Survey: 90% of Canadian Jews anxious about antisemitism

85% of Jews in British Columbia said antisemitism had increased “a lot” since the October 7th massacres.

By World Israel News Staff

A poll commissioned by a Canadian Jewish group found that the overwhelming majority of Jewish community members are fearful of growing antisemitism in the country.

The survey by the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver revealed that anxiety over discrimination and anti-Jewish hatred is particularly rife among Jews in British Columbia.

Ninety-three percent of respondents said they felt “less secure” than they did prior to the October 7th terror onslaught, with another 90 percent saying they experienced anxiety since that day.

A large majority – 85 percent – of Jews in British Columbia said that they felt antisemitism had increased “a lot” since the massacres in southern Israel.

“We know our community is resilient – we have survived persecution for more than 2,000 years and we will keep coming together to survive the next two millennia,” Ezra Shanken, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, said in a media statement. “Rising antisemitism is a problem here in B.C. and across the country. This survey puts real numbers to what we’ve all been feeling.”

More than 60 percent of respondents said they experienced at least one antisemitic incident, which included verbal abuse in person or online, anti-Jewish vandalism, and physical assaults.

Canadian Jews have also taken new measures to protect their physical safety, with 65 percent saying they avoided specific places and events due to fears of being attacked because of their Jewish identities. Another 61 percent said they had stopped wearing items that identify them as Jewish.

Anti-Israel protests and violence against Jews has grown exponentially in Canada since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“Disturbingly, pro-Hamas groups venture into Jewish neighborhoods, brandishing inflammatory imagery of Hitler and concealing their identities behind Yasser Arafat keffiyehs. This brazen conduct, amounting to criminal harassment, goes unchecked,” Amir Epstein, the head of a local Jewish advocacy group, told JNS in January.

“Those responsible for sanctioning such illegal behavior must be held accountable.”