Canadian teen charged with antisemitic hate campaign

(JNS.org) – Canadian police have charged a 14-year-old with making a series of antisemitic phone calls to Jewish institutions in the Toronto area, authorities said last week.

A Canada flag flies in the wind on July 25, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

York Regional Police said on Jan. 22 that the youth targeted synagogues, community centers and Jewish schools across Toronto and neighboring York Region in November. Officers arrested him on Jan. 21 after searching his Newmarket home, where they said they found a quantity of psilocybin, a hallucinogenic drug.

The suspect faces 10 counts each of mischief involving religious property and indecent communication, along with possession of a controlled substance.

Police Chief Jim MacSween condemned the incidents as “appalling,” saying hate “has no place in York Region.” The investigation continues.

The case comes amid a broader spike in antisemitic incidents in the Toronto area since the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with Jewish institutions and individuals reporting a rise in threats, vandalism and harassment.

A number of mezuzahs were torn from the doorways of Jewish seniors’ homes in an apartment building in North York, Toronto, on Dec. 6, 2025. The Toronto Police Service arrested five people on Nov. 5, 2025 for forcible entry at a Jewish event at Toronto Metropolitan University. A shooting at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School took place on Dec. 20, 2024, marking the third time that shots were fired at the Chabad girls’ school in Toronto.

Primary and secondary schools in Ontario, Canada, failed to investigate 49% of antisemitic incidents reported to school officials, and more than 40% of Jew-hatred instances involved Holocaust denial or glorifying Nazis, according to a government-commissioned survey on Jew-hatred in K-12 schools in the province dated July 14, 2025.