B'nai Brith Canada expressed deep concern Sunday following attacks directed at Jewish-owned bakeries in Toronto, warning that the incidents reflect a broader, systemic emergency across the country.
The advocacy organization characterized the incidents as part of an escalating pattern of targeting Jewish Canadians.
"The reported attacks targeting Jewish-owned bakeries in Toronto appear to be part of a relentless and escalating campaign of antisemitic intimidation that has seen Jewish schools, synagogues, community institutions, businesses and families targeted across Canada," the organization stated on Sunday.
"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."
In a statement published on social media, B'nai Brith stressed that law enforcement and government officials must treat the incidents as direct threats to national security.
"The Federal Government must establish a national task force to coordinate the response, investigate those responsible, examine any potential links to extremist or foreign-backed networks and, where the legal criteria are met, pursue the listing of those responsible as terrorist entities," the statement read.
"Jewish Canadians cannot continue to be left to secure their own schools, synagogues, community institutions and businesses against escalating threats. This is an emergency, and we expect our governments to fulfil their most basic responsibility, protecting our people, our institutions and our businesses."
"The question is no longer whether Canada has an antisemitism crisis. The question is why our governments do not seem to have the resolve to confront it."
The organization previously noted that violent incidents directed at the Jewish community have surged rapidly since Jan. 1, 2026, reaching a total of 27 by mid-July.
B'nai Brith Canada's Chief Executive Officer, Simon Wolle, criticized the government's current reliance on security funding grants rather than taking preventative measures.
"Jewish communities have been left to fend for themselves, funding their own security and protection," Wolle said.
"Additional funding for these programs is not a sufficient solution, and it does not solve the problem the Government has created by failing to take action sooner and with greater effect. The Government's number-one priority must be protecting its people. Jewish Canadians expect their elected leaders to do just that."
The statement came after two branches of a Jewish-owned bakery in Toronto were vandalized on Sunday morning, with gunshots being fired at one, damaging a storefront window.
Police said officers responded to reports of gunfire near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West, where a bakery window was struck. In a second incident, a location near Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West had its window broken, though investigators said there is no evidence that shots were fired there.
Toronto Duty Inspector Scott Bradbury said no injuries were reported in either case. He added that the police hate crime unit and the gun and gang task force are leading the investigation.
Toronto and the area have seen a sharp uptick in antisemitic violence since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.
In early March, shots were fired at two Toronto-area synagogues within several hours. Several suspects have been arrested in connection with those shootings.
Also in March, gunfire struck Temple Emanu-El in North York, as members of the congregation were marking the holiday of Purim. There were no injuries but the building was damaged.
In late April, a male suspect attempted to force his way into an Orthodox synagogue in Thornhill, just north of Toronto, and assaulted a victim before fleeing the scene.
A day later, a rock was hurled at the window of a Judaica shop in Toronto, marking the third time this particular store has been attacked.