Over 40 per cent of antisemitic incidents targeting Ontario Jewish students since the October 7 terrorist attacks have included a Nazi salute or statements such as, “Hitler should have finished the job,” according to a new federal report published Monday.
The
survey
, commissioned by the Office of the Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, drew on the testimonies of 599 Jewish parents across the province who reported 781 antisemitic incidents in elementary schools and high schools between Oct. 7, 2023 and January 2025. The survey, which was conducted between January and early April 2025, found that less than 60 per cent of antisemitic incidents during this period specifically involved Israel or the ongoing war.
“Something has gone terribly wrong with our promises of ‘Never Again’ when over 40 per cent of the incidents in this study involved Nazi salutes, Holocaust denial, and overt verbal hate such as ‘Hitler should have finished the job,’ Deborah Lyons, Canada’s special envoy on antisemitism, told National Post in a written statement. “We need to seriously consider antisemitism education, not just Holocaust education.”
The report found that in September 2024, a Grade 9 student in York Region District School Board (YRDSB) was berated by a classmate and called a “terrorist, rapist and baby killer.” That same month in Waterloo, a teenage Jewish girl was surrounded by five male students as they shouted “Sieg Heil” and made the Nazi salute around her.
In October 2024, a six-year-old student with one Jewish parent was told by her Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) teacher she was “half human.” Several others reported hearing comments such as “Jews are vermin,” “Jews are cheap,” and “F–k you, Jews.”
Jewish parents and students spoke of a troubling pattern in which many teachers appeared to blur the line between political advocacy and education. One in six antisemitic incidents were either “initiated or approved by a teacher or involve a school-sanctioned activity,” wrote Robert Brym, the author of the report and a sociology professor at the University of Toronto.
Last year, a six-year-old female student in Ottawa was chastised by her teacher for wearing a necklace with a pendant in the shape of Israel and was informed it actually represented “a map of Palestine.” On several occasions, the report notes, instructors wore shirts of the region “that lacked boundaries between regions,” and featured colours of the Palestinian flag and slogans such as “From the river to the sea,” a rallying cry often
echoed
by Hamas leaders.
Brym, a distinguished researcher of the Canadian Jewish community, told the Post in an email that he was “shocked” by his findings. The stories of antisemitism he uncovered during his investigation conjured up prejudice he said he personally experienced earlier in life.
“Antisemitism was commonplace when I was a child. It’s not surprising I was beaten for killing Jesus in the late ‘50s, even though I told the assailant I didn’t even know anyone by that name. However, it’s now 54 years since Canada was declared a multicultural society. Generations of students have been taught that all religious and ethnic groups should be respected. Yet many students have apparently failed to learn that lesson, at least when it comes to Jews,” he wrote.
Some of the largest provincial school boards, including Toronto (TDSB), Ottawa-Carleton and York Region, reported the highest level of antisemitic incidents. However, when the concerns of Jewish parents and students were brought to school leaders, nearly half (49 per cent) “were not investigated,” while an additional nine per cent either “denied the incident was antisemitic or recommended that the victim be removed from the school permanently or attend school virtually.”
The climate within Ontario public schools has become so alarming that 39 per cent of Jewish parents have either left or plan on moving their children to the Jewish private school system. “The percentage would undoubtedly be higher if Jewish day schools existed in smaller communities,” the report says, pointing to the limit of such institutions outside of Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton and London.
“Jewish schools in Ontario are having a hard time dealing with the inflow of new students abandoning the public system. Canadian multiculturalism is ailing and may be on its deathbed,” Brym wrote the Post.
“This federal report makes one thing clear: the status quo for Ontario Jewish students is unsustainable and unacceptable,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs government relations director Josh Landau told the Post in a written statement Monday afternoon, including a passing note of approval of the Ford government’s decision to place several prominent Ontario school boards under supervision.
The Jewish community leader called on Canadian school boards to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)
working definition
of antisemitism, which has been adopted by several provinces and the federal government.
“The government must act to implement robust, system-wide reforms that will ensure schools are safe and inclusive for all students, including those targeted because of their Jewish identity,” Landau added.
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