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The Canadian government — in partnership with the Office of the Special Envoy for Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism — published on Thursday the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism.
The handbook was developed to “serve as a vital resource in our collective efforts to understand, recognize, and combat antisemitism across the country,” Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, stated.
The full report can be accessed HERE.
“The first step to combating antisemitism is defining it,” the report noted. “While other definitions of antisemitism exist, the IHRA Definition is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and representative definition of antisemitism in the world today.”
As of November 1, 2024, 1,262 entities worldwide have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism, including 45 countries, with Canada doing so in 2019.
Police data released in July revealed that antisemitic hate crimes rose 71% in Canada in 2023, with Jews becoming the most targeted minority group in the country.
Since the Working Definition of Antisemitism was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016, it has become the most widely-recognized barometer in the collective effort against Jew-hatred, serving as an essential tool to identify and delineate all contemporary manifestations of this age-old societal scourge.
The definition’s proven effectiveness is rooted in the mainstream consensus that has coalesced around it worldwide — with a diverse array of international institutions and organizations, national and local governments, NGOs, universities, athletic clubs, and corporations using it as a non-legally binding guiding framework for recognizing modern-day iterations of antisemitism, training and educational programs, policymaking initiatives, and judicial processes.
For more reading on antisemitism in Canada: ‘Antisemitism Is a Fundamental Attack on Western Values and the Values We Hold Dear in Canada’
