Joel Ceausu is now the full-time Quebec correspondent for The Canadian Jewish News, who can be reached at [email protected].
Jewish people are the single most targeted group for hate crimes and by a wide margin, especially after Oct. 7, according to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
“It’s no surprise to anyone in Montreal’s Jewish community that the conflict taking place more than 9,000 kilometres from here has generated a wave of hatred, of antisemitism that we have not seen for several years,” says Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Quebec vice-president Eta Yudin, who along with Federation CJA chair Seve Sebag delivered an update on antisemitic incidents in Montreal, and urged more be done to fight it, on Oct. 8, just hours after marking the one year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel.
According to the SPVM, 41 individuals were charged with hate crimes overall since Oct. 7, 2023, with 287 crimes and incidents reported against Jews and Arabs/Muslims. Of that number, 212—some 74 percent—targeted Jews. Moreover, from Oct. 7, 2023 to January 2024 there were 131 reported antisemitic crimes and incidents.
The statistics follow a national trend. According to Statistics Canada, police-reported crimes against Jews across Canada numbered 900 in 2023, a 71 percent increase from 2022. The most frequently reported hate crimes in Canada were directed against Jews, who along with LGBTQIA2+ and Black Canadians account for 19, 18, and 16 percent of hate crimes, respectively.
It’s the first time the Jewish community has occupied the top spot in those nationwide numbers.
Categories of mischief—destroying, damaging or obstructing access to property, uttering threats, and assault—are the top hate crimes reported against all communities in Canada.
Yudin also acknowledged the community under-reports: “We know people ask themselves ‘what’s the point of reporting’? If we want law-and-order officials and police to do their job, they need to understand, statistically and geographically, exactly what’s happening. But frankly one is too many.”
“For a year our community has been systematically targeted and attacked,” Yudin told reporters at a press conference at the Federation CJA building. “Two Jewish schools have been victims of gunfire, we have seen some of our synagogues and community centers targeted by Molotov cocktails, the building in which we are in was besieged by a rabid mob, students are unable to access their classes, and last Wednesday (Oct. 2) several people were arrested in possession of an incendiary device in front of synagogues a few hours away from Rosh Hashanah.”

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel when terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and kidnapped 250, there have been 345 demonstrations in Montreal related to Israel’s multi-front war, said SPVM Deputy Director Vincent Richer. The vast majority of events took place “peacefully,” he said. He did not define what was characterized as ‘peaceful’, as many events—while not resulting in arrests—have included chants and materials advocating ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Middle East, equating Zionism to terrorism, and increasingly public displays of support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah, and anarchists on the streets are not the ones who are going to lead anyone to dialogue or to peace,” said Yudin.
The SPVM made 100 arrests during these demonstrations, with 41 of those leading to various charges, but Richer said “the trend is dropping,” save for a spike around the Oct. 7 anniversary.
Over the past three months, the number of reported hate crimes and incidents has fallen to 27 hate crimes for a total of 288 since October 2023. (According to SPVM data, the total number of hate crimes in 2023 stood at 353, a 174-percent increase over the previous year, and 89 hate incidents, marking a 323-percent hike from 2022.)
Richer also told reporters that the force’s hate crimes squad is looking at a recent arrest related to the incendiary devices which police “did link to this (Middle East) conflict, that they were planning to use those materials at synagogues. The investigation is still going on but that’s our hypothesis for now.”
Sebag said he suspects police would make more arrests if they felt that there was a viable path towards convictions as many cases fall through at the prosecution level, notably, that of Montreal imam Adil Charkaoui, who at a heavily attended rally in downtown Montreal three weeks after Oct. 7, 2023, publicly called for God to “identify” and “exterminate” “Zionist aggressors” and “enemies of the people of Gaza.”
Quebec Premier François Legault swiftly denounced the speech as incitement to hatred and urged police to act. Police investigated but Quebec prosecutors ultimately decided hate speech targeting a specific group could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt and levelled no charges.
Meanwhile, Yudin saluted efforts by Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet and the unanimous support of Quebec’s National Assembly to remove exemptions for religious belief in hate speech legislation from Canada’s Criminal Code via Blanchet’s Bill C-367.
In addition to calling on Ottawa to include glorification of terrorism in the Criminal Code, CIJA wants Quebec City to institute training of special prosecutors to deal with hate crimes, “and that’s not just about antisemitism. To carry through a case effectively, you need to understand and have deep, extensive knowledge of the codex of hate of different groups, what different things mean and the implications on society,” Yudin said.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of being sensitized to the reality of hate crimes, Yudin cited the case of Gabriel Sohier-Chaput, who was found guilty last year of willful promotion of hatred against Jews. A Superior Court judge rejected a joint sentencing recommendation of three months as not serving interests of justice, and instead imposed a 15-month prison sentence.
CIJA spokesman Julien Corona told The CJN, “It is one of our policy asks in Quebec, that we see special training for better prosecutions. It’s an ongoing discussion.”
Sebag cautioned against being desensitized to threats, pointing to the recent arrest of five people (two adults and three minors in two vehicles in Côte-Saint-Luc and in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) in possession of incendiary devices on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, “which is not just a small thing. This is huge. This five years ago would have been big news.” When asked how to counter that risk, he maintained “the professionals work overtime. We will never let our guard down. Our main duty is to protect our community. We have fantastic collaboration with the SPVM and with other agencies, and we are going to stay vigilant.
“Regardless of what happens in the Middle East, there is no reason for me to have to explain to my child why there is a bullet in the window of their school. Ever.”
Yudin criticized Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and said it is difficult to fight hate “when the mayor allows antisemitic encampments.” Yudin also laid blame on MNAs who “promote events with hateful slogans.”
“It begins with the Jews. It does not end with the Jews. And if we value and cherish our way of life and our values, we have to fight together to protect them,” she said.
“Montreal cannot become the safe space for all those who want to shout hatred against the Jews.”