Carney calls antisemitism a crisis, vows new federal crackdown
Carney cast antisemitism as a national crisis at a Toronto synagogue, as Jewish groups pointed to a record 6,800 incidents and years of stalled protection.
Mark Carney said Canada was failing Jewish Canadians and pledged to put antisemitism first in a new federal drive against racism, a sharp escalation in tone that came as Jewish organizations warned the country had already crossed into crisis. Speaking at Holy Blossom Synagogue in Toronto, Carney said antisemitism had surged to levels not seen since the post-World War II era and tied his response to a new national unity council that will examine what is driving the rise in hate incidents and push for better research and data collection.
The pressure on Ottawa has been building for months. B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights said in an April 27, 2026 audit that it recorded 6,800 antisemitic incidents in 2025, up from 6,219 in 2024, which had itself been a record. The group has argued that the numbers show a national crisis, not a passing spike, and the scale has sharpened concerns among Jewish Canadians since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the war in Gaza that followed.
The federal government has already tried to show it was moving. On March 6, 2025, Ottawa convened a National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism in the capital, bringing together federal, provincial, territorial and municipal leaders, law enforcement, prosecutors and Jewish community representatives. At that forum, the government said it was working with Statistics Canada to improve hate-crime data and pledged up to $10 million in immediate funding for grassroots organizations, along with $26.8 million over four years for police-college training on hate crimes.
Even with those steps, the statistics remain stark. The government has said hate crimes against Jewish people rose 71% between 2022 and 2023, reaching 900 reported crimes, even though Jews make up about 1% of Canada’s population. Last year, more than two-thirds of all religion-motivated hate crimes were directed at Jewish Canadians, underscoring how concentrated the threat has become.
Carney’s new pledge differs from earlier government statements in both tone and framing. In January 2026, Ottawa issued National Commitments to Combat Antisemitism as part of its broader action plan on combatting hate, promising stronger police training, better data collection, protection for at-risk communities such as students and people in academic settings, and greater use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. The new response goes further by casting antisemitism as the first priority of a broader anti-racism effort.
Reaction at Holy Blossom was mixed. Some attendees said Carney still did not go far enough, and one prominent criticism was that he did not say the word Zionism, reflecting a wider debate inside the Jewish community over whether governments should more directly link antisemitism to anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel. The divide now is not whether the problem exists, but whether Ottawa will finally turn its warnings, data and promises into enforcement, school safety and real protection on the ground.
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