Nearly all Jewish college students in Canada experienced antisemitism last year — report

Comprehensive national study finds that ‘persistent and proliferating’ Jew-hatred has become ‘a normalized and systemic feature of campus life’ in the country

Nearly all Jewish university students surveyed across Canada said they experienced or witnessed antisemitism over the past year, according to a government-commissioned report released Wednesday.

The report surveyed approximately 900 Jewish students nationwide in what it said was the most comprehensive national study to date examining their experiences on Canadian campuses. Many reported harassment, intimidation, classroom bias and a lack of confidence that their universities would respond effectively.

Canada is home to the world’s fourth-largest Jewish community, with about 400,000 Jews. Comprising about one percent of Canada’s population, Jews were on the receiving end of 68% of religiously motivated hate crimes recorded in 2024, the report noted.

The report was commissioned by Canada’s former special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, and conducted by the Association for Canadian Studies, in response to heightened tensions and campus protests since Hamas launched the Gaza war against Israel on October 7, 2023.

The survey found that 96 percent of Jewish respondents reported experiencing or witnessing at least one antisemitic incident during the previous 12 months, while 84% described antisemitism as a serious problem on campus. Some 70% said their university does not take antisemitism seriously and 68% said their campus is not a safe or inclusive place for Jewish students.

Researchers wrote that antisemitism on Canadian campuses has become “persistent and proliferating” and, on some campuses, “a normalized and systemic feature of campus life” rather than a series of isolated incidents.

More than one in five respondents said they experienced or witnessed physical violence directed at Jews on campus, while 54% reported intimidation or threats and 71% reported antisemitic vandalism.

Students said concerns over safety were influencing their daily behavior, with 72% saying they limit what they say in class about being Jewish and 57% reporting that they avoid wearing or displaying Jewish symbols due to fears for their safety.

A quarter said they were considering leaving their university because of antisemitism, which 40% said had harmed them academically.

Students submitted more than 1,200 open-ended responses that painted a stark picture of Jewish campus life. Respondents described being chased while wearing a kippa, spat on for displaying a Star of David necklace, shunned by classmates after revealing they were Jewish, as well as encountering swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti across campus. Others said they were called “Zionist” as a slur, pressured to denounce Israel or excluded from student groups and academic projects because of their Jewish identity.

Another student reported that the anxiety stemming from campus hostility became so severe they dropped out, writing, “It is open season on Jewish students.”

‘Time to act is now’

In the classroom, respondents reported experiencing antisemitism from faculty as well as fellow students.

Some 36% said they encountered course material or classroom discussions they viewed as antisemitic or biased against Jews, Judaism, Israel or Zionism. Another 34% said professors introduced those topics into courses where they were unrelated to the subject matter. Nearly half reported feeling pressured to share their views on Israel, while more than one-third said they felt pressure to conform to a professor’s views.

Students described incidents in which professors praised Adolf Hitler, assigned materials denying the Holocaust or introduced discussions about Israel into unrelated courses. The report did not independently verify individual allegations.

The report also found widespread dissatisfaction with how universities handled complaints. Only a third of respondents said they reported incidents they experienced, and among those who did, 63% were dissatisfied with the response. More than half of those who chose not to report incidents said they believed doing so would not help.

The report warned that if left unchecked, antisemitism on campus could become entrenched beyond higher education. It called on decision-makers to ensure all students can study “in safety and dignity, regardless of their identity.”

Antisemitic incidents in Canada reached a record high in 2025, with 6,800 acts of anti-Jewish hate reported nationwide, according to B’nai Brith Canada. The organization has also said that 2026 is on track to be the most violent year for the Jewish community in recent memory, after more violent antisemitic attacks were recorded by May than during all of last year. Some worry that a large-scale attack may be around the corner.

Lyons, the former special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, left her post prematurely last July due to what she described as exhaustion from “despairing about the fact that it was hard to get people to speak up, to speak with clarity” about growing antisemitism.

Responding to the new report, the Network of Engaged Canadian Academics (NECA) published a list of 10 recommendations for universities to rebuild trust with Jewish students. These include enforcing policies against harassment based on Jewish identity or Zionism, denouncing BDS campaigns, incorporating Canada’s International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism into DEI policies and conducting annual campus climate assessments.

A joint statement by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B’nai Brith Canada, and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said the survey was “further evidence of what Prime Minister Carney himself acknowledged: Canada is failing Jewish Canadians.”

“The drivers of this hatred—including anti-Zionism—are well known, and the time to act is now,” the groups said. “We need concrete actions to protect Canadian students.”