Municipal and Jewish leaders in Toronto are condemning recent attacks on synagogues in the Greater Toronto Area — three in the past week.
Three synagogues were hit by gunfire over the past week, leaving the Jewish community shaken. Two of the synagogues are in Toronto, and the third is in Vaughan, just to the northwest.
Police say it will be relentless in its investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice and beef up protection around Jewish institutions, while leaders in the Jewish community are calling for more action against anti-Semitism.
There were no injuries in the incidents, and so far police have not identified any suspects. Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said there’s been an increase in violence against the Jewish community over the past couple of years and it’s got to stop.
"It’s time for all Canadians and all levels of government to unify and move forward with urgency and consistency and concrete action to push back with leadership that says that this is not acceptable in Canada — that the hate, harassment, intimidation and justification of violence and the violent acts, the terror, that’s being inflicted on our community will not stand, that it’s fundamentally against our Canadian way of life," he said.
Shack said this same pattern of violence eventually led to the deadly events seen Dec. 14, 2025 at Australia’s Bondi Beach. Sara Lefton of the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto said what is happening is not surprising given the escalating hate and violence towards Jewish people in Canada. Lefton was speaking in front of the Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue in Toronto, one of the places of worship that was hit by gunfire.
"We’ve seen hateful words go unchecked on our streets," she said. "We’ve seen hateful protests and rallies not just taking place in downtown Toronto but taking place in Jewish residential areas — and taking place in order to cause intimidation and fear in our own communities."
Lefton said those hateful words turn into hateful rallies and protests and then into hateful actions. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also condemned the shootings as acts of antisemitism, hate and intimidation.
"This is a violent act of intimidation and part of a pattern of emboldened antisemitism that has no place in Toronto," Chow said. "It must be stopped."
Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, also addressed the crowd in Toronto, condemning the attacks.
"The forms of antisemitism we see that’s turning into violence is not the Canadian way," he said. "We will not tolerate this and this has to stop. Our law enforcement agencies will work in collaboration with all levels of government to ensure that."
Police in Toronto have beefed up its presence in Jewish residential areas, and the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force as well as the Hate Crimes Unit have been called in to take part in the investigation into the shootings.
