Antisemitic incidents, violence dropped slightly in Canada in 2022

B’nai B’rith Canada

But an annual antisemitism audit from B’nai Brith Canada raises alarm.
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Flag of Canada. Credit: Pixabay.

Antisemitic incidents in Canada dropped 1.1% in 2022 from the record high of 2,799 incidents in 2021, and violent incidents dropped from 75 in 2021 to 25 in 2022, according to B’nai B’rith Canada’s just-released Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents.

But despite Canadian Jews being able to take “some solace in the numbers” in the new audit, which recorded the first decline in antisemitic incidents since 2015, antisemitism remains rampant in Canada, according to the audit. There were 2,769 antisemitic incidents in Canada last year, or more than 7.5 incidents daily on average.

Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, stated that the human rights organization is alarmed and disturbed by the audit findings.

“Although there was an almost insignificant decrease from last year, antisemitic incidents continue to occur at an unacceptable and dangerous pace,” he stated. “Frankly, the amount of hate directed at Jewish Canadians is shameful.”

Online hate accounted for an estimated 74% of the recorded incidents, according to the audit.

“The nature of antisemitism has changed,” stated Marvin Rotrand, national director of the League of Human Rights, B’nai B’rith Canada’s advocacy arm. “Social media is the largest medium for antisemitic narratives, giving purveyors of hate a global audience and limitless reach. Canada’s laws have failed to keep pace with the explosion of antisemitism online. We need changes in the law to blunt this threat.”

In the 2021 Canadian census, 335,295 people identified as Jewish.