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A new Canadian government report has revealed an alarming prevalence of antisemitism in the province of Ontario’s school system, with nearly one in six incidents either initiated by educators or occurring during school-sanctioned activities.
Released on Monday by the office of Canada’s Special Envoy for Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, the findings paint a disturbing picture of the reality facing Jewish students in K-12 schools across Ontario.
Based on a comprehensive survey of 599 Jewish parents documenting 781 antisemitic incidents, the report highlights a systemic failure to protect Jewish students — particularly in Ontario’s public schools. According to the findings, more than 10% of Ontario’s approximately 30,000 Jewish school-aged children have experienced antisemitism in school.
Educators Implicated, Institutional Failures Exposed
Perhaps most troubling is the revelation that approximately 17% of incidents were either initiated by a teacher or took place during school-sponsored programming. In nearly half of all reported cases, school authorities failed to investigate the incident. In some cases, they denied the antisemitic nature of the behavior or suggested the victim transfer schools or attend classes virtually — rather than holding the perpetrator accountable.
Only 31% of cases resulted in disciplinary action for the offender or counseling support for the targeted student.
Josh Landau, Director of Government Relations at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), responded sharply. “This federal report makes one thing clear — the status quo for Ontario Jewish students is unsustainable and unacceptable,” he said.
“It’s no coincidence that Toronto and Ottawa-Carleton school boards — two of the boards the Ford Government placed under supervision — are also some of the most hostile environments for Jewish students and teachers,” Landau added.
Scope and Nature of Antisemitism in Schools
While public discourse has focused heavily on anti-Israel rhetoric, the report found that fewer than 60% of the incidents referenced Israel or the Israel-Hamas war. Over 40% involved Holocaust denial, Nazi glorification, or classic antisemitic tropes about Jewish wealth and power.
Examples include Nazi salutes, comments like “Hitler should have finished the job,” and explicit threats of violence. One particularly egregious case cited involved a ninth-grade student who was called a “terrorist, rapist, and baby killer” by a peer in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Thirty percent of reported incidents involved physical or threatening behavior, including assault (6.2%), vandalism (14.9%), and aggressive gestures such as throat-slitting motions (10%).
Systemic Patterns and Regional Hotspots
The majority of incidents occurred in English-language public schools, with over 70% concentrated in just three districts: Toronto District School Board, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, and York Region District School Board. Jewish private schools were not exempt, accounting for nearly 20% of reported cases. French, Catholic, and other non-Jewish private schools made up the remaining 14%.
Geographically, 61% of incidents took place in metropolitan Toronto and 21% in Ottawa — Ontario’s two largest Jewish population centers.
In response to the increasingly hostile climate, 16% of parents moved their children to different schools — most often Jewish day schools — to ensure their safety and well-being.
Urgent Calls for Reform
CIJA’s Landau called on Ontario’s provincial government to accelerate the implementation of its delayed Holocaust education curriculum and to mandate that all school boards adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism.
“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,” he stated.
This marks the first federally-commissioned effort to systematically document the scale of antisemitism in Canadian K-12 schools and underscores the urgent need for institutional accountability, educator training, and policy reform to stop the normalization of antisemitic hate in educational settings.
