Antisemitic incidents rose in Canada last year — and after Oct. 7: B’nai Brith

Jewish human rights group B'nai Brith Canada is highlighting an 'astonishing' increase in reports of antisemitism in its annual audit of incidents.

The number of antisemitic incidents in Canada more than doubled in 2023 compared with the year prior, according to an annual audit performed by Jewish human rights group B’nai Brith Canada.

In the audit, the group logged 5,791 incidents that meet the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. This represents a 109 per cent increase over 2022, when there were 2,769 incidents.

“The absolute number and the increasing number of antisemitic incidents in 2023 are astonishing,” B’nai Brith legal counsel David Matas said at an Ottawa press conference.

“Whatever one thinks of the Israeli responses to (the Hamas) terrorist attacks, Jews in Canada have had nothing to do with them. To attack Jews in Canada for these responses is straight bigotry.”

The bulk of the reported incidents — 4,847 — took place online in the form of harassment. B’nai Brith links much of the increase in online antisemitism to the proliferation of images and videos created with artificial intelligence.

For offline incidents, B’nai Brith says it tracked 77 reports of physical violence compared with 25 the year prior. In-person harassment and vandalism – ranging from instances of graffiti to arson – all saw increases over 2022 at 405 and 462 incidents reported, respectively.

According to B’nai Brith, in-person harassment is up 42 per cent and vandalism saw a 14 per cent increase.

All of these real-world incidents reported through the audit saw significant increases after October, following the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has been the focus of rallies and protests in the months since.