Canadian PM announces crackdown on antisemitism after attacks on Jewish bakeries

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vows action against antisemitism after Jewish-owned Toronto bakeries targeted.

By World Israel News Staff

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged federal support for efforts to combat antisemitism after two locations of a prominent Jewish-owned Toronto bakery chain were targeted in apparently coordinated overnight attacks.

Police are investigating incidents at two Kiva’s Bagel Bar locations after a dark-colored SUV was seen outside both businesses about an hour apart late Saturday and early Sunday. Both restaurants were closed, and no injuries were reported.

Carney said Monday that he was “appalled” by the attacks on businesses he described as longstanding gathering places for Toronto’s Jewish community.

“Jewish Canadians should be able to live, work, and worship free from fear, intimidation, and hate,” Carney said.

He added that the federal government was “absolute in our commitment to combatting the scourge of antisemitism” and expressed support for the police investigation.

The first incident occurred at approximately 11:15 p.m. Saturday at the Kiva’s location near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West, according to the Toronto Police Service.

Police said a dark-colored SUV stopped in front of the restaurant before its front glass shattered. The vehicle then fled south on Carpenter Road.

About an hour later, at approximately 12:15 a.m. Sunday, a vehicle matching the same general description pulled up outside the Kiva’s branch near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West.

A firearm was discharged from inside the vehicle, striking the restaurant’s front windows, police said. Investigators found evidence of gunfire at the scene.

Police are handling the incidents as two firearm-discharge investigations and believe the same SUV may have been involved in both. Authorities released an image of the vehicle Monday and began canvassing the surrounding areas for security, cellphone and dashboard-camera footage.

No suspects had been identified publicly, and police had not established a motive. The investigations are being led by Toronto’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force with assistance from the Hate Crime Unit.

Duty Inspector Scott Bradbury acknowledged that the attacks were particularly alarming for “members of the Jewish community,” while cautioning during the initial stages of the investigation that police had not yet determined the full connection between the incidents.

The fact that two branches of the same Jewish-owned chain were targeted within roughly an hour led political and Jewish community leaders to describe the attacks as deliberate.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow called the incidents “vile and unacceptable.”

“We all have a responsibility to stand against hate,” Chow said. “I will always stand with Toronto’s Jewish community against antisemitism.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was “totally disgusted” by the attacks and demanded that those responsible be prosecuted.

“I expect all those responsible to be found, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” Ford said.

Ford issued his statement after a separate shooting was reported near the US Consulate in Toronto on Monday. Police had not connected that incident to the attacks on Kiva’s.

Jewish organizations said the bakery attacks were the latest in a continuing series of shootings, vandalism and intimidation directed at Jewish institutions and businesses in Canada.

B’nai Brith Canada described the incidents as part of a “relentless and escalating campaign of antisemitic intimidation.” The organization said it had documented 27 violent incidents targeting Canada’s Jewish community during the first seven months of 2026.

“These attacks are evidence of a systemic national crisis that governments can no longer address through statements of concern, temporary security measures and responses issued only after another Jewish institution has been targeted,” B’nai Brith said.

Noah Shack, chief executive of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said repeated attacks had destroyed the Jewish community’s sense of normalcy and security.

He said Canadians should be able to have breakfast with their families at a neighborhood restaurant without encountering police tape and another investigation into gunfire.

“Enough is enough,” Shack said.

The attacks occurred less than two months after Carney delivered a major address at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple in which he said antisemitism had reached levels not seen in Canada since World War II.

“Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians,” Carney said during the June speech.

According to figures cited by the federal government, more than two-thirds of Canada’s religion-motivated hate crimes in 2024 were directed at Jews, although Jewish Canadians account for approximately 1% of the country’s population.

Carney’s government has proposed legislation strengthening criminal penalties for hate-motivated offenses and intimidation near religious and community institutions. It has also committed an additional $75 million to a federal program that helps vulnerable institutions pay for security personnel, protective infrastructure and emergency training.