A suspicious package feared to be a bomb caused the Lebovic Jewish Community Campus, located in Toronto's northern neighborhood of Vaughan, to be evacuated on Monday.
As soon as the package was discovered local York police were contacted, and after consulting with them it was decided to clear the Jewish center.
In a statement, the Campus noted "all children, members and staff calmly and safely exited the building and were welcomed at VIVA retirement residence across the street. ...All staff remain on site until the last child was picked up."
After police arrived it was confirmed that the package was a false alarm, and the Campus returned to its routine operation. The management emphasized "as always safety will remain our number one priority and we will continue to take all necessary precautions."
The fears of a terror attack on Canadian Jewish targets is not unfounded; a report released two weeks ago by the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety revealed that as of early 2014, at least 130 Canadians were known to be abroad and were "suspected of terrorism-related activities."
The report added that "about 80 individuals...have returned to Canada after travel abroad for a variety of suspected terrorism-related purposes," indicating the threat of a Canadian jihadist returning home to conduct a local terror attack.
At least two terror attacks were foiled in Canada in the last two years, one targeting a passenger train as it crossed the Niagara Bridge on its way to the US, and the other a bomb attack on the Parliament Building in Victoria, British Columbia.
The threat appears not to show any signs of diminishing, as illustrated in the recent identification of two brothers from Calgary fighting in the ranks of the Islamic State's (IS, formerly ISIS) group of foreign fighters in Syria. The two are recent converts to Islam.
IS seems to be investing considerable resources into recruiting Western jihadists, as demonstrated in a new flashy propaganda film, released by IS in Arabic and German with English subtitles, which features modern cinematic techniques in an attempt to pull new terrorists.