Antisemitism in Canada surged following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, culminating in a record 920 hate crimes targeting Jews last year. 

The spike in incidents prompted Deborah Lyons, the country’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, to step down earlier this month, citing exhaustion from “waking up every day to a fight.”

Lyons told The Canadian Jewish News last week that the “job was one that tore at you physically and emotionally. I mean, I faced a lot of hate out there myself… a lot of nasty words and in some cases actions,” she said. 

Deborah Lyons, left, the former Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, speaks with David Moscovic, a Holocaust and Auschwitz survivor, before an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, in the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.  (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

Noah Shack, CEO of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), told Fox News Digital that when law enforcement or public institutions have directly confronted antisemitic protests, harassment, or intimidation, they quickly collapsed.

“I think that’s instructive—that when our public institutions take action to push back, it dissipates,” he said. “We really need government, law enforcement, and broader society to recognize that we all have a duty to stand against this hate that is targeting the Jewish community right now, but also targeting our core values as Canadians. And if we fail to stand up, it will overtake our society and lead to a very dark future for all Canadians.”

Shack outlined three urgent actions he believes Canada can take to meaningfully address the issue. First, he emphasized the need to follow through on commitments to establish safety zones around places of worship, community centers, daycare centers, schools, and other sites where the Jewish community gathers.

Second, he called for increased support for Jewish community security programs to protect these facilities from the violent threats they face.

Anti-Israel protesters gather outside Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue hosting ‘Israeli Real Estate Event’ in Thornhill, north of Toronto, Ontario on March 7, 2024. Thornhill is home to a large Jewish population. (Photo by Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We’ve had schools shot at, synagogues set on fire. This is a very concerning situation, and we need to ensure that the government is funding and integrating our community security programs at a level that exponentially improves safety,” he said.

Third, Shack emphasized the need to address the growing issue of radicalization seen on the streets and within public institutions.

“Canada’s anti-terrorism laws should be aligned with those of countries like the UK, where the glorification of terrorism and membership in a terror organization are criminal offenses,” he said.

Shack also cautioned against attempts to separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism, stating that the premise itself is flawed, and stressed that blaming Jews around the world for disagreements with Israeli government policies is equally hateful.

“I don’t represent the government of Israel; I represent myself as a Jewish person living here in Canada. Just like my friends, family, and colleagues who live in the U.S. are Jewish Americans, we deserve to be treated with the same respect and rights as any other Canadian or American citizen, period,” he said.