Ottawa, ON — March 25, 2026 — Today, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the Alliance of Canadians Combatting Antisemitism, B’nai Brith Canada, Canadian Women Against Antisemitism, Canadian Jewish Law Association, and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center welcomed the adoption of Bill C-9 by the House of Commons and urged Parliamentarians to advance more measures to confront Canada’s antisemitism crisis:

“For more than two years, Jewish communities across Canada have faced escalating threats, intimidation, and violence. Bill C-9 represents an important and necessary step to strengthen tools for law enforcement and prosecutors to protect targeted communities and hold criminals accountable.

“We supported key provisions in the legislation, with amendments we proposed, which were adopted by the House of Commons, including:

• New intimidation and obstruction offences to protect access to places of worship and community institutions.
• A new hate crime offence ensuring stronger penalties when crimes are motivated by hatred.
• A new offence targeting the wilful promotion of hatred through public display of hate symbols (with a clarifying amendment also supported by our allies in the Hindu community)
• An amended definition of hate aligned with the jurisprudence from the Supreme Court and respectful of free speech.

“We acknowledge the fact that the House has decided to retain the requirement for Attorney General consent in hate propaganda prosecutions. We note the importance of Parliamentarians adding clarifying language confirming that removing the good faith religious exemption defence for certain offences would not imperil freedom of religion or expression, which remain protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In addition, the decision to maintain an existing Criminal Code provision addressing vandalism motivated by bias, prejudice, or hatred, highlights its continued importance.

“We are, however, disappointed by the fact that our recommendation to create a new offence of wilful promotion of terrorism was not adopted. The many recent examples of public displays of support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, Samidoun and other banned terrorist entities make it clear that Parliamentarians must strengthen Canada’s anti-terror laws as a matter of national security.

“While C-9 is a significant step forward, it is not the end of the work. We must also ensure robust, consistent enforcement of existing laws, improve transparency in prosecutorial decisions, enhance support for community security, and tackle the drivers of radicalization in Canada: unchecked antisemitism, religiously and ideologically motivated extremism and violent anti-Israel activism.

“Given Canada’s antisemitism crisis and recent violent attacks targeting Jewish communities, Parliament must act with urgency. The Senate should move quickly to pass Bill C-9 and help ensure that all Canadians can live in safety and security.”

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Additional background:

• Bill C-9 has been supported by law enforcement across Canada, including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police
• In 2024, according to Statistics Canada, the Jewish community was the most targeted religious group, accounting for 68.5 per cent of all religiously motivated hate crimes. To put this in perspective based on population, a Jewish Canadian was 25 times more likely to experience a hate crime than any other Canadian.

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