Making the connection: Antisemitism and Antizionism in Canada

June 16, 2026

Last week’s declaration by Prime Minister Mark Carney to create a Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion places renewed attention on the need to address racism, hate and inclusion in Canada, with the government indicating that confronting antisemitism will be a first priority. Against that backdrop, the Association for Canadian Studies commissioned the firm Leger to see how Canadians understand antisemitism, anti-Zionism, and the ways attitudes toward Israel may be affecting Jewish Canadians. Some one in three Canadians agree that antisemitic or anti-Jewish attitudes are becoming more acceptable in Canada. The survey reveals that 22% of Canadians agree that Israel’s military actions in Gaza justify negative attitudes toward Jewish people in Canada, and 17% say they have become more negative toward Jewish people since the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel. These attitudes are more pronounced among younger Canadians, men, immigrants and visible minorities. Some one in ten Canadians agree that Jews in Canada are responsible for the action of the Israeli government with one in six under 35 holding that view. The survey also finds that 39% of Canadians agree that saying Israel should cease to exist as a state is antisemitic, while 28% disagree and 33% are unsure. A similar proportion, 39%, agree that the Prime Minister should publicly condemn calls for Israel to cease to exist as a state. That said, amongst those who strongly agree that It is antisemitic to say that Israel should cease to exist as a state, some two-thirds believe that the Prime Minister of Canada should publicly condemn calls for Israel to cease to exist as a state Taken together, the findings suggest that while most Canadians do not endorse collective blame toward Jewish Canadians, there remains a significant minority that does, alongside a large segment of the public that is uncertain about the boundaries between criticism of Israel, anti-Zionism and antisemitism. To that end, the ACS-Leger survey offers valuable insights on where public education, policy attention and community engagement may be most needed when it comes to combatting antisemitism