A Toronto-area Jewish elementary school was targeted by gunfire for the third time in just seven months, sparking renewed condemnation from officials over the rise in anti-Semitic incidents across Canada.
Toronto Police said they responded to reports of gunfire at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 20. Citing witness reports, police said suspects fired from a vehicle before fleeing the scene. The school building sustained damage, but no injuries were reported.
The school, located near Finch Avenue and Chesswood Drive in North York, has previously been targeted by gunfire—once in May and again in October. The Toronto Police Service’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force is investigating the incident with support from the Hate Crime Unit. Police said they will increase presence in the area, as well as outside of other schools and synagogues.
Following the gunfire targeting Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School in October, Toronto police announced on Oct. 18 that two arrests had been made in connection with the incident.
The shooting marks the latest attack on Jewish communities in Canada, following a firebombing of a synagogue and a Jewish community centre in Montreal just two days earlier, on Dec. 18. The synagogue, in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s West Island, is also a recurring victim, having previously been firebombed on Nov. 7, 2023.
A broken window is seen on the doors of Congregation Beth Tikvah, as police investigate alleged arson at the synagogue in the suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux in Montreal, on Dec. 18, 2024. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi
The Montreal firebombing prompted Israeli President Isaac Herzog to call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Dec. 19, urging the Liberal government to take stronger action to “stamp out antisemitism” and bring the perpetrators to justice.
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Trudeau said in a Dec. 20 social media post that he was “sickened by reports of shots fired” at the Jewish elementary school in North York, calling it “a hateful, antisemitic attack” on Toronto’s Jewish community. The prime minister previously condemned the Montreal firebomb attack, calling it “cowardly and criminal.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he was “outraged and disgusted” to hear news of the attack. “These antisemitic, hateful attacks have no place in Ontario,” he wrote in a post on the social media platform X on Dec. 20.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the Toronto elementary school shooting is “unacceptable,” and that “antisemitism and antisemitic attacks have no place in Toronto.”
Since the Hamas-led incursion into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Canada has seen a 670 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents, according to a report from the Israeli government. These incidents include numerous attacks targeting Jewish schools, businesses, and synagogues.
Hamas’s attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,200 people, with hundreds taken hostage into the Gaza Strip, including more than half a dozen Canadians. In response, Israel launched military operations against the terrorist group. The conflict in the Middle East has since expanded, with Iran, Hezbollah, and other entities lending support to Hamas.
Combating Anti-Semitism
On Dec. 20, the federal government announced that a National Forum on Combatting Antisemitism will be held in February. The forum will be co-chaired by the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, and the public safety minister, according to a press release.
“Canada has seen a troubling rise in antisemitic incidents, threats, and hate crimes. The Government of Canada recognizes the urgent need for national leadership to ensure Jewish Canadians feel safe in their synagogues, schools, and communities,” the press release stated.
Warning against a “normalization” of hatred toward Jews, Canada’s former Justice Minister and Attorney General Irwin Cotler said in a Dec. 18 post on X that he had recommended to the prime minister the launch of a National Emergency Summit to unite leadership across all levels of government in implementing a “coordinated action plan” to address the issue.
MPs have previously condemned more aggressive actions by anti-Jewish protesters, including an incident in Vancouver on Oct. 7—the one anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel—where protesters were seen burning a Canadian flag and chanting “Death to Canada” in videos circulating online.
A demonstrator holds a smoke bomb while marching during a pro-Palestinian rally marking the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel last October, in Vancouver on Oct. 7, 2024. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns
Following Friday’s cabinet shuffle, several newly appointed cabinet ministers have also addressed the rise of anti-Semitism in the country.
Public Safety Minister David McGuinty described both attacks in Toronto and Montreal as “terrible tragedies,” adding that the government viewed them as a “very serious matter.” “We wanted to express our solidarity with the Jewish community. Our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with them,” he told reporters on Dec. 20.
Rachel Bendayan, who was appointed minister of official languages and associate minister of public safety, told reporters that police reports have indicated that hate-motivated crimes in Canada “have been on the rise since 2019,” with anti-Semitic hate crimes “almost tripled” during that period. Bendayan added that she has been in contact with the RCMP and Toronto Police to “address this heinous and intolerable rise in hate crimes in Canada.”
