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Toronto (September 19, 2025) - Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) commends the Government of Canada for introducing new legislation today that will help make the country’s Jewish communities safer. It includes long sought-after measures to criminalize the public display of hate and terror symbols and to prohibit the intimidation and obstruction of identifiable groups from accessing their places of worship, schools and community centres.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser introduced the Combatting Hate Act, which proposes significant amendments to the Criminal Code, including measures to:

• Prohibit the intimidation or obstruction of members of an identifiable group from accessing their institutions, including places of worship, schools and community centres.
• Make it a crime to wilfully promote hate through the public display of terrorist and Nazi symbols, including the swastika and SS bolts.
• Remove the requirement for Attorney General consent to lay charges for any hate speech offence.
• Make hate-motivated crime a specific offence, ensuring perpetrators of such crimes are held accountable.
• Formally define “hatred” to ensure consistent enforcement of hate crime laws.

FSWC has long called for many of these reforms – in particular urging the federal government to eliminate the Attorney General consent requirement for hate speech charges, which has too often delayed or prevented prosecutions, and to ban the display of terror and hate symbols. These have become increasingly prevalent since the Hamas-led atrocities in Israel on October 7, 2023 unleashed a major upsurge in antisemitic incidents.

FSWC Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy Jaime Kirzner-Roberts issued the following statement:

“This much-welcomed move by the federal government has been a long time coming and represents an important step toward making Canada’s Jewish communities safer. For far too long, individuals who display hate symbols, glorify terrorism or obstruct Jews from peacefully gathering in what should be safe spaces have been given a free pass.

“Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of our democracy. But when actions cross the line into incitement, hate and threats against vulnerable groups, they are no longer legitimate protest – they are acts of intimidation and a threat to the fabric of Canadian society. This cannot be tolerated in a country that values equality, tolerance and safety for all its citizens.”

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