the Audit in 1982, reflecting a 7.4% increase from 2023 and a 124.6% increase from 2022. On average, approximately 17 antisemitic incidents occurred each day in 2024, according to the report, with the vast majority recorded as harassment but including major incidents of violence, among them firebombings and other attacks on Jewish schools and businesses. To put the figures in context, Canada’s Jewish population is estimated at about 400,000, roughly one-nineteenth the size of the U.S. Jewish population of between approximately six million to 7.5 million, depending on the study. By comparison, the ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the U.S. in 2024.

The near‑simultaneous shootings at the two Toronto-area synagogues on March 7, together with the March 2 attack, also raise the possibility of coordinated activity, according to local law enforcement, although police said there was “no evidence to suggest [this] definitively” yet amid the ongoing investigations. 

A still from security footage of a suspect smashing windows at the Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue in Toronto, November 4, 2025. (Screenshot/Security footage)

'We’ve Seen the Deadly Results in Manchester, Washington, Sydney’

As the third attack at a synagogue made international headlines, Canadian Jewish leaders warned that the country is rapidly approaching a critical point.

“This gunfire didn’t come from nowhere,” said Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) CEO Noah Shack at a press conference on March 8, lamenting that Jewish Canadians have been subjected to “hate, intimidation, harassment and violence” for over 2.5 years. “Canada is at a crossroads,” he warned.

Shack traced a direct line from the first post-October 7 “small protest calling for violence targeting our community, glorifying terrorism” to demonstrations that "moved into our neighborhoods" and "began targeting synagogues, our schools, our community centers."

While mass‑casualty attacks have so far been averted in Canada, Shack linked this pattern of escalation to deadly attacks against Jewish targets worldwide. “We’ve seen the deadly results of that in some countries and cities similar to our own, in Manchester, in Washington, and in Sydney, Australia,” he said, in reference to the October 2025 Yom Kippur attack in Manchester, UK, where two people were killed, the May 2025 killings of two Israeli Embassy workers outside a Jewish event in Washington, DC, and the deadly attack on participants at a Chabad event on the first day of Hanukkah in December 2025 at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, where 15 people were gunned down.

Mourners gather to lay flowers at Bondi Beach on December 15, 2025, in Sydney, Australia, where 15 were killed and dozens were injured when two attackers opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration. (Izhar Khan/Getty Images)

“We are at a tipping point...Not enough has been done over the last two years to prevent us from getting to this place,” Shack warned, standing alongside government officials and law enforcement who promised increased vigilance and swift investigations.

Canadian leaders publicly condemned the recent acts of violence and pledged to enhance security funding and review hate crime tools in the criminal code.

Incident Chronology: Synagogue Attacks in Canada, 2023-2026

• March 2026, Toronto area, Canada:
  • Multiple gunshots were fired at Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in North York, in the Greater Toronto Area, on March 7, 2026. No injuries were reported. It was the second attack on a synagogue in Canada that night.
  • The front doors of Beth Avraham Yoseph (BAYT) congregation in the Toronto suburb of Thornhill were sprayed with gunfire on the night of March 7, 2026. Bullet holes and damage were found at the site. No injuries were reported.
  • Gunshots were fired at Temple Emanu-El in North York, in the Greater Toronto Area, on March 2, 2026. No injuries were reported. Law enforcement discovered evidence of gunfire and damage to the building as a result of the attack.

The three incidents were condemned by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as “criminal antisemitic attacks.” Law enforcement is currently following all leads, including whether there is any connection between the two March 7 attacks.

• November 2025, Toronto, Canada: The Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue in Toronto was vandalized on November 4, 2025, with security video capturing a suspect smashing five of the synagogue’s windows in multiple areas. The synagogue had been targeted on multiple occasions.
• September 2025, Halifax, Canada: Two Halifax synagogues were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, and a building associated with the Chabad movement was also defaced with the words, "Jews did 9/11."
• August 2025, Victoria, Canada: Death threats and violent antisemitic messages were scrawled on the front doors of Congregation Emanu‑El, one of Canada’s oldest synagogues, in Victoria, BC on August 2, 2025.
• March 2025, Toronto, Canada: Suspect Amir Arvahi Azar was charged with 29 criminal counts for an alleged hate crime spree spanning eight months that targeted five Toronto synagogues and a Jewish community center. The charges included advocating the genocide of Jews, inciting hatred, arson, and property damage. Azar was arrested on January 11, 2025, for alleged attacks between April 2024 and early January 2025, including arson of signs at Temple Sinai and Tiferet Israel Congregation on July 31 and August 3, 2024, property damage at Pride of Israel Synagogue on June 30, 2024, and damage and later arson at Kehillat Shaarei Torah Synagogue on June 30 and July 31, 2024. He’s also under suspicion of setting fire to a United Jewish Appeal sign on April 26, 2024, and property damage at the Jewish‑owned eatery, Café Landwer, on December 20, 2024. The suspect was also charged with possession of three either prohibited or restricted loaded handguns.
• December 2024, Toronto, Canada: The Kehillat Shaarei Torah synagogue in Toronto was vandalized, with decals of “genocide” placed on two signs on the property.
• December 2024, Montreal, Canada: Overnight on Dec 18, 2024, Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal's Dollard-des-Ormeaux area was firebombed for a second time, following a similar attack in November 2023. The synagogue sustained some fire damage and a door and window were broken. There were no injuries. A suspect was arrested in the case.
• July 2024, Calgary, Canada: "Free Palestine," “the flood is coming,” and an inverted red triangle were graffitied near a synagogue and Jewish day school.
• May 2024, Vancouver, Canada: A suspected incendiary device was launched at Congregation Schara Tzedeck in Vancouver, BC, on May 30, 2024, while some members were nearby. There were no injuries. The door to the synagogue sustained damage.
• May 2024, Toronto, Canada: The windows and doors of Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto, Canada, were smashed in a second vandalism attack on the synagogue in less than a month, on May 17, 2024.
• April 2024, Toronto, Canada: The windows of Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto, Canada, were smashed in a vandalism attack on April 19, 2024.
• November 2023, Montreal, Canada: Congregation Beth Tikvah in Montreal's Dollard-des-Ormeaux area was first firebombed on November 7, 2023, shortly after the Hamas October 7 attacks. The building sustained some damage. According to subsequent media coverage, no suspects have been arrested.